Category Archives: Video

Nov. 11: Badin Road Drive-In Theater, Albemarle NC

Posted on by

It’s Day 315 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. To continue my North Carolina weekend, I drove a little less than two hours from the Eden Drive-In in Eden of course to the Badin Road Drive-In Theater in Albemarle. They’re both owned by the same family.

Thanks to a 2006 article in The Stanley News and Press, I’ve got an unusually good handle on the early history of the Badin Road. At the time of the article, Roy Speights still lived across the street from the drive-in and could pinpoint when it opened. “We moved in our house June 1948,” Speights said. “I remember they were grading for the parking then. The theater must have opened later that summer or fall.”

The first Theatre Catalog drive-in list, in the 1948-49 edition, listed one drive-in in Albemarle as simply “Drive-In.” The 1949-56 Theatre Catalogs had two drive-ins in Albemarle, the Badin Road and the Albemarle, both owned by G. L. Faw. The News and Press article elaborated that was Gilbert Faw, who ran them with his son Raymond for a while.  Ethel Faw, Raymond’s wife, said “Raymond ran the theater until 1966, then he leased it out.” And then it closed for “a few years.”

Mrs. Faw was able to lease the Badin Road again in 1994 to Martin Murray. Then in 2002, David and Judy Robinson bought the drive-in. (They already owned the Eden Drive-In, the place I visited the night before.) The Robinsons added a second screen, and business appears to have been great ever since.

“The drive-in will never fade away,” Robinson told the News and Press. “I used to think it was just a fad when I first bought a drive-in, but my wife said it would last.”

David Robinson passed away this January, but the Badin Road endures.

This night, I took a break from Thor to watch a movie I hadn’t seen before. I’d heard that Daddy’s Home 2 was pretty bad, and those reviews were accurate but at least it was something different.

The embedded video of the day is a 2015 report from The News & Observer of Raleigh, featuring some enthusiastic announcements from Robinson. There’s also a nice long view of a typical trip to the Badin Road on YouTube.

Miles Today / Total: 103 / 35502 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Daddy’s Home 2 / 190

Nearby Restaurant: On a cool, sunny day, it was time for some barbecue, specifically Log Cabin BBQ. It’s a quiet little place with a nice homey atmosphere. I enjoyed a plate of pulled pork with hush puppies, baked beans, fries and iced tea. Yum!

Where I Virtually Stayed: After the movie, I returned to the Best Western Albemarle Inn. It’s not one of those shiny new hotels, but there were warm cookies waiting at check-in and my room was clean and comfortable, with all the modern amenities. The free breakfast had meat and eggs as well as the continental regulars. And it was all at the lowest price I’d paid all week.

Only in Albemarle: This is the time of year for the Get Lost Corn Maze a few miles west of Albemarle. It’s a locally-owned and –operated family agri-tourism business. “We are in our 11th season this year and we have crafted over 4 miles of paths in over ten acres of corn. … We have two Corn Pits – one for the younger kids and one for the older kids! … We can’t forget about the Gigantic Jumpy Pillow and, of course, the ZORB BALLS.”

Next stop: Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre, Henderson NC.

Nov. 10: Eden Drive-In, Eden NC

Posted on by

It’s Day 314 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. On this Friday in November, I found a drive-in that was still showing movies, so I drove 2½ hours from Marion VA to the Eden Drive-In in Eden NC of course.

The history is complicated. In the 18th century, Eden was a region of Virginia and North Carolina. In 1795, the town of Leaksville was established on the North Carolina side. Much later in 1967, Leaksville plus the cities of Spray and Draper were consolidated into the single city of Eden.

Back in 1948, there was one drive-in in Leaksville, and it was called the Eden. Within a few years, a second drive-in popped up in town. The newer drive in was called the Leaksville (or New Leaksville by some accounts). Both of them, and others in the region, were owned by D. E. Gwynn.

By the end of the 1970s, the Leaksville seems to have closed. The Eden, which was now in the recently formed city of Eden, continued into the 1980s before closing.

In 1994, David and Judy Robinson bought one of those dead drive-ins after it had been closed “for 10 or 15 years” and refurbished it. The guy who runs their unofficial web site says that what they bought had been the Leaksville, which matches the number of cars it can hold. (The old Eden was almost 100 cars smaller.) So the Leaksville, which had been in Leaksville but was now in Eden, was reopened as the Eden.

The Robinsons are unusually foresighted. Not only did they save money to buy digital projectors for all of their theaters, they also bought a backup projector for each. I’ve been reading enough stories this year of drive-ins that had a glitch in their projector and had to shut down for a weekend. That should never happen at the Eden. “It’s going to be a constant investment, but that’s just part of the operating costs,” Eden manager Tim Robertson, their son, told the Greensboro News & Record. “It’s just part of staying in business.”

David Robinson passed away this January, but the Eden is having another good year. Tim told Business North Carolina last month that he’s thinking of adding deep-fried Oreos to the concession stand menu.

This night, I got a chance to see the blockbuster Thor movie for a third time. It was definitely worth it to find a drive-in still showing movies in November.

The embedded video of the day is a 2012 report from WRAL, Raleigh’s News Leader. There’s also a nice short commercial for the Eden on YouTube.

Miles Today / Total: 128 / 35399 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Thor: Ragnarok / 189

Nearby Restaurant: The El Parral Mexican Restaurant is part of a small regional chain, much like the drive-in. Since I got into town in time for lunch, I ordered one of the lunch specials with a chalupa and an enchilada. Add some chips, salsa, and a margarita and it equals the kind of Mexican food experience I enjoy.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There’s a Hampton Inn in Eden. As with so many of them, there were cookies waiting at check-in and coffee all day. Several restaurants, including the El Parral, are within walking distance. My suite was clean and comfortable and had all the modern amenities. The free breakfast in the morning was the usual fine Hampton standard. It’s all good.

Only in Eden: On August 19, 2017, Eden hosted the Touch-a-Truck event. It promised that for three hours, the “whole family will enjoy getting up close and personal with huge trucks and construction equipment in a friendly, safe environment. Fire engines, big rigs, bulldozers and more will all be there for you to touch, climb, play and learn about how they do all the amazing things they do.” If I come back next year, can I really play on the bulldozer?

Next stop: Badin Road Drive-In Theater, Albemarle NC.

Nov. 9: Park Place Drive In, Marion VA

Posted on by

It’s Day 313 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took less than an hour and a half to drive from the Pipestem Drive-In north of Speedway WV across the Allegheny Mountains to the Park Place Drive In in Marion VA.

According to Virginia.org, this was the location of the old Park Drive-In, which the web site says was open 1954-1983. A photo on Historic Aerials verifies that it was there, although the screen was much closer to Park Boulevard back then.

My reference books don’t provide much help. The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Park owned by William MacKenzie Jr., with a capacity of 200 cars. The International Motion Picture Almanacs for 1955-66 listed the owner as W. Mackenzie, eventually adding the capacity of 200. The Park continued to be listed through 1976, then fell off the IMPA lists and did not return.

I wish I could find more about what prompted Jerry Harmon to rebuild the drive-in as part of an entertainment complex on the site, opening in May 2000. That must have been a great story. Film Snobbery described the place in 2011 as “a complete entertainment complex. There are batting cages featuring fast and slow pitch softball and three speeds of baseball. In 2006, a brand new miniature golf course was built. There is an arcade with an assortment of games, pool tables, and air hockey. Possibly the best addition is the ice cream shop”.

In 2013, Harmon told Virginia Living that the conversion to digital projection was on drive-in owners’ minds. “I think there’s some that will go out of business, and I’m currently trying to save myself,” he said.

The conversion went through at the Park Place, which showed a Jimmy Buffett concert the following summer. On that occasion, Harmon told the Bristol Herald Courier, “The drive-in community is rallying behind this concert – just as it has with the digital conversion efforts of recent years.”

I particularly like the way the viewing field is laid out at the Park Place, as seen in the YouTube video of the day. There are no speaker poles; instead each row has marked parking spaces. And each row is a paved terrace with sloping grass medians in between. Very nice!

Alas, the drive-in closed for the season in mid-October. It’s another dark night for me.

Miles Today / Total: 75 / 35271 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 188

Nearby Restaurant: Since I was already at the hotel (see below), I went to its great restaurant, The Speakeasy, for dinner. It serves a lot of hamburgers and beer, but is also capable of a more substantial meal. I enjoyed the rib eye steak dinner with a baked potato and broccoli with enough beer to wash it down and then some. After all, I wasn’t going to drive anywhere when I left.

Where I Virtually Stayed: After the sameness of chain hotels, it was a nice change to stay at the General Francis Marion Hotel, one of National Geographic’s Top 150 hotels in North America. Like the Park Place, it was an older establishment that was thorough refurbished and reopened recently, in this case 2006. The price was very reasonable for such a historic place. My room was comfortable and the wifi was solid, although I went without a fridge. In the morning, a free continental breakfast had me ready for another day’s drive.

Only in Marion: Harry Chapin’s 1973 single WOLD was only a minor hit, peaking at on the Billboard chart. When I brushed against the radio business a few years later, I was told that the song, about an aging, hard-drinking radio disc jockey on the phone with his ex-wife, hit too close to home to get much airplay. So I was very surprised that WOLD-FM is alive and well in Marion. The station predated the song by five years.

Next stop: Eden Drive-In, Eden NC.