Resuregence of an archaic icon ... the drive-in movie

99W Drive-In ... Serving folks since 1953 with a Coke and a smile

Time flies! It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. That is way to long for a person of "many words." And ... I'm sure that is exactly how the old drive-in movie theaters feel. Time has flown by. "We used to be the hopping spot on a Friday night. Now, we have become a relic of the good old' days."

During the late sock-hop years there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters. That number has now dwindled to around 360 venues. Many factors contributed to the decline, but mostly it became a matter of convenience. It was much more convenient to go to a movie house that was warm, dry and had cushy, rocking seats.

21st century: a return of all things old are new again...including

this archaic icon of Americana

Earlier this summer, we ventured to the small town of Newberg where the 99W Drive-In is still alive and doing quite well. Not without setbacks and hard times, 99W opened its doors in 1953 showing "Sea Devils" starring heart-throb, Rock Hudson and "Under the Sahara." Now mind you, this isn't your grandparents' drive-in. It was a lot more like tailgating at a Duck football game! Kids were running around playing with Frisbees or footballs, dressed in jammies and flip-flops; picnic dinners being shared and lots of laughter. We jumped right in to the pre-movie festivities...car boot filled with food, lawn chairs, blankets for the cooling evening; it was to be a very late night.

Around 10pm the sky was sufficiently dark ... the movie trailers began. Once again, a modern-urban-vintage vibe happening; they play old concession snack bar reels. Talk about a blast to and from the past. Two full-length movies and a tub of popcorn later, we packed up and headed out of the park; climbing into bed with smiles on our faces around 3am.

The moral of the story is: call your sister, invite yourself to her house for dinner, a place to sleep and a movie at the drive-in located a few blocks from her house. What you miss in sleep, you will gain in fond memories...

Signed, Urban-Vintage Girl ~ Missy

Comments

urban girl in the country

green in concrete For the last lot-of-years I’ve lived in urban areas. I’ve become a city girl with hints of a flower child mixed with hipster nuances…translated I like to wear skinny jeans. This is the total opposite of how I grew up, which was on a farm. My paternal grandparents grew, raised, caught and hunted for everything they ate – radical organic, free-range stuff. On my Mom’s side of the fam tree, there were green grocers and orchard growers. Heck, I was in 4-H raising feeder calves and a small flock of wooly sheep. Gardens, canning, freezing and preserving everything was the ordinary. I carried on the gardening-preserving, saving the spoils piece, until I found myself in fresh veggie-at-a-farmer’s-market heaven! The foreign city I found myself in had a temperate climate where fruit and vegetables could be grown year ‘round, and … it was sold at a giant open air market every week. Yippee! I no longer needed to ...

Good morning, lab rats!

One of my favorite movies is “A Good Year,” starring Russell Crowe. It’s a fun little romp through the South of France, filled with wine, romance and very poignant moments of clarity. Max, is a driven, pompous business man who is willing to use, abuse and finagle his way to the top, and then gloat. He is never satisfied with his accomplishments. "Good morning, lab rats,” indicates his ‘tude. Fanny, on the other hand, is a bicycle wielding, passionate woman. She is suspicious, short-tempered and very jealous, yet content with her way of life; minding the business of others. The storyline is obvious: opposites attract, love blooms and then blows up. Reflecting on the vast difference in their existences, this dialogue is uttered: Max: This place does not suit my life. Fanny: No Max, it’s your life that does not suit this place. Makes me wonder how many times I have said no to things because it didn’t fit into my prec...

are you strong enough to do it together?

reflecting - paulina lake, october 2015 Weekend getaways are all about kicking back and well, getting away from the entire buzz of life. Caffeine excluded from this statement. Somewhere around noon of day two’s whatever we want to do schedule, my baby and I decided to hike around the lake that we’d been watching transform before our eyes. The distance was seven and a half miles according to the sign. That sounded totally do-able. Especially since yesterday we had ventured out on two shorter hikes that amounted to six or so miles. Besides, we’d walked a small part of the trail; it seemed like a pretty comfortable walk by the lake. First glances can be deceiving. Now, in all fairness to avid outdoors people, it probably was easy peasy. But to this urban girl, who only a few years ago had given up her love of walking due to not pleasant back pain from nerves having their life squeezed out; this hike was of larger-than-life proporti...

Isabella Bird Miscellany

Search This Blog