photo by Joey Harrison, from the Carload Flickr pool
It’s Day 93 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took about an hour and a half to drive the fastest route between the Georgetown Drive-In and the Holiday Drive-In in Rockport IN.
The Holiday opened its first screen in 1955 and added a second screen in 1980. Screens 3 and 4 arrived in 1992, screen 5 in 1995, and screen 6 just last year.
The Tristate HomePage had a September 2014 article about the Holiday’s conversion to digital projection. “We gotta move with the times to stay alive, so we gotta change,” said Georgia Decker. “You gotta change. Which I hate, but it’s all part of life.”
The Holiday is only open on weekends this time of year, so I missed out by arriving on a Monday. They just had their season-opening weekend, too. Oh well.
Miles Today / Total: 87 / 10392 (rounded to the nearest mile)
Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 46
Nearby Restaurant: I chose McKenzie’s, which is connected to the Rockport Inn, which was built in the 1850s as a private home, and is rumored to have been part of the Underground Railroad. I didn’t see any ghosts, just nice service and hometown food like steaks and green beans. Loved the decor, though.
Where I Virtually Stayed: It was clean. The wifi worked. Everything was just fine with the Comfort Inn in Rockport, especially the breakfast with sausage, biscuits and gravy, and the ubiquitous waffle maker. All at a good price for a chain hotel.
Only in Rockport: Abraham Lincoln grew up in Rockport. It has a Lincoln Landing monument that commemorates where he launched a flatboat in 1828 to visit New Orleans. That’s where he first encountered the horrors of slavery; the plaque carries the quote, “If I ever get a chance to hit that thing, I’ll hit it hard.” There’s also a WPA-built Lincoln Pioneer Village in a city park.
Next Stop: Drive N Theatre, Newton IL.