Category Archives: 2017 Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey

This is the virtual tour that will imagine what it would be like to visit every North American drive-in theater in 2017 by visiting one or two every day. While the drive-ins, restaurants, and hotels are real, all the events in this section are fiction. But it’s fun to dream!

Sept. 1: Kingston Family FunWorld, Kingston ON

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Cars lined up in front of the drive-in screen at twilight

Photo from the Kingston Family FunWorld Facebook page

It’s Day 244 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, and my 19th in Ontario. Thanks to the speedy 401 freeway, it took barely an hour to drive from the Mustang Drive-In, a few miles west of Picton, to the drive-in at Kingston Family FunWorld, in Kingston of course.

The KFFW today is primarily the result of the vision of Dan Wannemacher, who owned it from 1995 until he passed away in July 2016. But according to an excellent 50th anniversary article in The Whig-Standard, it opened in August 1966 as the 66 Drive-In. Just one year later, its owner, Famous Players, sold it to Premier Theatres, which owned and operated the Mustang Drive-In chain. Like most of the other theaters in the chain, it was soon renamed the Mustang.

At some point, the name changed from the Mustang to the KFFW. The Kingston Whig-Standard wrote that it was called the Mustang until 1991. That other, anniversary story said that Wannemacher came to town in 1991. A 2013 article said that he’d owned it “for 23 years”. Yet the KFFW web site says the Mustang folks operated that drive-in “under their name until 1993”, and that Wannemacher bought it in 1995 and renamed it.

Whenever it happened, once Wannemacher took over, he added plenty of stuff, quickly. Up went two more screens, probably in 1995, giving it the total of three it retains today. In went a go-cart track, mini golf, and batting cages.

In 2013, the KFFW went through a fund-raising period for digital projectors like so many other drive-ins. “That’s been the beautiful part that has kept me going, is the people telling me about the great times they’ve had there,” he told Kingston This Week. “I’ve had a wonderful experience just talking to people. A lot of people really love the drive-in. When I hear that, it keeps the heart ticking a little more.”

For that superb anniversary story, which I’ll link again because you really should go read it, Wannemacher said someone else would be running the KFFW in 2016. “I’m not getting any younger,” he said. “The drive-in will definitely be running next year, but the owner might be long gone.”

Wannemacher said that at some point during his final season, he planned to treat himself to a private viewing on his main 50-foot-high screen. “I put a movie on last year, after 11 o’clock, on the last night of the season,” but on one of the two smaller screens. “I just felt like watching a movie by myself.”

Just weeks after that interview, Wannemacher passed away from a sudden heart attack at age 59. Rest in peace.

Miles Today / Total: 55 / 28262 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Annabelle: Creation / 158

Nearby Restaurant: When I go to a brewpub, what I want are great bar food and fresh beer. The Kingston Brewing Company provides both. For the food, I had the mojo pork tacos on soft flour tortillas, and for the beer, I enjoyed the blueberry ale. And the raspberry wheat. After trying samples of a few others. Good thing it’s within walking distance of my hotel.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Residence Inn Water’s Edge has a great view, and the stuff on the inside is pretty good too. Since it’s a Residence Inn, my room had a full kitchen and separate living area. A full hot breakfast buffet was waiting for me in the morning. It’s all good.

Only in Kingston: Kingston is home to Canada’s Penitentiary Museum, housed in the former warden’s residence of Canada’s first penitentiary. Retired prison guards give the guided tours (if you book in advance) through such collections as prisoner-crafted weaponry, implements of punishment, and personnel badges.

Next stop: Port Elmsley Drive-In Theatre, Perth ON.

Aug. 31: Mustang Drive-In, Picton ON

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It’s Day 243 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, (I’m 2/3 of the way through!), and my 18th in Ontario. It took an hour and a quarter to drive from Havelock to the Mustang Drive-In, a few miles west of Picton.

The Mustang opened as the Picton Drive-In in April 1956. It changed its name to the Mustang around 1970, give or take a year or two. It was a single screen with room for about 350 cars.

The modern story of the Mustang is the story of Paul Peterson. As detailed in a wonderful, long article in the National Post, Peterson was working as a counsellor for young offenders and youth in crisis. While driving with his wife in the summer of 1988, took a shortcut. The couple saw the neglected drive-in – “the word ‘abandoned’ would be appropriate,” he said while telling this story – and noticed it was for sale. Peterson pulled over and said to his wife, “Wow, that’d be cool, let’s buy it.”

Peterson said he knew nothing about running a drive-in, and he had a lot of work to do. He had to spruce up the place physically, and he had to change its clientele. “The drive-in Paul inherited, to hear him tell it, was a regular Gomorrah.” After seeing the problem for himself, he took out an ad in the Picton Gazette stating, “The Mustang Drive-In now has a zero tolerance policy for alcohol.” The throng of partiers left, and after a good while, families began to return a few at a time.

The Mustang added a second screen in 2004 and digital projectors around 2015. “We’re digital now,” Peterson told the Toronto Star that year. “That’s changed. That means we’re poor. But really, it’s the same. Lots of fun.”

It takes a character to build a drive-in of character. Based on recent photos, they added the Mustang name to the screen tower less than 10 years ago. The ticket booth is a repurposed city bus. And there’s the honking ritual. As the Post put it, one night Peterson “stood in front of a lot full of cars with a microphone in his hand and said, ‘Look, you’re going to honk at me anyway, so you might as well do it now.’ The place erupted like a wedding convoy. ‘They did it and they loved it,’ Paul told me. ‘Every night since then we’ve honked. It was kismet.’”

Miles Today / Total: 60 / 28207 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Nut Job 2 / 157

Nearby Restaurant: Unlike me, the Crepe Escape spells the name of that delicate pastry with a circumflex over the first e. That attention to detail illustrates how serious these folks are to dishing it up right. I enjoyed a ham and cheese crepe for lunch, followed by a chocolate and blueberries crepe for dessert. I saved some of it to nibble on while I watched the movie.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Picton is the kind of place with historic lodging reflecting its long history. I’m not sure how long the Picton Harbour Inn has been around, but it’s being nicely renovated and offers a price closer to my budget for this odyssey. My top-floor queen room had a comfy bed and good wifi, plus a great view of the harbor.

Only in Picton: In the middle of Picton, halfway between a Dollar Store and a Tim Hortons, is the Un Gallery, a store with “Affordable Art that everyone can enjoy!” It offers paintings, jewelry, sculpture, and lots of other stuff, mostly from eastern Canadian artists. The selection changes often, but it’s always eccentric, quirky and fun.

Next stop: Kingston Family FunWorld, Kingston ON.

Aug. 30: Havelock Family Drive-In, Havelock ON

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Cars in front of a drive-in screen after sunset

Photo from the Havelock Family Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 242 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, and my 17th in Ontario. I finally found a diagonal highway, cutting a good 10 minutes off an otherwise hour’s drive from the Port Hope Drive In, just east of Port Hope of course, to the Havelock Family Drive-In just west of Havelock of course.

Gord Henderson works full time for a concert hall in Toronto, but he found time to build and open the Havelock in 2011. He told the Trent Hills Independent that he’s wanted to open a drive-in ever since he was a teenager. “Life was getting in the way and eventually you’ve got to put the pieces together and here it is,” Henderson said. “I always felt that when you went to the drive-in it was a good feeling and when you left it was a good feeling. I thought if I’m going to do a job in my later years that’s where I want to be.”

The Havelock is an odd little drive-in, with room for just 75 cars but a large concession stand / projection / restroom building. Years after it opened, it still didn’t have any real marquee or other signage, but reviews on Facebook praise its spirit and cleanliness. One really great idea is mosquito screen rentals; I created my own with screen fabric and a magnet collection, but it’s nice to have it already available.

The Peterborough Examiner caught up with Henderson at the end of his second season, and he said he was still having the time of his life. He said he calls his approach “the four wows” of the big screen, FM stereo sound, that cleanliness, and the food. The staff will deliver pizzas to cars, and there are burger, hot dogs, and the other usual suspects available.

In June 2015, it was Peterborough This Week‘s turn to drop in on the Havelock. Henderson had upgraded to a digital projector and was looking forward to a season of better movies and better weather than 2014.

When Henderson retires from his full-time job, he’ll continue to run the Havelock, he told This Week. For now, it’s a way to recharge his batteries from work. “Some people go fishing, some people golf and I go to the drive-in,” he said. “The plan is to do this until I can’t see the screen anymore.”

Miles Today / Total: 40 / 28147 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Hitman’s Bodyguard / 156

Nearby Restaurant: The Havelock Garden Restaurant is another quirky little place. Its specialty is Chinese, but it also offers “Canadian food” such as burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and French fries with gravy. I stuck with the house specialties, and was just a little sad that I wasn’t here for the weekend buffet.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The place to stay in Havelock is the Moonlight Motel just east of town on the Trans-Canada Highway. It’s another one of those well-maintained mom and pop kind of motels, set back from the road with trees and flowers in the front yard. My clean little room had a mini-fridge and microwave along with solid wifi. As far as breakfast and coffee go, any town with a Tim Hortons is a town where I’ll be just fine in the morning.

Only in Havelock: South of town in Campbellford, there’s an 18-foot wide toonie coin mounted eight feet off the ground. The monument honors Campbellford artist Brent Townsend, who created the polar bear image in its center.

Next stop: Mustang Drive-In, Picton ON.