July 25: CenterBrook Drive-In, Martinsville IN

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Centerbrook Drive-In sign, screen, and box office in between

Photo from the Centerbrook Drive-In web site

It’s Day 206 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I’ll be hanging around Indianapolis for a few days, picking up the nearby drive-ins. This day, it was just a half-hour drive from the Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis to the CenterBrook Drive-In, seven miles north of Martinsville IN

The Centerbrook first opened in May 1950, built and operated by Clyde Weddle Jr., Clyde Weddle Sr., and Robert H. Brown. It got its name from the two nearby towns of Centerton and Brooklyn. Reference books suggest that Charles Morrison took over by the end of the decade.

The Centerbrook web site says the place has been in continuous operation “every year since 1950”. Its original wooden screen was blown down by a tornado in the 1960s and replaced. According to the Bloomington Herald Times, Robert and Stacia Zloty bought the 50-year-old Center Brook Drive-in and entertainment complex at a sheriff’s sale and “reopened” the place in September 2000. To me, that suggests an interruption in operation, but I wouldn’t know.

That entertainment complex included a bar and a few ball diamonds. “My husband wanted the baseball diamonds, and I wanted the outdoor theater. I hope to make the drive-in look like it used to when it first opened,” Stacia said. When interviewed in Spring 2001, she was diligently fixing the speakers.

Then in 2007, projectionist Tyler Tharpe bought the Centerbrook, but just the drive-in.  “I was only interested in the drive-in,” he told the Morgan County Business Leader (pdf) in 2016, “but didn’t know if the owners would separate the properties. Once they agreed to do that, we had a deal.” That would lead to a problem in 2015 when the now separate ball field complex left its lights on during a movie. Sounds like the dispute was quickly resolved.

The Centerbrook has an odd schedule of weekends plus Tuesdays, so that’s why I picked a Tuesday to visit. It’s been the second feature a few nights, but this was the first time I encountered the scary shark movie 47 Meters Down as the first show. As always, I was grateful for something new to watch as I munched on some funnel cake fries.

Miles Today / Total:  22 / 25890 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: 47 Meters Down / 122

Nearby Restaurant: The restaurants in Mooresville might be just a little closer, but since I was staying in Martinsville, that’s where I looked for food. Salads are healthy food, right? That’s what I figured when I dropped in at JK’s Cheesecake Cafe & Coffee for taco salad Tuesday. All that needed was a slice of homemade turtle cheesecake for dessert.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Martinsville doesn’t have a lot of hotels, but it’s gone one of my go-to brands, the Holiday Inn Express. My room had all the amenities, including a Kuerig coffee maker, breakfast was the usual HIE high standard, and everyone here just seemed especially friendly. Thanks!

Only in Martinsville: In 1899 Eugene Shireman, a Martinsville entrepreneur, turned his swamp land into fisheries, founding Grassyfork Fisheries. This fish factories prodigious production of exportable fish led to Martinsville becoming known as the “Goldfish Capital of the World.”

Next stop: Skyline Drive-In Theatre, Shelbyville IN.

July 24: Tibbs Drive-In, Indianapolis IN

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It’s Day 205 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Thanks to the interstate highway system, even though I never left Indiana, I required less than two hours to drive from Huntington to the Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis.

When the Tibbs opened in 1967, there were already 10 other drive-in theaters in Indianapolis: the South 31, Bell-Air, Lafayette Road, New Sherman, Northside, Pendleton Pike, Shadeland, Theatre Air Twin, Twin, and Westlake. (AXS says there used to be at least 18 drive-ins in town, but they’re probably counting suburbs.) The Tibbs outlasted them all, and is now the final active drive-in in this sprawling city.

United Artist Theatres opened the Tibbs with only one screen, then added two more screens in 1972. The current owners, Ed and Agnes Quilling, bought the place in 1995 and added a fourth screen in 1999. They also added a new marquee, and added other renovations including digital projection.

I embedded a nice 2015 visit from IN the Loop TV, which shows what the Tibbs is like these days. The drive-in also reopened in December that year to show Star Wars: The Force Awakens despite temperatures in the 30s.

I just missed the Tibbs’ 50th anniversary on July 16. Four screens offer a lot of choices, including a bawdy women’s movie, Girls Trip. I’d bet even money that I won’t encounter that movie again as I sample mostly small-town, single-screen drive-ins, so I was happy to give it a chance.

Miles Today / Total:  112 / 25868 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Girls Trip / 121

Nearby Restaurant: Those regional / local chain restaurants are so interesting. They’re big enough that they must be doing something great, but small enough to be quirky. That’s why I went over to Yats for some Cajun cuisine. I scored some chili cheese étouffée with crawfish that made my mouth water just from smelling it. It came on a bed of rice with a buttered baguette. Yum yum!

Where I Virtually Stayed: Indianapolis is sprawling, so I tried to stay close to the Tibbs, and that’s why I chose the Comfort Suites about a 10 minute drive away near the airport. My room was clean and comfortable, it had the full set of amenities, breakfast had sausage and eggs, and the price was better than the hotels downtown.

Only in Indianapolis: When I visited Boston last summer, I fell in love with candlepin bowling. There’s a place in Indianapolis, Action Duckpin Bowl, that features its cousin. As with candlepin, bowlers get three tries per frame to knock down the lighter pins with a fist-sized ball, but unlike candlepin’s tall skinny pins, duckpins are short and squat. If you get the chance, you should try it!

Next stop:  CenterBrook Drive-In, Martinsville IN.

July 23: Huntington Twin Drive-In, Huntington IN

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It’s Day 204 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It only took an hour and a half on a quiet Sunday to drive from the Hummel Drive-In east of Winchester IN to the Huntington Twin Drive-In in Huntington IN.

The Huntington opened in 1950. The 1952 Theatre Catalog said its owner was Gail Lancaster, a man reported to have “two grand pianos in his living room”. According to Huntington County Farmers and Families, Lancaster also managed the Huntington Theater. By 1963, the owner was listed as Maurice Robbins. (There was a Maurice Robbins who was mayor of Huntington in 1980. Wonder if it was the same guy.) Later sources suggest that a group owned the Huntington.

By early 2001, the Huntington was owned by Syndicate Theatres and managed by Dave and Peggy Brooks. In August 2001, they sold it to John and Anilda Detzler, who soon began making renovations. In March 2005, most of the screen tower blew down, but the Detzlers rebuilt in time for a Memorial Day Weekend opening. They also added a second screen for the 2011 season.

In July 2013, the Detzlers put the Huntington up for sale. I didn’t see the digital projection issue mentioned then, but it had to be a factor. “There are two major reasons: I’m 61 and my wife is 68, and we’ve tried to do most everything ourselves, including the long, late hours,” Detzler told The Journal Gazette. “Our primary plan, dream and goal has always been to relocate (to Colorado) permanently.”

That’s when Bob Goodrich, owner of the Goodrich Quality Theaters chain came in. He agreed to buy the Huntington in December 2014 and closed on it the following April, at a signing apparently witnessed by WANE, Fort Wayne’s News Leader, in a report that’s now on YouTube. Goodrich installed digital projectors, added a credit card system, and generally made the place better than new. The YouTube drone video embedded above shows how nice it looked late last year.

I was a little surprised to see the serious movie Dunkirk leading off one of the two screens here. I don’t know whether I’ll get another chance to see this, so I was happy to get another break from animation and comic book heroes. I’ll have plenty of time to catch up with them in the nights to come.

Miles Today / Total:  78 / 25756 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Dunkirk / 120

Nearby Restaurant: When I’m on the road, all I really need for a meal is a good old fashioned diner such as Johnny’s. (Think greasy spoon, minus the greasy.) I brought cash to pay, and my reward was pancakes, sausage, coffee and homemade pie at a very reasonable price.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It’s nice to be back in a town with lodging choices, and the hotel I chose this time was the Comfort Inn. It felt freshly renovated, and the breakfast was a notch above the already decent Comfort standard. And my clean, comfy room had the full set of amenities. Just a nice, solid experience.

Only in Huntington: This one’s a no-brainer. Huntington is the home to the Dan Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center. The converted Christian Science church is more than a monument to the hometown guy who famously argued the wrong side in a potato spelling debate, which he later called “a ‘defining moment’ of the worst imaginable kind.” It’s also about US vice presidents in general, “the unique and fascinating stories of each of those who have held the second most important office in our country.”

Next stop: Tibbs Drive-In, Indianapolis IN.