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!

May 14: Twilight Drive-In Theatre, Langley BC

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It’s Day 134 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Not counting the time spent waiting to talk with the Canadian border crossing guard, it still took almost two hours to drive from Oak Harbor WA to the Twilight Drive-In Theatre, east of Langley BC.

The Twilight seemed oddly familiar. On my first visit to British Columbia several years ago, I crossed the border at the same point, due north of Lynden WA, as on this trip. That first time, I was just looking for the Fraser Highway to take me to Vancouver, and just after I made the turn I was surprised to see a drive-in. If I weren’t so disoriented by Canadian politeness, I might have thought to take a picture.

The other reason the Twilight seemed familiar was that I just wrote about it a couple of months ago. Vancouver is Hollywood’s less expensive playground, and the Twilight is the place to go to film any drive-in scenes.

According to Vancounver’s The Georgia Straight, Jay Daulat built and opened the Twilight in September 2005 after his previous drive-in, the Hillcrest in Surrey, closed to make room for residential development. Now that Daulat owns the land as well as the drive-in, he should be able to stay in operation for as long as he wants.

I was very happy to have a movie to watch on a Sunday night, and if there’s a film I wouldn’t mind seeing four times in a week and a half, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 would be it. With some popcorn and slightly unusual Canadian candy (Maynards Wine Gums?) to fortify me, I was happy that this new extension of an old drive-in tradition was still around.

Miles Today / Total:  77 / 14646 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 / 61

Nearby Restaurant: The closest restaurant to the Twilight is the Mazatlán Mexican Restaurant, and it’s a hidden gem in a mostly industrial area. I loved the prawn tacos with a margarita on the side. If you want real Mexican food just north of that other border, this works.

Where I Virtually Stayed: I had a great time at the Holiday Inn Express in Langley. Plenty of hotels have indoor pools (which I don’t mention because I hate to swim alone), but this place has a steam room and sauna too. Add some good wifi, a fridge, a coffee maker, and the typically generous HIE breakfast (and the amazing HIE cinnamon rolls), and I was rested and ready for a serious drive to my next stop.

Only in Langley: Langley is home to the Langley Ukulele Ensemble, which Wikipedia says is “considered to be one of the top ukulele performing ensembles in the world.” The group is composed of 20 musicians, aged 12 to 18, who perform 50-80 concerts a year. They were featured in the 2010 documentary Mighty Uke.

Next stop: Park Drive-In Theatre, Prince George BC.

May 13: Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre, Oak Harbor WA

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zmu1vqXdtM

It’s Day 133 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Oak Harbor WA is only about 13 miles from what was my starting point, Port Townsend, but a lot of that is water. So I took a ferry for the first time this year to Whidbey Island, home of the Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre. The total travel time was almost an hour and a half.

According to an obituary in the Whidbey News-Times, the Blue Fox was built in 1959 by Woodrow “Woody” Cecil and his wife Charlotte. Another article said Woody “partnered with George Dickson” to build it.

A 2006 article said Darrell and Lori Bratt purchased the theater in 1988. In 1990, it switched to FM sound. The screen went down in a 1998 windstorm, but obviously they fixed that.

In 2012, they turned to the community to help raise money for a digital projector. With that success, the projector was installed in time to start the 2013 season.

The Blue Fox also has a go-cart track (video here), and about a year ago in April 2016, they replaced the old tires that lined the edges. To get rid of the tires, they held a tire giveaway. Kelsey Bratt, daughter-in-law of owner Darrell Bratt, told the Whidbey News-Times, “Who doesn’t want a tire swing in the backyard?”

The Blue Fox is just a fun place to be. It’s got an arcade and those go-carts in addition to the classic drive-in experience. On the screen, they showed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the second feature so I got to watch something new early – Born In China. And after I ordered my pizza, they gave me a pager shaped like a pizza slice so I’d know when to pick it up. It was busy, and a bit chilly, but it was a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Miles Today / Total:  23 / 14569 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Born In China / 60

Nearby Restaurant: Tamayo’s, just a block away from Flintstone Park (see below), is one of those Thai Asian fusion restaurants. I don’t know what to call it, but I sure enjoyed lunch there. There was pho, there were spring rolls, and the soup was amazing.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Best Western Plus Oak Harbor is a nice place not too far from downtown and the bayside parks. There were cookies in the evening, a nice room with good wifi and a fridge, and an amazing array of choices for breakfast with sausage, bacon, and eggs along with fruit and the usual continental breakfast suspects.

Only in Oak Harbor: There’s a little park on the bay called Flintstone Park. So of course they had to add a concrete replica of Fred Flintstone’s stone-age car. Just in case you ever wanted to get your picture taken while pretending to be Fred or Wilma.

Next stop: Twilight Drive-In Theatre, Langley BC.

May 12: Wheel-In-Motor Movie Drive In, Port Townsend WA

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Wheel-In Motor Movie box office at twilight, with the screen in the background

photo from the Wheel-In Motor Movie Facebook page

It’s Day 132 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took about an hour to drive up the Quimper Peninsula from Bremerton WA to the Wheel-In-Motor Movie Drive In outside of Port Townsend.

Ernie and Geneve Thompson carved a viewing area out of the forest and opened the Wheel-In in 1953. Their grandson and current manager Rick Wiley told KIRO radio, “We’re out in the woods of Jefferson County. It is a natural evergreen amphitheater. There is absolutely no ambient light; it’s either the stars or the screen.”

The Wheel-In hasn’t changed much since its opening. The concession stand has booths with picture windows and a small indoor viewing area. (Yet there are no walk-ins allowed, so I guess they’re available if you don’t like whoever you drove in with.) Best of all, it still provides drive-in speakers as well as FM radio sound. Call me old-fashioned, but I still enjoy hanging one of those on my window.

According to a 2013 article in the Port Townsend Leader, Sharon and Dick Wiley, Rick’s parents and the daughter- and son-in-law of Ernie Thompson, bought the drive-in in 1969. In 2007, Dick Wiley passed away and Rick moved back to town to run the Wheel-In.

In the 1990s, Sunset magazine rated the Wheel-In as the number-one drive-in in the West. “There is a quality and uniqueness that is undeniable,” Wiley said. “It’s an event, it’s a happening. It’s not just about the movie; it’s about the night air and the electricity in the air.”

The Wheel-In launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to raise money toward a digital projector, so it appears to be set for more decades of movies under the stars.

I was really disappointed to find such a historic treasure still closed for the season. Last year, the Wheel-In opened on the last weekend in April. In November, it posted on Facebook, “Due to the worst longest winter in the history of the universe, we have a couple of major projects to complete before we reopen for the 2017 summer season.”

Miles Today / Total:  49 / 14546 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 59

Nearby Restaurant: For the second straight day, the closest restaurant to the drive-in is adjacent to the nearby airport. The Spruce Goose Cafe, next to the Jefferson County International Airport, is home of the Goose Dog, which refers to this hot dog’s extra large size and not (I hope!) its ingredients. Add chili, cheese and onions and you’ve got a lunch that might keep you full for the rest of the day.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Bishop Victorian Hotel was built in 1891, but it does a great job of straddling the past and present. My suite had a fireplace, but it also had a flat-screen TV and good internet access. Instead of lining up at a breakfast nook, I was greeted with a basket full of continental breakfast just outside my room. It wasn’t the cheapest place to stay, but the Bishop was a relaxing experience.

Only in Port Townsend: In downtown Port Townsend, there’s a wooden 75-foot fire bell tower holding a 3/4-ton brass bell. It was built in 1890 and rang coded signals as to the location and severity of the blaze that it was summoning the community to fight. Over the decades, it persisted with sporadic maintenance, and in 2004 was fully restored by the Jefferson County Historical Society and the City of Port Townsend.

Next stop: Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre, Oak Harbor WA.