https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RzH4r4wRm4

It’s Day 193 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was nothing compared to some of the western legs of my odyssey, but this day’s drive was probably the longest I’ll have all month. Almost four hours after I left little Honor MI, I rolled up at the Hi Way Drive-In Theatre, a few miles west of Carsonville MI.

The Hi Way is the oldest active drive-in theater in Michigan. C. H. “Torchy” Clements opened the Hi Way in 1948 and owned it for the next 20 years. Doug Davis was the manager and projectionist. In 1968, Clements sold the drive-in to Stanley Fetting, who ran it with his son. They solid the Hi Way in 1997 to Steve Kurzinsky.

This place is a bit in the middle of nowhere, tucked between Highway M-46 and a bend in the Black River, surrounded by miles of farmland. The lot has the standard old drive-in ramps, all on a grassy field. There are speaker poles for 360 vehicles, but with FM radio sound, they might be able to find room for a few more. Without any meaningful civilization within a couple of miles, the Hi Way benefits from a lack of light pollution.

If your computer (or phone, or however you’re reading this) can play an old Windows Media Video format file, your first stop should be the Hi Way’s history page, which has a 20-minute slice of life from 1996, during Fetting’s tenure. That provides great background for a 2014 look at the Kurzinsky administration. Ben La Londe created one of the best little documentaries about a single drive-in, and I was able to embed it as a YouTube video above. Watch both to see the evolution of the projection system and the projectionist.

There’s yet another little WMV video from 2003 available at WaterWinterWonderland.com, which also has a note from Torchy’s daughter Patricia. “I was four years old when the drive in opened and spent a good part of my life there,” she wrote. “Some of that time was watching movies and fireworks, and some was pulling weeds from the flower beds in front, checking the speakers, and when I was older, manning the ticket booth. I loved it.”

I had a pretty good time myself, even though it was my eighth time through Despicable Me 3. I could crane my head out of the window and look out at the Milky Way.

Miles Today / Total:  215 / 24398 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Despicable Me 3 / 109

Nearby Restaurant: Another small town, another great little diner where they serve breakfast till 2 in the afternoon. Actually, the Triple J Cafe in Carsonville stays open till 3, but you get the idea. I enjoyed the sausage-stuffed French toast with a side of grits and enough coffee to make me glad I made the drive to get here.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Another small town, another mom and pop motel. In this case, the closest town with a motel was Sandusky, and the motel was DeMott’s Westpark Inn. There’s a restaurant and bar on the property, so that was nice. My room had a refridgerator and wifi, and there was actually a decent continental breakfast in the morning. All at a really good price!

Only in Carsonville: Less than 10 miles away at the end of Sanilac Road, the local name for Highway M-46 that leads from the Hi Way to Carsonville and beyond, you’ll find the Port Sanilac Lighthouse. The 59-foot tower and attached two-story house were built in 1886. The US government decommissioned the lighthouse and sold it to Carl Rosenfield for $4000 in 1928. Rosenfield’s grandson owns the place now, and apparently the lighthouse still works.

Next stop: US 23 Drive-in Theater, Flint MI.

It’s Day 192 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Once again, I went driving north along the coast of Lake Michigan another two hours or more to go from Muskegon MI to the Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theatre just west of Honor MI.

What a success story! The Cherry Bowl was so All-American that it opened on the Fourth of July in 1953. They widened their single screen in the late 1950s. According to Wikipedia, longtime owner Jean Griffin ran the business after the death of her husband (listed as L.O. Griffin) in 1959, and was known for working in high heels. Laura and Harry Clark purchased the property from Jean in 1996. Harry Clark died in 2012, and Laura continues to operate the theatre and diner.

Laura caught a big break in 2013 when the Cherry Bowl was the second winner of Honda’s Project Drive-In promotion, scoring a free digital projector to keep the movies coming.

The Cherry Bowl web site says, “Our sound system consists of the original vacuum tube motiograph amplifiers, that still power our speakers at the speaker posts.” The drive-in also has FM sound, but I do love those in-car speakers. Harry Clark installed sculptures next to the theater’s vintage speakers and 14-foot neon hot dog. One sculpture is a pink and blue Volkswagen with a clown head on it, another is a pink cow with cherries for spots, and there is classic Chevy positioned to look like it is coming through a fence.

I just had to embed Jeff Goss’s YouTube video because he shot it just two nights before I arrived. It’s the closest thing to seeing what I saw, and since my visit was only virtual, we have to rely on these real-life people to document it.

After a round of mini-golf, which every drive-in should have, I gathered up my popcorn (made from the original 1953 popper) and pizza and settled in for my seventh viewing of Despicable Me 3. On the plus side, all these back-to-back-to-back movie nights have brought my pace from a serious deficit to 205, over my 200 target for the year. We’ll see how close I can get by Labor Day.

Miles Today / Total:  121 / 24183 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Despicable Me 3 / 108

Nearby Restaurant: At the Platte River Inn, they serve breakfast till 2 in the afternoon, which I love after being on the road for a while. I went for a Denver omelet to remind me of home (near the headwaters of a longer Platte River), and a side of biscuits. Add enough coffee to keep me awake through a drive-in movie, and I was all set.

Where I Virtually Stayed: When you’re staying in Honor, you’re probably staying at the Honor Motel. This was one of those mom and pop classic motels run by people who care about the place. My room had the full set of amenities, including solid wifi. I was on my own for breakfast, but the location near the Cherry Bowl was perfect.

Only in Honor: Just like the Spud Drive-In in Driggs ID, the funkiest thing in town is the drive-in itself, or at least its set of decorations. Roadside America has some photos of the unusual painted fiberglass cow, the 8-foot fiberglass rooster, and that huge hot dog.

Next stop: Hi Way Drive-In Theatre, Carsonville MI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v2fCi7I8Fk

It’s Day 191 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Driving north along the coast of Lake Michigan, it took me less than two hours to get from the 5 Mile Drive in Movie Theater to the Getty Drive-In in Muskegon MI.

According to the Getty’s about page, the drive-in opened as the single-screen NK Drive In (named for then-owner Nick Kuris) in 1948. It was the second to open in Muskegon, preceded by the Auto Drive-In the year before. Loeks Theatres purchased the NK in 1966 and changed it to the Getty, named for nearby Getty Street. They expanded to four screens in 1978, added radio sound in 1993, and converted to digital projection in 2013.

Some of those points get mentioned in the really nice 2016 YouTube video I embedded above. Loeks president J.D. Loeks gives a tour of the Getty while talking with folks from WOOD, Grand Rapids’ News Leader.

In an Mlife article from this April, general manager Kevin Sims said the Getty draws all ages. “You may see some teenagers, and some that are 65 reliving the past,” he said.

Another point I was proud to see Sims make was that outside food is permitted, but patrons should check out the excellent concession stand. “We have the best popcorn in the world,” he said. I wish that all drive-ins could adopt that spirit of relaxed confidence in their product.

With four movies to choose from, I relented to watch the latest Spider-Man film. I’ve wanted to see it since it came out, and sure enough, it’s a good movie and a great drive-in movie. I had hesitiated only because I might be seeing it a lot more over the next month.

Miles Today / Total:  89 / 24062 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Spider-Man: Homecoming / 107

Nearby Restaurant: Though I like the part about saving money, I look for little hole-in-the-wall restaurants for the kind of meals that aren’t available anywhere else. Such is the case with Fatty Lumpkins’ Sandwich Shack, which serves up wonderful combinations on Italian hoagie buns. I had the signature “Fatty,” of course, with roast beef, ham, turkey, and provolone, and that was before all the toppings. The place isn’t impressive on the outside, but the sandwiches are definitely worth the trip.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It’s nice to find a good Rodeway Inn such as the one in Muskegon. It was an older two-story motel, half the price of the nearby Hampton Inn, but I still got a mini-fridge and microwave, a clean bed, good wifi, and more than enough savings to take advantage of the adjacent Whitlow’s restaurant for a full breakfast.

Only in Muskegon: Near downtown, there’s a 10-foot statue that’s a salute to snowboarding. According to Virtual Globetrotting, ‘The Turning Point’ by Jason Dreweck is a monument to Muskegon native Sherm Poppen’s 1965 invention of the Snurfer. His daughter Wendy rides the original board at the top while the figure at the bottom is a modern day snowboarder at the Olympics.

Next stop: Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theatre, Honor MI.