Category Archives: Missouri

April 9: Phoenix Drive In, Houston MO

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It’s Day 99 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Deep in the Ozark Mountains, it took an hour and a half to drive from the 21 Drive In northeast of Van Buren MO to the Phoenix Drive In in Houston MO.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Phoenix opened in 1951 as the Sunset Drive-In. It’s been the only drive-in Houston MO has ever known, but it closed in 1998 for three years. Renamed the Phoenix, the drive-in is now owned by the same folks who own the adjacent one-screen indoor theater.

According to a 2011 article in the Houston Herald, Jaretta Lankford owned the theater complex for most of the 90s. In the middle of the decade, she had to replace the outdoor screen after a windstorm knocked down the original. Lankford also upgraded from car speakers to FM sound. “I went there when I was in high school and it was a very entertaining place to be,” she said. “The drive-in is such a great form of entertainment. It’s really more of an art form and I hope it stays alive.”

That same 2011 article said that Samantha Thomas was the current owner of the Phoenix and ran both screens with parents Richard and Hillary Thomas and sister Noel. Three of those four also had day jobs. “We certainly enjoy it,” Richard said. “With all that it takes to run this place, we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t.”

The drive-in opens for the season this Friday, which left me five days out of luck. At least I could always duck in to watch a movie at the indoor Phoenix Theater.

Miles Today / Total:  86 / 10866 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 47

Nearby Restaurant: When it’s time to load up on tender meat, it’s time to head to TQs House of BBQ. I could have ordered a steak or a large salad or somesuch, but I went straight for the ribs with BBQ beans and green beans. It might not be the healthiest choice every day, but a feast like that makes a great treat.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Once again, I was in a town bereft of chain hotels, but with the Lazy L Motel around, I didn’t need them. My nicely remodeled room was small, but with a modern TV and wifi. With a Casey’s General Store next door, I had an easy place to find cheap coffee and enough breakfast to continue the odyssey for another day.

Only in Houston: Just up the road in Licking, (a fine name for a town!), the presence of the Rawlins sporting goods factory inspired folks there to decorate the water tower to look like a baseball. The factory is long gone, but according to Roadside America, the baseball water tower is hanging in there.

Next stop: Sunset Drive-In Theatre, Aurora MO.

April 8: 21 Drive In, Van Buren MO

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21 Drive-In marquee with screen in the background

photo by Darren Snow, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 98 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took an hour and a half to drive from the Starlite Drive-In Theatre west of Cadet to the 21 Drive In northeast of Van Buren MO.

According to Cinema Treasures, the 21 opened in July 1952. Carload Flickr pool contributor Darren Snow wrote that he saw it closed and for sale, probably in the 1990s. Then the 21 was restored and reopened in 1997.

The theater guides of the time, Theatre Catalog and the International Motion Picture Almanac, never listed the 21 in Van Buren, which is 9 miles away, but started with Garwood, which is just 3 miles east. Later editions of the IMPA listed it under Ellington, 17 miles north. That’s part of the difficulty in talking about all those remote rural drive-ins.

The 21 says it will open for the 2017 season on May 26 and will show movies on Fridays and Saturdays till Labor Day Weekend (last year they were open till mid-October). So even though I was here on a Saturday, it was still a little early in the season to watch anything.

Miles Today / Total:  84 / 10780 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 47

Nearby Restaurant: Especially in rural areas, I find myself often skipping the fanciest places in town in favor of a good old diner. That’s what I picked here, the Float Stream Restaurant. The prices were great, the fish was probably locally caught, and there was pecan pie for dessert.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t any Super 8s or any other chain hotels in Van Buren, but there is the moist, woody ambiance of the Big Spring Road Motel. My room had a fridge, the wifi worked, and wood accents were everywhere. The price was nice; I’ll remember how much I saved here next time I give myself permission to splurge.

Only in Van Buren: Van Buren hosts the headquarters of Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the first national park area to protect a river system. Some of the park’s infrastructure, including the Big Spring Dining Lodge, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, but the park was created by Congress in 1964 and formally dedicated in 1971.

Next stop: Phoenix Drive In, Houston MO.

April 7: Starlite Drive-In Theatre, Cadet MO

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Starlite Drive-in marquee

photo by Darren Snow, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 97 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I took the shortest route along twisty state highways, and it took just over an hour to drive from the 19 Drive-In in Cuba MO to the Starlite Drive-In Theatre west of Cadet.

According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Starlite opened in 1952. Sixteen years later, Terry Mercille bought the place from Henry and Dorothy Blunt. By 1984, it had added a second screen, and in 2009, Mercille’s sons inherited the business. According to Cinema Treasures, the Starlite may have closed for a season around then. It reopened by 2010, and won one of the coveted digital projection systems during Honda’s Project Drive-In in 2014.

I was so happy to have two active screens to choose from, both of which were showing movies I hadn’t seen yet. I hadn’t even noticed that another Smurfs movie had come out, so I took the one-week-older choice of The Boss Baby. And I finally returned to a working concession stand, home of funnel cake stix, corn dogs, and other upright munchies.

Miles Today / Total:  50 / 10696 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Boss Baby / 47

Nearby Restaurant: The Starlite is remote, and the closest restaurants and just south in Potosi. The Bearfoot Cafe serves huge portions at low prices. Anyplace with a good rainbow trout meal will get me in a good mood.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There are a fair number of Super 8s in these small towns, and I stayed at the one in Potosi. (There’s another in Bonne Terre, in case you’re attracted to the mine in the next paragraph.) This one was middle-of-the-road Super 8, with coffee in the lobby, a mini-fridge in the room, and a decent breakfast in the morning.

Only in Cadet: About 15 miles east of the Starlite is the Bonne Terre Mine, a monument to creative reuse. Some folks might have seen it as an abandoned lead mine that had mostly flooded with natural groundwater. At least one imaginative soul saw it as an underground “billion gallon lake” with clear water, perfect for scuba divers. There are also boat and walking tours of the old mine.

Next stop: Twenty One Drive In, Van Buren MO.