Category Archives: Video

July 17: Capri Drive-In Theater, Coldwater MI

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It’s Day 198 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I was glad to be done with crazy long drives for a while. After 12 hours’ worth over the previous two days, the hour and a half it took to go from Liberty Center OH to the Capri Drive-In Theater in Coldwater MI felt like nothing.

The Capri was built by John and Mary Magocs and opened in August 1964. Back then it was a single screen serving up to 1000 cars. As the Capri’s story page relates, the snack bar at the time was leased to Auto City Candy Company of Detroit. Operating a Drive-In for the Magocs was a family affair. John and Mary, John Jr. and Tom, spent many a night making sure the show went off each night.

In 1977, the operation of the Capri Drive-In was leased to William Clarke of Coldwater while the Magocs resided in Florida. In 1980, Tom and John Jr. resumed operation of the theatre. One of their first decisions was to install AM radio transmission of the movie sound. All but 5 rows of speakers were removed.

In 1986, the Capri became a twin. Screen Two was added on the back side of theatre. Screen One’s car capacity was decreased to 550 cars, with Screen Two parking 300 more.

In 2016, USA Today readers voted the Capri the second-best drive-in in the US, behind only the 99W of Newburg OR. TripAdvisor reviewers give it an average of 4.5 on a scale of 5, naming it the best Thing To Do in Coldwater. It really is a very nice place to watch a drive-in movie.

For today’s video, I’ve embedded Pure Michigan’s 50th anniversary show, which is both a tribute to the end of the film era at the Capri and what feels like a year-end blooper reel. For another neat Capri video, check out the historic footage of the construction of the place; that’s also available on YouTube. It includes some especially interesting aerial shots, which makes sense considering that whole airport connection.

Thank goodness the Capri has two screens, giving me a chance to dodge Despicable Me 3 once again. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a better movie, especially if you grew up reading comic books the way I did.

Miles Today / Total:  84 / 25389 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Spider-Man: Homecoming / 114

Nearby Restaurant: The closest restaurant to this drive-in / airport combination is the Prop Blast Cafe, but I went into town for something more like the drive-in than the airport. Short’s Rootbeer Stand has the classic drive-in restaurant look with lots of neon, primary colors and classic music. And root beer and hot dogs. Timeless!

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Capri offers lodging packages, something every drive-in should consider. The package that caught my eye was for my favorite chain, the Hampton Inn. Everything was solid Hampton, including all the amenities in my room, the very nice breakfast buffet, and an On the Run breakfast bag at checkout. It makes good snacking on the road.

Only in Coldwater: The Tibbits Opera House is the second-oldest theater in Michigan. Barton S. Tibbits, mayor of Coldwater at the time, built it in 1882. It was altered to be more movie-friendly in 1934, but when the movie business faded, the Tibbits was boarded up and scheduled to be razed by the end of the 1950s. The Tibbits Opera Foundation and Arts Council was founded in 1963 and now operates the facility year-round as a community center for the arts.

Next stop: Auburn Garrett Drive In Theatre, Garrett IN.

July 16: Field of Dreams Drive-In, Liberty Center OH

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It’s Day 197 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I paid for my last-minute detour to Michigan’s upper peninsula, driving six and a half hours from Manistique to a drive-in that’s only open on weekends, the Field of Dreams Drive-In northeast of Liberty Center OH.

Just last month, The Toledo Blade ran a great, long article about the Field of Dreams and its owners, Rod and Donna Saunders. They had lamented the closing of the Star Auto Theater of Wauseon OH, where Rod grew up. The Star shut down in 1999, and the Saunders were reminded of its passing whenever they drove by and saw its abandoned screen.

“Finally, after a couple of years of hearing her say that, I said somebody ought to open one,” Rod said.

After researching some other sites, they settled on the most logical – the backyard of their home. It required plowing down acres of cornfields, so it was natural to name it the Field of Dreams after the 1989 Kevin Costner movie.

This place is really remote, so it doesn’t have to worry with a lot of light pollution. As the Blade put it, “The theater has been known to fool more than one GPS or cell phone, and — when corn’s about ready to be harvested — it’s easy to drive by the site without knowing it.”

The Saunders added a second Field of Dreams Drive-In in Tiffin OH, about 70 miles away, in 2011 after learning that its previous owner was about to shut it down. I’ve got more drive-ins in Michigan and Indiana left to visit, but I should get back to the Tiffin in early August.

Thank goodness the Field of Dreams has two screens, giving me a chance to dodge Despicable Me 3 this night. War for the Planet of the Apes was the early movie on Screen 2, and it makes a good drive-in movie, but I bet I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d seen the movies that led up to it.

Miles Today / Total:  420 / 25305 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: War for the Planet of the Apes / 113

Nearby Restaurant: This was my first exposure to Pisanello’s Pizza, a local chain centered around Toledo. After the decadent food I’d had the previous couple of days, I grounded myself with a large Italian salad. Then I smelled the pizza, and compromised on a small pizza sub sandwich. That way, I had my pepperoni and lettuce too.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There’s no place to stay in Liberty Center. The closest hotels to the drive-ins are in Napoleon, and the Comfort Inn there took care of me for the night. My room had the full range of amenities, breakfast was solid Comfort Inn quality with a waffle maker, and the location was quiet away from the highway. Just what I needed after a couple of days of hard driving.

Only in Liberty Center: Just next door in Napoleon OH, the Campbell’s Soup plant has a water tower decorated like a Campbell’s Soup can, and a grounded stationary 20-foot tower painted to look just like a huge can of Campbell’s tomato soup. That’s it!

Next stop: Capri Drive-In Theater, Coldwater MI.

July 15: Manistique Drive-In, Manistique MI

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It’s Day 196 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. For a very special occasion, I drove five hours from Ionia in the middle of Michigan’s mitten all the way up I-75 to the Upper Peninsula and on to the drive-in in Manistique. It’s the Brigadoon of drive-ins, rarely available, but it was open Saturday night.

What’s now referred to as the Manistique Drive-In (there’s no name on the sign) started its life as the US-2 in 1953. The single-screen theater was owned by J.L. LeDuc, who owned the indoor theaters in town, and planned to close one of them in the summer when the US-2 was open. Within a few years, the Delft Theater chain took over operations, and the theater was listed as the Highway 2. At some point, that name evolved further, to the Cinema Two, not because there a second screen, but because the indoor theater in town was called Cinema One.

Whatever it was called, the drive-in dropped off the International Motion Picture Almanac lists in the mid 1970s. Cinema Treasures says the Cinema Two closed in 2001.

Fast forward to July 2016. Even though the Cinema Two had sat idle for over a decade, the Tourism Action Committee of the Schoolcraft County Economic Development Corporation opened it for a free, one-time showing of Back to the Future. Response was overwhelming, with 343 vehicles packing the lot. That led to Eric Sherbinow launching a GoFundMe campaign to raise $2500 for a “professional projector” to improve the experience. That goal was quickly met, and two more free screenings were held in September and October.

The system the Manistique drive-in used reminds me of Connecticut’s Southington Drive-In. There, the town owns the drive-in and local civic organizations take turns selling concessions and reaping the profits.

So this past week, I’ve been zigzagging around Michigan, and I noticed a note in Wednesday’s Escanaba Daily Press. One night only, the “Manistique Drive-Inn theater” would be showing the classic Jurassic Park and and the cheap-to-rent Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet. Concessions benefit St. Francis de Sales School in Manistique. What serendipity! I had to change my plans and drive up for this one.

Part of the original Cinema Two sign is still there on US Highway 2, across from the airport. I don’t care. I’m happy to be a part of the slow return of a drive-in to its community. Check out the YouTube video embedded above to see what it’s like.

Miles Today / Total:  318 / 24885 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Jurassic Park / 112

Nearby Restaurant: It was time to visit another vintage drive-in, but Clyde’s Drive-In is a restaurant. I bellied up to the bar for a Big C burger, 3/4 pound of meat on a bun, with a basket of fries. With a malt on the side, I knew I wouldn’t need a full dinner at the concession stand that night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: What the heck! Jankowski’s Holiday Motel is right next door to the drive-in, and it turned out okay. It’s just a mom and pop motel with decent rooms at a really good price. My room had the full set of amenities, including fridge and solid wifi, and banana bread with coffee at breakfast.

Only in Manistique: Ripley’s Believe It or Not featured the Siphon Bridge over the Manistique River here, because it was lower than the water it crossed. It was actually over a large flume to the local paper mill, and the concrete bridge used the rushing water and atmospheric pressure to help support it. The bridge is still there, but the flume isn’t, so now it’s just a bridge over a river.

Next stop: Field of Dreams Drive-In, Liberty Center OH.