Nov. 28: Twin City Drive-in, Bristol TN

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Twin City Drive-In marquee

Photo from the Twin City Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 332 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. My drive was less than an hour and a half, heading down from the Central Drive-In Theatre, a few miles west of Norton VA, to the Twin City Drive-in just over the border in Bristol TN.

The Twin City was built in 1949 by Raymond Warden and Bo Diggs. In 1956, Diggs took it over, and in 1974 he sold it to his nephew Danny Warden. Danny and his wife Ellen Warden still own the place.

The Wardens have endured two crises. A tornado ripped off two-thirds of the original screen tower on Oct. 1, 1977, but the Wardens erected a replacement before the next weekend’s movies.

The second crisis arrived more slowly and I’m not exactly sure how it worked out. In August 2013, the Wardens were raising the alarm that they might have to sell the Twin City because of the need to switch to digital projection. “We’re going to show through this year, and unless something changes, that might be it,” Danny told the Johnson City Press. “You never know, though, we’ve had a couple of people who say they might be interested in buying it. If someone buys it and switches to digital, then it will stay open.”

Ellen had a slightly different perspective a couple of weeks later, quoted in the Bristol Herald Courier. “The digital conversion is something we can afford and we are blessed to be in that position because of the good business decision we have made over the years,” she said. “People have been buzzing around Facebook that they are scared we are going to close. As long as we can get those 35 mm prints, we’ll keep showing movies for those who show up. But with a digital projector, I don’t think it will be if, but when.”

As I said, I’m not sure exactly what happened, but by early 2014 the Twin City had its digital projector, and the Wardens still appear to be around. The Bristol Raceway is less than a mile away, and during race weeks the drive-in becomes a campground. This August, Ellen told WCYB, Bristol’s News Leader, “When we first started this in ’95 we filled up and turned them away,” but 2017 had been a disappointment.

I just missed the last weekend of the season; this place stayed open later than I had expected. I’m still looking for one more movie to reach my goal of 200.

Miles Today / Total: 63 / 38268 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 199

Nearby Restaurant: With the drive-in closed, I went looking for an old-fashioned diner and wound up at the Old Lighthouse Diner. It offers full-pound hamburgers, which were a bit much even for me. I picked a late breakfast instead, the Captain’s Breakfast with eggs, bacon, home fries, a griddle cake and coffee. Griddle cakes rule!

Where I Virtually Stayed: The top-rated hotel in town is the Fairfield Inn, so I chose it over the Hampton Inn. My room at the Fairfield had something that this Hampton didn’t – a mini-fridge. Plus there were cookies and coffee waiting for me at check-in and a nice breakfast in the morning featuring omelettes and bacon. It was one of the nicest Fairfields I’ve visited so far.

Only in Bristol: Bristol is home to a 70-foot long, three-story Grand Guitar. As Roadside America explained, Joe Morrell built it as a gateway between the interstate and his hometown of Bristol, the self-proclaimed “Birthplace of Country Music.” It opened in May 1983, it opened to the public and housed, among many other things, Morrell’s personal collection of hundreds of musical instruments. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Next stop: Skyview Drive-In, Carmichaels PA.

Nov. 27: Central Drive-In Theatre, Norton VA

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It’s Day 331 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. After watching movies for five nights straight, I had a long drive before an evening off. It took me 4½ hours to drive from the Auto 25 Drive In in Greenwood SC to the Central Drive-In Theatre, a few miles west of Norton VA.

The Central opened in 1952 in the middle of Jefferson National Forest near Blackwood, a tiny coal town. The Theatre Catalog said its owners were H. Kiser and R. Lodge. The Motion Picture Almanacs listed only Russell Large. Was its first co-owner named Lodge or Large? (Actually, I just heard via the Central’s Facebook page that it was Large. Thanks!)

That’s the last we’ll hear of Russell Large, for the next half-century of the Central’s history is the Kiser family. The Kingsport Times-News wrote that “Buddy and Paula (Herron) bought the Central in 2005 from Jeff Kiser following the death of his mother, Agnes Kiser Lay, the Kiser family’s much loved drive-in darling who operated the Central for many if not most of those years since it opened in 1952.” They live in a house adjacent to the drive-in, which is also where the Kisers used to live.

In 2013, the Herrons turned to social media to try to win enough votes to win a free digital projector from Honda’s Project Drive-In contest. “We are a family-run business,” buddy told the Bristol Herald Courier. “We got into drive-ins because it was part of our childhood, part of something we thought would be a good, economical night out for a family. But if you talk about getting a loan for a digital projector and other equipment, a bank might look at you funny, and they’re not lending much these days.”

The Central was not one of the contest winners, yet they must have found a way to acquire a digital projector. Their subsequent GoFundMe page raised less than $7000, but somehow it worked out.

So the Herrons are the latest to run this little jewel, which holds probably fewer than 200 cars. The remote setting is great for reducing ambient light; it only comes from cars on the road and trains that pass across the street from the screen. And the stars, of course.

The Central also has a very nice arcade with a plethora of machines and good burgers at the concession stand. So they tell me. This evening was quite pleasant, but there was no way the Central was going to be open on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It closed for the season almost a month ago.

The embedded YouTube video of the day was uploaded earlier this year by Raven Aerial Imaging. It includes nice drone footage of the misty forest surrounding the Central, plus enough ground-level info to put it in perspective. For a news report from 2013 about the need for a digital projector, you might try this video.

Miles Today / Total: 259 / 38205 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 199

Nearby Restaurant: Who knew there were so many regional restaurant chains? In Norton, I was attracted by the name to visit Pal’s Sudden Service. The cuisine is fast-food basic, not that there’s anything wrong with that, with interesting extensions such as the grilled cheese sandwich on inverted buns. Add “frenchie” fries and a large iced tea, and by the end of the meal I felt like a local.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Norton is one of those towns where, according to TripAdvisor, the best hotel in town is a Super 8. Thank goodness that this again meant that the Super 8 was especially good. There was coffee in the lobby. My comfortable room had all the modern amenities. Breakfast was free and enough to get me back on the road. Best of all, the price was great.

Only in Norton: Just a half hour south of town is an amazing sight at Natural Tunnel State Park. The name gives it away; more than 850 feet long and as tall as a 10-story building, Natural Tunnel was naturally carved through a limestone ridge over thousands of years. William Jennings Bryan called it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” They’ll be adding Christmas lights again this weekend.

Next stop: Twin City Drive-in, Bristol TN.

Nov. 26: Auto 25 Drive In, Greenwood SC

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It’s Day 330 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Finishing my tour of South Carolina, I drove less than an hour from the Monetta Drive In Theatre in Monetta of course to the Auto 25 Drive In in Greenwood.

Cinema Treasures, which provides most of the history for the Auto 25, says it opened as the Auto in the 1940s. A current concession stand banner says it’s been showing movies since 1945, and some reference showed it open on April 21, 1946. The owners back then were A.T. Livingston and Olin Turner, and it had a capacity of 250 cars.

Pete Zouras leased the drive-in from the Turner family in 1954 and bought the theatre equipment a few years later from Livingston’s widow when her husband passed away. Zouras once said, “really our best years were the 1960’s and 1970’s. Those were the best years we had.”

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Zouras and fellow drive-in owner Mario Ackerman lobbied to change the interpretation of the South Carolina blue laws about screening movies on Sundays. After operating the Auto Theatre for 32 years, Zouras retired when the drive-in lease was up in October 1986, and the drive-in closed. Martin and Marsha Murray reopened it for about six weeks in mid-1999 then it was closed again.

South Carolina Living tells the story that “Greenwood residents Tommy and Carolyn McCutcheon were on their way to church one Sunday morning a few years ago when they noticed a huge, unsightly pile of trash in front of the shuttered drive-in movie theater they used to frequent when they were kids.” Tommy was so annoyed that he contacted the drive-in’s owner, Virginia Turner, then in her 90s, and said he would haul away the trash for her.

One thing led to another, and the McCutcheons bought the place from the Turner family and renamed it the 25 Drive-In Auto Theatre. It reopened in April 2009. The new owners added a second screen in 2011 and a third in 2016.

For most of the McCutcheon’s tenure, the drive-in has been open year-round, but they closed it for almost two months in early 2017. Winter storms and bad roads played a role in the decision, and Carolyn told the Greenwood Index-Journal, “since 2010, we’ve been open 52 weeks out of the year and it’s hard to visit people when you only have two days off.”

I’m sure glad it was open on this night, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I’ve now got over a month to find some special Christmas show at a northern drive-in to reach my goal of 200 movies in this drive-in odyssey.

Miles Today / Total: 42 / 37946 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Coco / 199

Nearby Restaurant: Locals recommended The Mill House, and I can see why. It’s a brewpub with several of its own beers on draft, and it cooks up brick-oven pizzas. I took advantage of their Sunday brunch to try some fried grits and a breakfast pizza with sausage, bacon and eggs. And a hefeweizen, of course.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Greenwood is a fairly sizeable county seat, large enough for several hotels including a Hampton Inn, and that’s almost always my first choice. It was all so pleasantly familiar – cookies and coffee waiting at check-in, a comfortable room containing all the modern amenities, and a very good breakfast with hot and cold choices. It’s not quirky, but I never go wrong with Hampton.

Only in Greenwood: Every year, Greenwood holds the South Carolina Festival of Flowers. It was first held in the summer of 1968 to coincide with the 100th anniversary celebration of George W. Park Seed Company. Since then it has grown to include a wide array of activities including tours, art displays, sporting events, concerts, and a kidfest.

Next stop: Central Drive-In Theatre, Norton VA.