photo by John, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 106 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I doubled back from the Boulevard Drive-In Theatre in Kansas City KS so I could watch a Sunday evening movie for the first time in four weeks. It only took 20 minutes to drive back to the Missouri side to the I-70 Drive-In in Kansas City MO.

Of the hundreds of active drive-ins in the United States, there are plenty that are named for US highways and even a few for state highways, but the I-70 is the only one named for an interstate highway. Some closed drive-ins had been named after interstates; just in Missouri there was another I-70 in St. Peters and the I-44 in Valley Park. Kansas City’s I-70 is the last of its kind.

The I-70 opened in July 1964 with a single screen, then split into four screens in the late 1980s. According to an article in the Kansas City Star, Darryl Smith bought the I-70 in 1999. When the digital projection changeover swept through in 2014, he sold it to B&B Theatres, along with the Twin in Independence.

Four screens mean four choices, and I hadn’t seen two of the early movies. One was the latest Smurfs installment, a phrase that I was a little sad to type just now, and the other was Ghost in the Shell, which makes a fine drive-in movie.

Miles Today / Total:  12 / 11447 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Ghost in the Shell / 51

Nearby Restaurant: Just across the border in Independence, Dixon’s Famous Chili is the closest excellent place to eat, but I couldn’t leave KC before getting some famous barbecue. Arthur Bryant’s BBQ is as legendary as barbecue gets. The wall of celebrities who have enjoyed this tradition help provide the mood, but the heaps of tender meat and singular sauce are the reason this place is truly famous.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It’s not in too many small towns, but the Drury Inn is one of the places I search out. The one across I-70 from Kauffman Stadium is just five minutes away from the drive-in. Happy hour every evening, a really solid breakfast buffet in the morning, and lots of little touches keep the Drurys among the top hotels in its class.

Only in Kansas City: Continuing the I-70 theme, the first section of any interstate was an eight-mile stretch that opened as I-70 just west of Topeka on November 14, 1956. (The last section of the originally planned interstate to be completed was also part of I-70, through Glenwood Canyon CO in 1992.)

Next stop: Mid-Way Drive-In Theatre, Paola KS.

photo by Jim Good, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 104 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. US Route 24, one of the first US highways established in 1926, leads almost perfectly from my previous stop in Moberly to the Twin Drive-In in Independence MO. It took me a little over two hours to drive the historic route

According to Cinema Treasures, the Twin was a latecomer to the initial drive-in wave, opening in November 1965 as the first twin-screen drive-in in the Kansas City area. It’s been running ever since, and it was most recently purchased in 2014 by B&B Theatres, the folks who also own the Moberly Five and Drive.

According to an article in The Examiner, the Twin’s previous owners weren’t able to invest in digital projection equipment. “They (the owners) approached us and said, ‘We just can’t do this,’” said Bobby Bagby, B&B’s vice president of marketing. The new owners installed the new projectors, retained the old staff, and another drive-in was able to keep on rolling film, only virtually.

Over the previous three weeks, I had seen just four movies (including Thursday night in Moberly) including only one that I hadn’t seen earlier. So it was doubly nice to be able to watch a new release, The Fate of the Furious, which happens to be a fine drive-in movie.

Miles Today / Total:  123 / 11418 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Fate of the Furious / 49

Nearby Restaurant: Most people don’t know that to get into the Harry Truman spirit of Independence (see below), the place to eat is Dixon’s Famous Chili, where Truman frequently visited, even while he was president. Dixon’s started in 1919, and it’s been dishing up its fine, meaty chili ever since. You can get your chili with natural meat juices, bean juice, or dry-ish, and a variety of additions are available. New since the last time I visited are the all-you-can-eat tacos, starring the same sort of chili meat.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Now that I’m back in a metropolitan area, there are plenty of chain hotels available. My choice this time was the Holiday Inn Express in Independence. My room was freshly remodeled, the wifi was excellent, and the cinnamon rolls at breakfast are one of my guilty pleasures.

Only in Independence: A couple of days ago, I was in Lamar, where former US President Harry Truman was born, but Independence is where he lived before and after his White House residency. His house is now a National Park Service historic site, with tours that are limited to eight visitors at a time because it’s not a large house. In today’s world of McMansions and million-dollar lobbyists, it’s amazing to see a former president’s house that was no more opulent than yours.

Next stop: Boulevard Drive-In Theatre, Kansas City KS.

photo by Darren Snow, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 103 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Moberly MO is home to the Moberly Drive-In, part of the Moberly Five and Drive movie cluster. Sitting in north-central Missouri, Moberly really isn’t on the way to any other strings of drive-ins, so I had to swing out of my way to reach it. I had thought to leave it until my west-to-east run through Iowa a couple of months from now, but then I noticed that the drive-in was already open for 7-day viewing. It took four hours to drive from the Barco in Lamar, but I made it in plenty of time for the show.

According to Cinema Treasures, this drive-in began its life in 1950 as the Hi Way 63 Drive-In. The Hi Way 63 persisted into the early 1980s before shutting down, then idled for at least a decade. The owner also owned two downtown indoor theaters, and replaced them all by building a five-screen building on the Hi Way 63 site in 1997 and projecting to the drive-in screen from there.

It had been so long, I couldn’t even remember the last time I was able to watch a movie at a drive-in on a Thursday night. (I looked it up – eight weeks ago.) Even though it was the fourth time I’ve seen The Lego Batman Movie, the last time was exactly two months ago. And it’s a pretty good movie.

Miles Today / Total:  233 / 11295 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: The Lego Batman Movie / 48

Nearby Restaurant: There must be some folks who enjoy having breakfast for dinner more than I do, but I rarely meet them. The right place in Moberly to get a late early start with plenty of friendly attitude is the Funny Pages Cafe. There were plenty of comic book characters all over the walls in this 50s-type diner, but for me, the best part was the biscuits and gravy served with bacon.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Comfort Inn in Moberly was just what I needed after my long drive. My room was clean and comfortable with a mini-fridge, and breakfast was just as nice as I expect from Comfort Inn.

Only in Moberly: Seven miles west of the Moberly Five and Drive is a six-foot ball of string. According to Roadside America, Terrill Mayo’s old obsession sits in the back room of the Huntsville Historical Society’s museum in downtown Huntsville. It’s not the biggest ball of string or anything like that, but it sure is something.

Next stop: Twin Drive-In, Independence MO.