photo by Granola via CinemaTreasures.org

It’s Day 48 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, and it took me almost two and a half hours and a half to drive north from Concord to the Lakeport Auto Movies Drive In, Lakeport CA.

It was a rainy day, so it didn’t bother me so much that the Lakeport was still closed for the season. The floodwaters aren’t getting too close yet, but I’ll be glad to get back south to Sacramento for my next stop.

When did the Lakeport first open? That’s a good question. It’s not included in my 1972 Motion Picture Almanac, but it’s there in my 1984 edition. That matches the recent story in The Press Democrat of Sonoma County which said that the Lakewood has been showing summer movies since 1974. Too bad it’s not summer yet.

Miles Today / Total:  104 / 5571 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 35

Nearby Restaurant: I headed to downtown Lakeport for dinner at the Park Place Restaurant. While I gazed out at Clear Lake, I enjoyed a vegetable panini in a cozy, busy setting.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t many places where the Rodeway Inn is the best hotel in town, but Lakeport might be one of them. The Park Place was within walking distance, but the nicest part was a path to the lake. It would have been a restful setting on a dry night, but just about any evening indoors is unusually restful for this odyssey.

Only in Lakeport: Just across now-swollen Clear Lake in the town of Nice is Clarke’s Collectibles and Lunchbox Museum, which displays almost 700 lunchboxes collected over 30 years, housed in an old firehouse. As Deb Clarke described on Roadside America, “All the merchandise for sale is set up like a museum. Everyone that comes loves it and won’t leave.”

Next Stop: Sacramento 6 Drive-In, Sacramento CA.