Category Archives: Michigan

July 13: US 23 Drive-in Theater, Flint MI

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US 23 neon marquee and screen silhouetted at sunset

photo by Ron, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 194 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was a nice easy drive of about an hour and a half to get from the Hi Way Drive-In Theatre to the US 23 Drive-in Theater in Flint MI.

The US 23 was the third of what would eventually be five large drive-ins in Flint. At their peak, each could accommodate over 1000 cars. The US 23 is the only one that survived. It started in 1950 with a ornate single screen with a built-in 5-room apartment for the manager. They added a second screen in 1986 using parts from a dismantled drive in screen tower.

Tragedy struck in 1997 when an arson fire destroyed the huge main screen. That was replaced that year with the remaining pieces of what had formed the second screen. They had been set aside for a third screen, which as a result didn’t get added until 2009.

Louis Warrington and Lee Stallard opened the US 23, and Warrington and eventually his son owned it until Louis Jr. passed away at the age of 72 in 2009. The family sold the drive-in to Johnny Thomas.

That original neon sign and marquee, which used to point to even more neon along the original screen tower, is one of the finest surviving 1950s drive-in signs, in my opinion. If you want to see it in motion, and how the US 23 looked in 2010, check this short advertisement. If you want a great glimpse of the history of the drive-in, check out MichiganDriveIns’ 1997 YouTube video, with a Lou Warrington Jr. interview and photos of what the great old screen looked like before it burned down. (And some footage of what it looked like as it was burning.) For older photos but less interview, also check Outdoor Moovies’ 1993 video on YouTube.

I settled in for my 42nd (yay!) consecutive movie night with my root beer float and popcorn, I saw three screens, but two of them had Despicable Me 3 as the early show. Thank goodness for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which I saw for just the second time. It’s a good drive-in movie.

Miles Today / Total:  85 / 24483 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Spider-Man: Homecoming / 110

Nearby Restaurant: Well, Mario’s was directly across the street, but I figured I could handle another couple of blocks to the Canton Chinese Restaurant. Like the US 23, it closed after a fire (2014) but reopened as good as new. The family meals looked great, but since I’m alone, I got the special Canton Three Delight of sesame chicken, Mongolian beef, and shrimp broccoli, a tasty mashup of three dishes I already like separately.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Ah, good old Hampton Inn, my go-to hotel for reliable comfort. This one’s less than three miles away, and TripAdvisor says its the best hotel in Flint. No microwave or mini-fridge in my standard king room, but the wifi was good and the standard Hampton breakfast in the morning was better. Staying here was just a no-brainer.

Only in Flint: Aside from that lead in the drinking water thing and being documentarian Michael Moore’s home town and first target, Flint might be best known for its weather ball. It was built in 1956 at the top of what was then the Citizens Bank. Its light tells the weather forecast, according to Michigan Public Radio: When the Weather Ball is red, higher temperatures ahead. When the Weather Ball is blue, lower temperatures are due. Yellow light in the Weather Ball means there will be no change at all. When it blinks in agitation, means there will be precipitation.

Next stop: Danny Boy’s Drive In Movie Theater, Ionia MI.

July 12: Hi Way Drive-In Theatre, Carsonville MI

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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.

July 11: Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theatre, Honor MI

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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.