Category Archives: Washington

May 17: Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre, Colville WA

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Previous, narrow screen at the Auto Vue Drive-In with a full field of cars

photo from the Auto Vue Facebook page

It’s Day 137 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It’s a testament to how long my drives have been lately that traveling four and a half hours (not counting my time waiting at the border) from Enderby BC to Colville WA didn’t seem so bad. I arrived at another rejuvenated drive-in, the Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre.

The Auto Vue (or “Auto View,” as some sources call it) was built in 1953 and rolled along for 60 years. According to The Statesman Examiner of Colville, the Auto Vue closed after the 2013 season. Owner Steve Wisner faced the typical problem of needing to find the money for a digital projector, but he had another problem – his screen was falling down. “I’ve had [my] contractor look at it [the screen], and the insurance company contractor look at it,” Wisner said. “They both said that it should be torn down.” That screen was also too narrow for today’s typically widescreen movies; you can see the dimensions in the Facebook photo in this post.

As you can guess, that story had a happy ending. The Auto Vue procured a nicer 65-foot wide movie screen from the recently closed Park In Drive-In of Soap Lake, erected it on site in June 2015 and opened soon after. They switched to digital projection just before opening for the 2016 season. As now it’s going strong once again.

Once again, I’m at a drive-in in season but in the middle of the week. The Auto Vue is showing movies on Fridays through Sundays this month. That gave me more time to rest from all that driving.

Miles Today / Total:  204 / 15731 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 61

Nearby Restaurant: This small, fairly remote town isn’t where I’d expect to find authentic Polynesian cuisine, but that’s what Brown Boyz Island BBQ serves up. There’s Spam on the menu, but I forgive them for that. What counts are the large portions of unusual dishes, like my Hawaiian chicken sandwich on a Hawaiian bun with coconut cream sauce. Where else am I going to find that?

Where I Virtually Stayed: After a few nights in Canada, nothing says standard, comfortable Americana like the Comfort Inn. My room had a mini fridge and microwave, good wifi, and a (dare I say) comfortable bed. Breakfast in the morning included a nice selection of hot items, waffles, and the usual continental suspects. It made me glad to be back in the states for a few days.

Only in Colville: The small Stevens County Historical Society museum here contains dozens of works by Leno Prestini, an artist whose paintings, according to Wikipedia, were “unique to the point of eccentricity.” After his sister, Battista Prestini, passed away in 1983, her collection of his material (including tiles, sculptures, World War II-era cartoons, and 70 paintings) was donated to the SCHS.

Next stop: Sunset Auto Vue, Grangeville ID.

May 13: Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre, Oak Harbor WA

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zmu1vqXdtM

It’s Day 133 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Oak Harbor WA is only about 13 miles from what was my starting point, Port Townsend, but a lot of that is water. So I took a ferry for the first time this year to Whidbey Island, home of the Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre. The total travel time was almost an hour and a half.

According to an obituary in the Whidbey News-Times, the Blue Fox was built in 1959 by Woodrow “Woody” Cecil and his wife Charlotte. Another article said Woody “partnered with George Dickson” to build it.

A 2006 article said Darrell and Lori Bratt purchased the theater in 1988. In 1990, it switched to FM sound. The screen went down in a 1998 windstorm, but obviously they fixed that.

In 2012, they turned to the community to help raise money for a digital projector. With that success, the projector was installed in time to start the 2013 season.

The Blue Fox also has a go-cart track (video here), and about a year ago in April 2016, they replaced the old tires that lined the edges. To get rid of the tires, they held a tire giveaway. Kelsey Bratt, daughter-in-law of owner Darrell Bratt, told the Whidbey News-Times, “Who doesn’t want a tire swing in the backyard?”

The Blue Fox is just a fun place to be. It’s got an arcade and those go-carts in addition to the classic drive-in experience. On the screen, they showed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the second feature so I got to watch something new early – Born In China. And after I ordered my pizza, they gave me a pager shaped like a pizza slice so I’d know when to pick it up. It was busy, and a bit chilly, but it was a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Miles Today / Total:  23 / 14569 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Born In China / 60

Nearby Restaurant: Tamayo’s, just a block away from Flintstone Park (see below), is one of those Thai Asian fusion restaurants. I don’t know what to call it, but I sure enjoyed lunch there. There was pho, there were spring rolls, and the soup was amazing.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Best Western Plus Oak Harbor is a nice place not too far from downtown and the bayside parks. There were cookies in the evening, a nice room with good wifi and a fridge, and an amazing array of choices for breakfast with sausage, bacon, and eggs along with fruit and the usual continental breakfast suspects.

Only in Oak Harbor: There’s a little park on the bay called Flintstone Park. So of course they had to add a concrete replica of Fred Flintstone’s stone-age car. Just in case you ever wanted to get your picture taken while pretending to be Fred or Wilma.

Next stop: Twilight Drive-In Theatre, Langley BC.

May 12: Wheel-In-Motor Movie Drive In, Port Townsend WA

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Wheel-In Motor Movie box office at twilight, with the screen in the background

photo from the Wheel-In Motor Movie Facebook page

It’s Day 132 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took about an hour to drive up the Quimper Peninsula from Bremerton WA to the Wheel-In-Motor Movie Drive In outside of Port Townsend.

Ernie and Geneve Thompson carved a viewing area out of the forest and opened the Wheel-In in 1953. Their grandson and current manager Rick Wiley told KIRO radio, “We’re out in the woods of Jefferson County. It is a natural evergreen amphitheater. There is absolutely no ambient light; it’s either the stars or the screen.”

The Wheel-In hasn’t changed much since its opening. The concession stand has booths with picture windows and a small indoor viewing area. (Yet there are no walk-ins allowed, so I guess they’re available if you don’t like whoever you drove in with.) Best of all, it still provides drive-in speakers as well as FM radio sound. Call me old-fashioned, but I still enjoy hanging one of those on my window.

According to a 2013 article in the Port Townsend Leader, Sharon and Dick Wiley, Rick’s parents and the daughter- and son-in-law of Ernie Thompson, bought the drive-in in 1969. In 2007, Dick Wiley passed away and Rick moved back to town to run the Wheel-In.

In the 1990s, Sunset magazine rated the Wheel-In as the number-one drive-in in the West. “There is a quality and uniqueness that is undeniable,” Wiley said. “It’s an event, it’s a happening. It’s not just about the movie; it’s about the night air and the electricity in the air.”

The Wheel-In launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to raise money toward a digital projector, so it appears to be set for more decades of movies under the stars.

I was really disappointed to find such a historic treasure still closed for the season. Last year, the Wheel-In opened on the last weekend in April. In November, it posted on Facebook, “Due to the worst longest winter in the history of the universe, we have a couple of major projects to complete before we reopen for the 2017 summer season.”

Miles Today / Total:  49 / 14546 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 59

Nearby Restaurant: For the second straight day, the closest restaurant to the drive-in is adjacent to the nearby airport. The Spruce Goose Cafe, next to the Jefferson County International Airport, is home of the Goose Dog, which refers to this hot dog’s extra large size and not (I hope!) its ingredients. Add chili, cheese and onions and you’ve got a lunch that might keep you full for the rest of the day.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Bishop Victorian Hotel was built in 1891, but it does a great job of straddling the past and present. My suite had a fireplace, but it also had a flat-screen TV and good internet access. Instead of lining up at a breakfast nook, I was greeted with a basket full of continental breakfast just outside my room. It wasn’t the cheapest place to stay, but the Bishop was a relaxing experience.

Only in Port Townsend: In downtown Port Townsend, there’s a wooden 75-foot fire bell tower holding a 3/4-ton brass bell. It was built in 1890 and rang coded signals as to the location and severity of the blaze that it was summoning the community to fight. Over the decades, it persisted with sporadic maintenance, and in 2004 was fully restored by the Jefferson County Historical Society and the City of Port Townsend.

Next stop: Blue Fox Drive-In Theatre, Oak Harbor WA.