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.

It’s Day 253 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I left a comfortable pit stop barely across the border in Madawaska ME and resumed the Canadian portion of my trip. Once across the St. John River, it took almost four hours of driving lonely, tree-lined highways to reach the Cine-Parc Satellite in Paquetville NB.

This is normally the place where I recount the history of my drive-in of the day. This time, I’ve got almost nothing to tell. Mike Rivest’s Movie-Theatre.org pretty much guessed that the drive-in was open from about 2002 to 2005, owned by Paul Marcel Albert. I’ve found other references that Albert owned the nearby Ciné-Parc Bellevue, which closed after the 2012 season, but nothing else linking him to the Satellite. And obviously, the Satellite must have reopened at some point, if it was ever closed.

My strongest source is a September 2012 article in Acadie Nouvelle, which says that the Satellite’s owner at the time was Gabriel Foulem. He was pondering the expense of switching to digital projection. “On est en période de réflexion,” Foulem said. “Tout le monde s’attendait à ce que (le passage au numérique) ait lieu en 2014. Puis là, subito presto, on nous dit qu’à la fin octobre (de cette année) il n’y aura plus de 35 mm.” Which might translate to “We are in a period of reflection. Everyone expected (the switch to digital) to take place in 2014. Then suddenly we are told that by the end of October (this year) there will be no more 35mm.”

I barely missed a meeting of the Mustang Owners Club of the Acadian Peninsula, which got together at the Satellite on Sept. 9.

The Satellite started a Facebook page in June 2013, and that’s where it posted the above video just last week. Maybe if you dive deep into all the posts and photos there, you might be able to uncover a few more clues about its origin.

And that’s about it. I’m not even sure what municipality claims the Satellite. It’s in a settlement / neighborhood / something called Bois Blanc between the villages of Saint-Isidore and Paquetville and just south of Paquetville Parish.

After a week in Quebec, I thought I had missed the opportunity of a French-language movie night, but I got it this night. Since this was my sixth viewing of The Hitman’s Bodyguard, it was pretty easy for me to keep up.

Miles Today / Total: 194 / 29278 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Mon Meilleur Ennemi (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) / 163

Nearby Restaurant: The closest restaurants are in Paquetville. Since I’d already used up my Tim Hortons visit, I chose La Crêpe Bretonne. The menu had a little bit of everything, but I was overdue for a healthy meal so I tried “Salade Bertha,” which came with vegetables, parmesan cheese and shrimp.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t any hotels really close to the Satellite, so I ended up in Caraquet, home to that closed Ciné-Parc Bellevue. I was glad to see a Super 8 there, a familiar sign in a foreign land. It had an indoor pool with a little corkscrew water slide, outdoor views of Chaleur Bay, and a clean room with a full set of modern amenities. The continental breakfast was enough to get me going for another Canadian day.

Only in Paquetville Caraquet: The Super 8 is across the street from Musée Acadien, a small-town museum dedicated to the history of Caraquet Acadia. It’s inexpensive, and it’s all in French. Thank goodness for Google Translate on my phone.

Next stop: Brackley Drive In, Brackley Beach PE.

It’s Day 250 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. This was a very short drive to go just a bit farther east from Montreal. It took barely 20 minutes for me to go from the Cine-parc Boucherville, in Boucherville of course, to the Cine-Parc Mont St-Hilaire, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire QC of course.

The Ciné-Parc Mont St-Hilaire opened in July 1972, added a second screen in 1981, and has stayed in operation every year since. Those two screens are adjacent to each other at an approximate right angle. I can’t think of another double-screen drive-in I’ve seen with that configuration.

The drive-in has survived at least two fires. On the night of August 21 2010, thieves tied up an employee, stole the night’s proceeds and torched “the drive-in building” according to CTV News. No one was ever charged with that crime. One year later to the day, fire broke out on a Sunday afternoon in the main building and burned through the roof, as reported by Zone911.com.

After recovering from those fires, the Mont St-Hilaire worked through a more common issue, converting to digital projection. TVA Nouvelles interviewed then-co-owner Clément Longpré in 2012 about the upcoming off-season transition. “Les gens viennent nous voir et nous demandent si on va fermer à cause du numérique … On est là pour rester,” Longpré said. Google Translate says that means, “People come to see us and ask us if we are going to close because of digital … We are here to stay.”

In July 2017, Kevin Patenaude became co-owner of the Mont St-Hilaire. He told Les Versants that digital projection has led to an increase in customers. “C’est la même technologie qu’au cinéma, ce qui nous permet de commencer nos films plus tôt, avant la noirceur totale,” Patenaude said, which I hope translates to, “It is the same technology as the cinema, which allows us to start our films earlier, before the total darkness.”

Patenaude’s new acquisition was also featured in L’OEil Régional. “(J)e savais que le ciné-parc allait être vendu, j’ai sauté sur l’occasion. J’avais le goût de posséder mon entreprise dans le milieu du divertissement. Je me suis rendu compte que c’était ma passion,” he said. Again, I believe that’s at least close to, “I knew the movie theater was going to be sold, I jumped at the opportunity. I had the taste of owning my business in the entertainment business. I realized it was my passion.”

I’m so glad to have another YouTube drone video to embed here. It’s the longest one I’ve seen so far, and it shows just how remote this drive-in really is.

The Ciné-Parc Mont St-Hilaire is still open for a few more Fridays and Saturdays this season, but Thursdays are right out. I hope to find a few more weeknight programs in the weeks to come.

Miles Today / Total: 14 / 28677 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 160

Nearby Restaurant: For some gourmet burgers and beer in a fun setting that’s easy on the budget, my choice was Shack Attakk. My Hors-piste (off-road) burger had mushrooms, some maple-y bacon, and duck, I think. Add a “chic-choc” chocolate milkshake and some fries, and I had a perfectly tasty meal. I’ll eat healthy next time, honest.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Motel Le Transit is the closest hotel to the drive-in and seems to be the only hotel that is actually in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. My room had a fridge and free wifi. There was coffee in the lobby and a bar with video poker machines. For breakfast, there’s an adjacent McDonalds, and the price of the room left plenty of cash to get whatever I wanted. This motel is well-suited for a quick stop on the Trans-Canada Highway, and that was just what I needed.

Only in Mont-Saint-Hilaire: La Maison Amerindienne recognizes the Native American way of life in Quebec. On cultural Thursdays, it hosts guided tours through its exhibition featuring “son du tambour, un chant de bienvenue et une cérémonie de purification,” which is what I would call the sound of the drum, a welcome song and a cleansing ceremony.

Next stop: Cine-Parc Orford, Sherbrooke QC.