Author Archives: mrdrivein

Feb. 7: Paramount Drive-In Theatres, Paramount CA

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It’s Day 38 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I reached the Los Angeles area, starting with the theater closest to the previous day’s stop in San Diego. It took a solid two hours to drive north to the Paramount Drive-In Theatres of Paramount CA.

This drive-in opened as the Roadium Drive-In in 1947, just before the post offices of Hynes and Clearwater were merged to form then-unincorporated Paramount. It closed in 1992, but the Paramount was reborn in April 2014, just behind the Bianchi Theatres on Rosecrans Avenue.

The concession stand had pizza and other meals along with the usual suspects for snacking (especially the popcorn), and I enjoyed the video games before the show started.

On one hand, I was glad that the Paramount was open on a Tuesday night in February. Probably only a quarter of US drive-ins were open last night. But what a tough choice! I could watch Rings again, but it’s not my favorite genre and it’s actually not a very good movie. My only other choice was Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. So that’s what I saw for second night in a row and the fourth time in nine nights. New releases come Friday, and I’ll try to hold out till then.

Miles Today / Total:  123 / 4842 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter / 28

Nearby Restaurant: Just a short trip west down Rosecrans Avenue brought me to El Compa, a great place for Sinaloan style Mexican food. I went for the bistec ranchero, or steak simmered in ranchera sauce.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Nothing was really close to the Paramount, which is ringed by budget hotels about three miles away in each direction. Fortunately, I found something that’s like a four-leaf clover, a Motel 6 with positive reviews. (I know they exist; they’re just not as common as I’d like.) The one south of the drive-in near Bellflower Plaza worked fine and saved me enough cash for a real breakfast somewhere else in the morning.

Only in Paramount: Paramount is the birthplace and home of the Zamboni Company, started by Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr., inventor of the ice resurfacing machine. Zamboni manufactures and sells the machines worldwide. Since 1939 the Zamboni family has also operated Iceland, an ice skating rink with improvements patented by Frank Zamboni.

Next Stop: Vineland Drive-In, City of Industry CA.

Nashville to Add Another Thing That Is Not A Drive-In

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It will have cars and a big screen and twinkly lights overhead, but do not be fooled. The August Moon project, to be built in the parking lot of the stadium where the Tennessee Titans play football, will be the latest in the list of Things That Are Not Drive-Ins.

Mind you, it sounds pretty cool. Local artist Michael Counts’ vision starts with an inflatable 40,000 square foot dome like over some athletic fields. He plans to install a tall movie screen and 50 stationary mid-1960s classic cars for viewing it. Like a real drive-in, the August Moon will include trees, grass, gravel walkways, a starry sky, fireflies, and of course the moon. According to The Tennessean, “The entry price is expected to range from $8 to $20 with seating ranging from stadium seats to tree swings and the highest $20 cost for watching a movie while sitting in a car.”

Counts told WTVF, Nashville’s News Leader, that visitors will experience the perfect climate-controlled, mosquito-free viewing experience. “Close your eyes and imagine the perfect Summer night in a classic American drive-in movie theatre in 1965, and that’s where August Moon is going to take you,” he said.

But this isn’t an “indoor drive-in theater,” as some sources have reported. (During the heyday of drive-ins, there were occasional rumblings and trial balloons about true indoor drive-ins, but I don’t believe any made it off the drawing board. But I digress.) One of the basics of a drive-in theater is that you, the patron, must be able to drive your car into the theater. Hence the name.

The closest match to the Harvest Moon is the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Disney World. There diners sit in faux cars and watch a looping 40-minute hash of old movies and extras. That also sounds pretty cool, but not too many people will refer to it as an indoor drive-in theater.

Bonus: Here’s a silly article from the Sep. 19, 2005 issue of the wildly fictional tabloid Weekly World News saying that opening night for the world’s first indoor drive-in movie theater, in Ventnor IA, “ended in disaster when dozens of patrons had to be hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.” It interviewed the suspiciously named owner, Ken Shoddy, presumably because Bat Boy wasn’t available.

So the Harvest Moon is the latest addition to our occasional series. Like grade school kids who sit in decorated cardboard boxes and watch a projector in the gym, like the local Chamber of Commerce lawn-chair night next to the civic center, and like the home theater that you can set up in your back yard, the Harvest Moon is definitely Not A Drive-In.

Feb. 6: South Bay Drive-In Theatres, San Diego CA

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It’s Day 37 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I drove from suburban San Diego to southern San Diego, and in less than a half hour I reached the appropriately named South Bay Drive-In Theatres, less than five miles from the Mexican border.

The South Bay opened in 1958 with a single 100-foot screen. In 1974, it replaced the original screen and added two more. According to a CinemaTreasures commenter, its main screen blew down during early 2003 winter storms and had to be replaced that spring. The South Bay converted to digital projection relatively early, in 2013.

The South Bay is open all week, even on this Monday night. I’d already seen all three early movie choices so I sat through Resident Evil: The Final Chapter for the third time in eight days. I hope this viewing really is final for me.

Miles Today / Total:  26 / 4719 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter / 27

Nearby Restaurant: Since I set up shop in Imperial (see below), I stayed close by for dinner at the Coronado Brewing Company. Shrimp tacos and fresh beer within walking distance of my hotel. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t a lot of options close by, but that turned out wonderfully for me. I drove three miles due west and found Imperial Beach’s Sand Castle Inn, a charming little renovated place that’s literally across the street from the Pacific Ocean. The price was great for such easy access to Dunes Park, and the kitchenette and wifi made life easier in the room.

A heavily fenced 15-foot obelisk

The obelisk in 1894.

Only in San Diego: Fifty-two obelisks, known as Boundary Monuments, were erected between 1849 and 1857 along the U.S – Mexico border. The westernmost obelisk, set between San Diego and Tijuana, was rededicated in 1971 by First Lady Pat Nixon as part of a new “Friendship Park.” In 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security closed down Friendship Park to build a new fence. In 2012, it agreed to reopen the park with an outer perimeter fence blocking access to the public except Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm.

Next Stop: Paramount Drive-In Theatres, Paramount CA.