It’s Day 205 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Thanks to the interstate highway system, even though I never left Indiana, I required less than two hours to drive from Huntington to the Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis.

When the Tibbs opened in 1967, there were already 10 other drive-in theaters in Indianapolis: the South 31, Bell-Air, Lafayette Road, New Sherman, Northside, Pendleton Pike, Shadeland, Theatre Air Twin, Twin, and Westlake. (AXS says there used to be at least 18 drive-ins in town, but they’re probably counting suburbs.) The Tibbs outlasted them all, and is now the final active drive-in in this sprawling city.

United Artist Theatres opened the Tibbs with only one screen, then added two more screens in 1972. The current owners, Ed and Agnes Quilling, bought the place in 1995 and added a fourth screen in 1999. They also added a new marquee, and added other renovations including digital projection.

I embedded a nice 2015 visit from IN the Loop TV, which shows what the Tibbs is like these days. The drive-in also reopened in December that year to show Star Wars: The Force Awakens despite temperatures in the 30s.

I just missed the Tibbs’ 50th anniversary on July 16. Four screens offer a lot of choices, including a bawdy women’s movie, Girls Trip. I’d bet even money that I won’t encounter that movie again as I sample mostly small-town, single-screen drive-ins, so I was happy to give it a chance.

Miles Today / Total:  112 / 25868 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Girls Trip / 121

Nearby Restaurant: Those regional / local chain restaurants are so interesting. They’re big enough that they must be doing something great, but small enough to be quirky. That’s why I went over to Yats for some Cajun cuisine. I scored some chili cheese étouffée with crawfish that made my mouth water just from smelling it. It came on a bed of rice with a buttered baguette. Yum yum!

Where I Virtually Stayed: Indianapolis is sprawling, so I tried to stay close to the Tibbs, and that’s why I chose the Comfort Suites about a 10 minute drive away near the airport. My room was clean and comfortable, it had the full set of amenities, breakfast had sausage and eggs, and the price was better than the hotels downtown.

Only in Indianapolis: When I visited Boston last summer, I fell in love with candlepin bowling. There’s a place in Indianapolis, Action Duckpin Bowl, that features its cousin. As with candlepin, bowlers get three tries per frame to knock down the lighter pins with a fist-sized ball, but unlike candlepin’s tall skinny pins, duckpins are short and squat. If you get the chance, you should try it!

Next stop:  CenterBrook Drive-In, Martinsville IN.

It’s Day 204 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It only took an hour and a half on a quiet Sunday to drive from the Hummel Drive-In east of Winchester IN to the Huntington Twin Drive-In in Huntington IN.

The Huntington opened in 1950. The 1952 Theatre Catalog said its owner was Gail Lancaster, a man reported to have “two grand pianos in his living room”. According to Huntington County Farmers and Families, Lancaster also managed the Huntington Theater. By 1963, the owner was listed as Maurice Robbins. (There was a Maurice Robbins who was mayor of Huntington in 1980. Wonder if it was the same guy.) Later sources suggest that a group owned the Huntington.

By early 2001, the Huntington was owned by Syndicate Theatres and managed by Dave and Peggy Brooks. In August 2001, they sold it to John and Anilda Detzler, who soon began making renovations. In March 2005, most of the screen tower blew down, but the Detzlers rebuilt in time for a Memorial Day Weekend opening. They also added a second screen for the 2011 season.

In July 2013, the Detzlers put the Huntington up for sale. I didn’t see the digital projection issue mentioned then, but it had to be a factor. “There are two major reasons: I’m 61 and my wife is 68, and we’ve tried to do most everything ourselves, including the long, late hours,” Detzler told The Journal Gazette. “Our primary plan, dream and goal has always been to relocate (to Colorado) permanently.”

That’s when Bob Goodrich, owner of the Goodrich Quality Theaters chain came in. He agreed to buy the Huntington in December 2014 and closed on it the following April, at a signing apparently witnessed by WANE, Fort Wayne’s News Leader, in a report that’s now on YouTube. Goodrich installed digital projectors, added a credit card system, and generally made the place better than new. The YouTube drone video embedded above shows how nice it looked late last year.

I was a little surprised to see the serious movie Dunkirk leading off one of the two screens here. I don’t know whether I’ll get another chance to see this, so I was happy to get another break from animation and comic book heroes. I’ll have plenty of time to catch up with them in the nights to come.

Miles Today / Total:  78 / 25756 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Dunkirk / 120

Nearby Restaurant: When I’m on the road, all I really need for a meal is a good old fashioned diner such as Johnny’s. (Think greasy spoon, minus the greasy.) I brought cash to pay, and my reward was pancakes, sausage, coffee and homemade pie at a very reasonable price.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It’s nice to be back in a town with lodging choices, and the hotel I chose this time was the Comfort Inn. It felt freshly renovated, and the breakfast was a notch above the already decent Comfort standard. And my clean, comfy room had the full set of amenities. Just a nice, solid experience.

Only in Huntington: This one’s a no-brainer. Huntington is the home to the Dan Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center. The converted Christian Science church is more than a monument to the hometown guy who famously argued the wrong side in a potato spelling debate, which he later called “a ‘defining moment’ of the worst imaginable kind.” It’s also about US vice presidents in general, “the unique and fascinating stories of each of those who have held the second most important office in our country.”

Next stop: Tibbs Drive-In, Indianapolis IN.

It’s Day 203 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Since it was Saturday, that meant another trip across a state line in search of another weekend-only drive-in theater. This time, the drive took about an hour and a half from Middle Point OH to the Hummel Drive-In east of Winchester IN, just across the border.

In 1949, this drive-in opened as the Air Line Auto Theatre, a reasonable name considering that it’s just across Indiana Highway 32 from the Randolph County Airport. Arthur Kemp opened the place, but by 1952, Mike Make had taken over. Make owned and operated the Air Line (eventually the Airline Drive-In) into the 1990s. Alan Teicher bought the Airline and added a second screen in 2002. (There’s a YouTube video from near the end of the Teicher era, promoting its unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, embedded above.)

Then in August 2014, faced with the cost of converting to digital projection, Teicher closed the Airline and his other theaters. He told the Bradenton FL Herald, “I’ve been in business for 58 years, I’m 80 years old and think it’s time to retire.” It sat idle for over a year, then Shawn and Pauletta Hummel bought the drive-in in March 2016. They renamed it the Hummel Drive-In.

By early August, after $200,000 worth of renovations and projection equipment, the Hummels were ready to reopen with one screen. As Pauletta told the Richmond IN Palladium-Item, “We really started from scratch, for the most part, on a lot of these things. The foundation was there, but we did whatever we could to improve the facility.” The concession stand was rehabilitated “entirely,” including the bathrooms and projection area. They said at the time they’d start with one screen, then expand back to two screens “down the road”.

I guess conditions haven’t yet warranted lighting up that second screen, which had been badly damaged when they bought the place, so my only choice for the early movie was the latest Planet of the Apes installment. It was only the second time I’d seen it, so I was grateful for the novelty. I kicked back with a pizza burger and a “monster” popcorn and enjoyed the show.

Miles Today / Total:  73 / 25678 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: War for the Planet of the Apes / 119

Nearby Restaurant: The Referees Bar and Grille was adjacent to my hotel (see below), so that made it easy to reach. I had to leave for the drive-in before the live music started, but I was able to catch a little when I returned before it closed. Earlier for dinner, I enjoyed a rib eye steak with sauteed mushrooms and some salad and veggies to stay balanced. And beer and TV sports, of course, because I needed to fit in.

Where I Virtually Stayed: If you’re staying in Winchester, you’ll want to check the Randolph Inn & Suites. This place has a really nice new main building, plus the “budget building” that might have been an old motel. My main building room had the full set of modern amenities, and the breakfast in the morning was better than most mom and pop places.

Only in Winchester: The author of The Gaslight Addition grew up in Winchester. The 1995 movie version, Now and Then, was directed by a man who also grew up in Winchester. Although the town’s name was changed in the movie, a local museum has preserved a significant part, the Our Jonnie gravestone in the old Winchester Graveyard.

Next stop: Huntington Twin Drive-In, Huntington IN.