Author Archives: mrdrivein

Sept. 15: Neptune Drive-In, Shediac NB

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It’s Day 258 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. After a week of driving four hours or more every day, I was very happy to spend just over an hour to get from Sussex, New Brunswick to the Neptune Drive-In in Shediac NB.

According to an article in the Times & Transcript, copied into notes on a 2008 petition at GoPetition.com, then-owner Gilles LeBlanc’s father opened the Neptune in 1964. Cinema Treasures says the drive-in closed in 1985 but reopened in 1990. Then around 2006 it closed again, as Gilles put the place up for sale. That petition was delivered to the mayor of Shediac, who had earlier said the town could not afford the asking price of over $1 million.

(By the way, who was Gilles’s father, the founder of the Neptune? In a 2016 obituary, one Gilles LeBlanc, son of Edgar LeBlanc, passed away in Shediac at the age of 60. A 2005 New Brunswick news release said that “Shediac-area resident” Gilles A. LeBlanc pleaded guilty to a violation of the Clean Water Act related to “property owned by his father, Azor LeBlanc.” Then there was the Gilles LeBlanc, former Director of Material Resources for Villa Providence Shediac and son of Ronald LeBlanc, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 53. Was the Neptune’s Gilles one of these? I just don’t know.)

In 2010, “a local business person bought the property and approached (Jeff) Coates with a suggestion to lease the drive-in business,” according to a story in The Globe and Mail. Coates joined with Robert Farquharson to lease the Neptune. In the 2012-13 offseason, they switched to digital projection.

This video of the day, a 2013 report from Global News, casts doubt on the date the Neptune opened, but it’s also a nice interview with Coates and a peek at the freshly converted projection room. For another, wobblier, look at what it was like to visit the drive-in in 2014, check out YouTube.

On my final night in Canada this year, I got a chance to see a new release, American Assassin. I’m always happy to find an active drive-in during the off-season, and doubly glad to watch something fresh.

Miles Today / Total: 69 / 30477 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: American Assassin / 164

Nearby Restaurant: So I’m at the beach, and I want something historic yet inexpensive. The solution was Chez Léo‘s fried clams. It’s only takeout, and the fries aren’t nearly as wonderful, but those fresh, tasty clams can’t be matched just anywhere.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I couldn’t find a chain hotel in Shediac itself, which left me open to a reasonably priced night at the Hôtel Shediac. It’s in the middle of town but looks like it was built recently. My “executive floor” king bed room had the full set of modern amenities including a Keurig. With the pancake machine, breakfast was like a Holiday Inn Express. It’s all good.

Only in Shediac: Remember Animaland, concrete sculptor Winston Bronnum’s park from yesterday? Bronnum also built the most remarkable item in Shediac, the world’s largest lobster. The town calls itself the “Lobster Capital of the World,” so naturally it needed the lifelike 35-foot-long sculpture to remind visitors.

Next stop: Bangor Drive-In, Bangor ME.

Sept. 14: Sussex Drive In, Sussex NB

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Lit drive-in at night with cars, the screen, and the concession stand

Photo from the Sussex Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 257 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Another long drive (almost six hours) through the Canadian woods brought me from Sydney, near the eastern tip of Nova Scotia, to the Sussex Drive In in Sussex, New Brunswick.

A blog post by Open Air Cinema in 2009 gives us a few hints about the origin of the Sussex. It was founded by Gerald Alexander and his family in 1967, and they had kept the single-screen drive-in in operation ever since. Saint John NB businessmen Tom Boudreau, Paul Galloway and Randy Defazio bought the place in 2008 and separately purchased the adjacent campground.

“And like every year, the canteen will carry its complete menu,” Open Air Cinema wrote, “including typical movie favourites such as popcorn and nachos, as well as chicken wings, hamburgers, hotdogs, pogos, clams and chips, fries and onion rings.” Clams and chips? That’s a thing around here.

In 2012, the Sussex made the switch to digital projection, which led to a CBC News article. Manager Cindy MacDonald said, “If we wanted to keep the drive-in open, we didn’t have much choice but to do the upgrade because those big, old movie reels are going to be a thing of the past very soon.”

This year, the Telegraph-Journal (subscription required) wrote about the Sussex for its opening weekend. “It’s never been shut down in the over 50 years it has been in operation. It’s a part of the Sussex community, and it has been for years,” said Boudreau, described simply as “owner” in the article.

Boudreau said the drive-in reached its capacity of “around 450″ twice in 2016, turning away over a hundred cars. “Those were two great weekends last year, and we’re hoping to have weekends like that this year. On average we see from 70 to 80.”

For me, the most important update was on the Sussex Facebook page last week. “That’s a wrap folks! Thanks again to all our loyal customers for another great season! Have a great fall and winter, we will see you again in 2018!”

Miles Today / Total: 346 / 30408 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: A good old retro-feel diner is a decent choice as a substitute when the drive-in is closed for the season. In Sussex, that means JJ’s Diner. I was expecting burgers to go with the white-black checkerboard floor and the red vinyl furniture, but the hot turkey sandwich was even better. Topped with a banana split supreme for dessert, and I was set for the night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The only thing better than a nice, safe chain motel is a really great mom and pop place like the Pinecone Motel. The rooms are clean and full of all the modern amenities. The best part is breakfast, featuring homemade blueberry waffles along with the continental breakfast regulars. All at less than half the price I paid the night before.

Only in Sussex: Just east of the Pinecone Motel is / was Animaland, founded in the 1960s by concrete sculptor Winston Bronnum. He wanted to build the “Disneyland of the north” along what was then the main highway into town. It was closed in the mid-1990s, but was reborn as a campground this year. Blowhard the bony horse still stands out front to welcome visitors.

Next stop: Neptune Drive-In, Shediac NB.

Sept. 13: Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre, Sydney NS

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It’s Day 256 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was another day of long hours (five of them) driving through lonely, tree-lined highways in the Canadian maritime provinces. This time, the trip was from Cambridge NS to the Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre in Sydney, near the eastern tip of Nova Scotia.

As described by its now-abandoned web site (found on Archive.org), the Cape Breton was “owned and operated by James and Toula Sifnakis … since July 10, 1975.” Its history appears to have been uneventful from then until 2013. That’s when James and Toula’s son Angelo Sifnakis had to decide what to do about the need to convert to digital projection.

“I’d love to take the leap but the thing is, is that the drive-in has to become more than just a drive-in theatre,” the younger Sifnakis told the Cape Breton Post in August 2013. “I want to make it into a recreational park but that’s going to take hoards of money and need some government help and so forth.”

When the Cape Breton closed after the 2013 season, its web site said “We look forward to our Spring 2014 opening,” but it stayed closed. Its marquee eventually said that the drive-in was closed for the 2014 season.

May 2015 brought good news. “I expect to try to have the drive-in open, let’s say the last weekend of May, or first weekend in June,” Sifnakis told CTV News. Because we’ve been shut down for a year, we’re going to have to do some repairs.”

Now the Cape Breton is open seven days a week during the summer and weekends at the edges of the season, like this day. If I could wait around for another couple of nights, there’s a triple bill scheduled for Friday, but I’ve got more drive-ins to visit and more lonely highways to drive to get there.

I really don’t like portrait-mode video, but today’s YouTube embed above is topical (May 2017) and a nice picture of what the Cape Breton experience is like. There’s another video, from 2011 and with fewer details, over here.

Miles Today / Total: 308 / 30062 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: I had to eat at a local legend, the food truck known as Fuzzy’s Fries. It’s been around forever, selling “chips” with a touch of salt and vinegar, but no ketchup. Well, it’s moved into the modern world in one small way; if you really want ketchup, they’ll give it to you.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It had been far too long since I stayed at a good old Hampton Inn. The Sydney location has in indoor pool with a 90-foot long, double corkscrew water slide. For my room, I sprang for the suite with all the modern amenities plus a fireplace. The breakfast was standard Hampton, which is a pretty good standard. I’m feeling closer to home already.

Only in Sydney: Out on the boardwalk, not so far from Fuzzy’s, you’ll find the Big Fiddle, a 55-foot high violin statue created by Sydney artist Cyril Hearn and unveiled in 2005. It’s called the “Largest Ceilidh Fiddle in the World”.

Next stop: Sussex Drive In, Sussex NB.