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.

It’s Day 255 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. These Canadian maritime islands look so small on the map, but it was another 4+ hours to drive this day, from Brackley Beach on Prince Edward Island to the Valley Drive In in Cambridge, Nova Scotia.

The Valley opened around 1956, according to my reference books. Some online sources say it was 1950 or the early 1950s. At any rate, Rockwell Fletcher “Rocky” Hazel and a Phil Barkhouse bought a chunk of the former Waterville Airport, according to the Annapolis Valley Flying Association, and built the drive-in right where the hangar used to be.

The history of the Valley gets a little fuzzy after that, except that it stayed in operation into the 1990s. After it closed for a while, something remarkable happened. The Coldbrook and District Lions Club bought the place and reopened it in 1999. As described by ValleyConnect.ca, “The initial loan … has been repaid with proceeds from their very 1st season with money to spare, which was donated to local schools. Since then they have been able to preform a number of key upgrades. Switching to digital projection in 2012 with the help of the local Credit Union and replace their screen in 2013 in part by a grant from the Province of Nova Scotia.”

The Lions run the Valley as a civic-minded non-profit, staffed (mostly?) by volunteers. Other local non-profits take turns hosting 50/50 fundraisers at the site each weekend, and they sometimes rent out the screen for private functions. It’s a great example of how a local group can preserve a bit of history and provide entertainment to the community.

The YouTube video of the day is a great look at the Valley’s opening weekend this year. If you want to see another video from a couple of years ago showing the Valley’s then-new screen, and if you have a high tolerance for gratuitous profanity, there’s another YouTube clip here.

Pretty much all the drive-ins around here are closed on weeknights this time of year, yet there was a reason I made sure to visit the Valley on a Tuesday – drive-in bingo! Players buy cards from members of the Lions Club as they drive in and park. “We recommend you bring a piece of cardboard or TV tray to rest your cards on during play.” The announcer reads the details over the radio, and there’s an intermission break. The concession stand and bathrooms are open. All in all, it’s the next best thing to the drive-in movie experience when they aren’t showing a movie.

Miles Today / Total: 255 / 29754 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: It had been a while since I’d ordered a pizza, and the House of Dough was right across the street from my hotel (see below). I had a pie topped with the local spicy ground beef, called donair, plus bacon, pepperoni and the usual suspects. Glad I always pack some antacid to fight all those spices!

Where I Virtually Stayed: In this little hodgepodge of communities along Highway 1, the Greensboro Inn is one of the closest to the Valley, and probably one of the nicest. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary motel. Inside, my room was clean and stocked with all the modern amenities. It’s not one of those places that serves breakfast, but with a Tim Hortons just a couple hundred feet away, that’s not a problem.

Only in Cambridge: The Charles MacDonald Concrete House Museum in nearby Centerville is just what it says – a house made by Charles MacDonald out of concrete. He was an artist who spent four decades devoted to manufacturing, promoting, and using concrete. His house was a converted cement brick factory.

Next stop: Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre, Sydney NS.

It’s Day 254 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I had another four-hour drive, this time from Paquetville NB across the Confederation Bridge to the Brackley Drive In in Brackley Beach on Prince Edward Island.

The Brackley’s Our Story page says that the drive-in started as the Parkview in the “mid-1950s”. But none of my reference books from the 1950s made note of the Parkview even though they noticed the North River nearby. From at least 1963 through at least 1976 the Parkview was there, battling the North River and at least two other drive-ins to attract patrons on the small island. Eventually, they all closed.

Returning to Our Story, “In 1992, George, Linda and Robert Boyle of Winsloe, PEI purchased the drive-in and lovingly restored it to its original condition.” It’s currently owned and operated by Bob and Marcie Boyle.

Bob was interviewed just this August by the CBC after a lightning strike damaged the projection equipment a few days earlier. He and a technician thought at first it would be a simple fix, but it eventually turned out that everything that was connected to the internet at the time was damaged. “It just seemed day after day there was something new,” Boyle said. It was frustrating for a while, but everything got back to normal soon enough.

On my virtual visit, I just missed the busiest weekend of the year as It and Annabelle: Creation played to sold-out crowds. I’ll also miss the Halloween-like Trunk or Treat weekends that are coming up later in the season. On a Monday in September, I’m just glad to have such a lovely beach to experience.

Miles Today / Total: 221 / 29499 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: Richard’s Fresh Seafood is a local living legend. The lobster rolls are huge and, unlike a lot of places, packed with lobster meat. Mine came with fries and the unavoidable cole slaw, but a blueberry ale from the local Gahan Brewery washed down any objections I might have had.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Brackley Country Inn is adjacent to the drive-in; you can’t get any closer than that. My room had everything I needed except maybe a movie playing in its back yard on a Monday night.

Only in Brackley Beach: Prince Edward Island National Park is the beach in Brackley Beach. There are rolling hills, dunes, a small lighthouse, and acres of open ground just right for getting away from it all.

Next stop: Valley Drive In, Cambridge NS.