https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=its4w15_cr0

It’s Day 190 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Staying in the Sister Lakes area of southwest Michigan, it took me barely 20 minutes to drive from the Sunset Drive In Theater, halfway between Hartford and Watervliet, to the 5 Mile Drive in Movie Theater north of Dowagiac.

The 5 Mile was built in 1961 as a single-screen drive-in with a capacity of about 450 cars. It was purchased by Glenda and Neal Edwards in 2006. That’s the same couple that has owned the Sunset since 2003.

There was a nice article about the 5 Mile in The Detroit News in July 2013, available online in a report (pdf) by the city of Dowagiac. “The lot was grass and not gravel,” wrote Tom Greenwood, “footballs and Frisbees cut through the air, kids did tai chi on the monkey bars and lawn chairs sprouted like mushrooms after a rain.”

A trip to the concession stand around midnight that night also delighted Greenwood. “It was like nothing had changed since I was a teen,” he wrote. “Hot popcorn spilling from the sizzling popper, pizza whole or by the slice, hot dogs, nachos, candy and a three-gallon brine-filled jar of pickles the size of a turkey drumstick.”

Just like my last report, I added a YouTube video by Outdoor Moovies to show you a few scenes from the drive-in. This one’s from September 2013.

The weekend-only 5 Mile had a great double feature, the same as the night before at the Sunset: Despicable Me 3 followed by the new Spider-Man movie. Too bad I can never stay up late enough for the second show. This was my sixth DM3 viewing, so I’m starting to memorize longer stretches of dialogue.

Miles Today / Total:  15 / 23973 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Despicable Me 3 / 106

Nearby Restaurant: Usually, when I read about folks buying a 50-year-old drive-in from the original owners, it’s about a theater. Last January, the story (in the Dowagiac Daily News) was about Lutz’s Drive-In restaurant next door to the 5 Mile. New owner Scott Scherer and his family must be doing okay, because Lutz’s still served up its signature chicken ranch pizza.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Scathing reviews on TripAdvisor drove me away from downtown Dowagiac to a cute little place, across the street from Round Lake, called The Bed-No-Breakfast Resort. The room was great, the price was better than I’ve seen lately, and they told the truth – there really is no breakfast included.

Only in Dowagiac: Dowagiac gained national attention in June 1964 after police began investigating multiple reports of what became known as the Dewey Lake Monster. According to Wikipedia, the beast had already been known to locals in the area for several years prior, and was rumored to dwell primarily along a 15-mile stretch of swamp-land extending from Dowagiac/Sister Lakes toward Decatur (along Dewey Lake Street). The mystery remains to this day, as do the sightings of the bipedal 10-foot creature.

Next stop: Getty Drive-In, Muskegon MI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVZqJUrfytw

It’s Day 189 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took just a bit over an hour to drive north from Plymouth IN to the Sunset Drive In Theater, halfway between Hartford and Watervliet MI.

According to a 2010 article in The Herald-Palladium via Hartford History, the Sunset opened in 1948. Glenda and Neal Edwards purchased the Sunset in 2003 and have been running it ever since. “Originally we purchased this thinking that our children would run it. They’ve kind of outgrown it, and here we are,” she said, laughing.

Their son told The Herald-Palladium about a question I get sometimes via email.  “The silliest question that I get is, ‘What time does the movie start?’ I get asked that all the time,” he said.

In an earlier article in the Kalamazoo Gazette, Glenda said, “The appeal is that people have more choices here” than they do in a standard movie theater. “You can sit outside the car and chit-chat if you want to. Parents can watch the kids run around.”

“People have given up on them (drive-ins) over the years, but you put something into them, they start coming back. It’s like watering a plant,” she said.

Above, I’ve embedded a 2013 YouTube video by Outdoor Moovies, whose camera work (or camera equipment) has improved over its many years of sharing drive-in memories. Thanks!

The weekend-only, single-screen Sunset had a great double feature this night: Despicable Me 3 followed by the new Spider-Man movie. Too bad I can never stay up late enough for the second show. This was my fifth DM3 viewing, so I’m starting to memorize parts of the dialogue.

Miles Today / Total:  70 / 23958 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Despicable Me 3 / 105

Nearby Restaurant: The Arrowhead Bar & Grill in Hartford is just that, a bar and grill, but it does its job well. For the grill part, I had the Arrowhead burger with bacon, barbeque sauce, and an onion ring, served with homemade potato chips instead of fries. And then there was the bar part, with cold beer on tap. It was a solid way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The closest hotel was the Fairfield Inn in Watervliet. Never mind an indoor pool, this place has a whole water park attached to it, though it’s not free for hotel guests. My room had a mini-fridge, solid wifi, and a clean, comfortable bed. Breakfast included a waffle and a few other hot items. For being the closest hotel, this was pretty good.

Only in Hartford: The Sunset sits halfway between Hartford and Watervliet MI, where the local VFW post displays one of the very few World War I cannons made in the US. According to Roadside America, only 200 of this type were produced. After it arrived in France, it was rechambered to 120mm to make the supply of ammuntion easier.

Next stop: 5 Mile Drive in Movie Theater, Dowagiac MI.