photo by Richard Elzey, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day Seven of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, and the drives between theaters continue to be mostly short. It took just 45 minutes to go from Lakeland to the Joy-Lan Drive-In just north of Dade City FL.

The Joy-Lan is a sibling to yesterday’s Silver Moon, both owned by Harold Spears’ company Sun South Theatres. You can read the full history of the Joy-Lan on its About Us page.

The snack bar, rebuilt after a fire in 2000, is almost the same as the Silver Moon’s, including breakfast. Sadly, no Budweiser this time.

The Joy-Lan has one screen. I’m glad I chose Rogue One yesterday, because my only choice this time was Sing.

Wrapping up Week One of the odyssey, I’m happy to say that I caught six active movie nights out of seven, which is a good start on my quest to get at least 200 movie nights in 2017. With all these quick hops between Florida drive-ins, they’re starting to blur together. I think I’ll sleep in Sunday morning.

Miles Today / Total: 32 / 346 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Sing / 6

Nearby Restaurant: The closest is The Black Eyed Pea, part of a chain of relaxed casual comfort-food restaurants. I’m avoiding most chains, but there’s a Black Eyed Pea that I frequent near Carload World Headquarters, and I could really use a taste of home.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I played it safe again with the Hampton Inn four miles south on the other side of town. It’s adjacent to a Dunkin’ Donuts, so I was able to stock essential supplies to keep me going the next morning.

Only in Dade City: According to the Tampa Bay Times, in September 2008 a 450-pound Dade City man in a motorized wheelchair chased and shot a neighbor in the armpit. The bad blood had started over a year earlier over a $20 dispute about the price of a shed.

Next Stop: Ocala Drive-In, Ocala FL.