May 21: Amusement Park Drive-in Theatre, Billings MT

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It’s Day 141 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I drove across state lines for the sixth straight day, but it was the shortest of that bunch. In just an hour and a half, I motored from Powell WY to the Amusement Park Drive-in Theatre in Billings MT.

According to the Amusement Park’s history page, currently inactive but captured by the Internet Archive, the screen, marquee and sign are from the Park Drive-In, which operated in Cody WY from 1946 to 2003. Owners Riley and Vickie Cooke rebuilt the screen and opened in Billings in July 2005.

Like the Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa, only smaller, the Amusement Park uses both sides of a single screen for two viewing areas. The front projection booth is a 1909 caboose, and the back projection booth is a 1938 circus truck purchased for $300.

There are amusement park rides at the base of the screen, along with a small mini-golf course, but it’s unclear whether they’re still in operation.

The Amusement Park installed two digital projectors in 2013, and Billings’ News Leader KULR was on hand, resulting in the video embedded above.

Riley Cooke told the Billings Gazette in 2015 that he was trying to recover the cost of those digital projectors. “It was go digital or go dark,” Cooke said. “I figure I’m not a businessman, I’m a showman, like P.T. Barnum or Buffalo Bill, but didn’t they die destitute or drunk?”

At this time of year, the Amusement Park is only open Fridays and Saturdays, leaving me out of luck on a Sunday night.

Miles Today / Total:  85 / 16636 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 63

Nearby Restaurant: Oh yes, I was ready for this. The Oktoberfest German Restaurant serves up the kind of cuisine I hadn’t been able to find for weeks. The “Montana Schnitzel” tasted just like the pork cutlet schnitzels I’ve grown to love. Served with Hofbräu Original beer, my favorite. What a great way to spend a Sunday!

Where I Virtually Stayed: Even though it’s supposed to be nice, I’m too superstitious to stay at a place called the Boothill Inn. Instead, I chose a good old Hilton Garden Inn, which is closer to the Amusement Park rather than an old cemetery. My room had a fridge, a microwave, and good wifi. There was a bar for unwinding in the evening and a free (for us Hilton Gold folks) breakfast in the morning. It left me ready for another trip across the border.

Only in Billings: Over a month ago, in Cuba MO, we found one of the old shoes of Robert Wadlow, the World’s Tallest Man. There’s another one in Billings at Al’s Bootery. Unlike that Cuba shoe store, Al’s opened after Wadlow passed away, so it didn’t get the shoe during one of his promotional tours. How did they acquire it? I just don’t know. Update: From the horse’s mouth: Al’s Bootery was a spinoff from Depner’s Shoe Repair that goes back into the early 1900’s. The shoe was acquired by someone at Depners then handed off to Al Jenkins who started Al’s Bootery and Repair Shop in 1946.

Next stop: Clearwater Drive-In Theater, Kyle SK.

A Drive-In Photographer’s Cross-Country Odyssey

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The Daily Mail of the UK pointed me this weekend to a story that I had overlooked. Photographer Lindsey Rickert, inspired by her memories of attending drive-ins as a young girl, launched a successful Kickstarter campaign then set off on her own drive-in odyssey to take remarkable pictures of living and dead theaters. She shot 28 drive-ins across 32 states in 65 days, driving 12,022 miles on a cross-country round trip. The result was a serious coffee-table book, Drive-In America, published in 2015.

In her travel blog, Rickert describes the glorious and the mundane details of her trek, such as her complaints about the weather. “I probably should be doing a photo book about storm chasing since it seems that is what I have been doing this entire trip,” she wrote. “While the rain has delayed me a few times, I’m not about to let it hold me down.”

Her story was picked up by Atlas Obscura a few weeks ago, which I’d guess was how the Daily Mail noticed it. Rickert said she started her planning by looking for standing, dead drive-ins. “I placed a large map on my wall, where I placed thumbtacks everywhere I found interesting locations, and the route started to form,” she said. “There was always the possibility that the remnants had been demolished before I could get there — luckily that only happened once.” Promising live drive-ins were added along the way.

I wish I could post some of Rickert’s amazing photos, such as those you can find in the Daily Mail and Atlas Obscura articles, but in addition, I urge you to visit the drive-in section of Rickert’s own web site. There’s even a link to buy the book at a much lower price than Amazon’s showing now.

I’m so impressed by these photos, and they strum a personal chord for me. Around that time, I had thought of shooting a coffee table book of (active) drive-in photos. Since then, I’ve started my own drive-in-a-day cross-country odyssey. (It’s only virtual, but I included Canada and I’m already over 16,000 miles.) It’s an amazing gift to actually view the spectacular output of my road not taken.

May 20: American Dream Drive-In, Powell WY

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Drive-In screen showing an advertisement for the American Dream Drive-In

photo from the American Dream Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 140 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Driving to my fifth state / province in as many days, it was another hour and a half hours to go from the Silver Bow Drive In just west of Butte MT to the only active drive-in in Wyoming, the American Dream Drive-In just south of Powell.

According to Cinema Treasures, the American Dream opened as Paul’s Drive-In in 1948, probably built by Paul McCalmon. It was renamed Vali Drive-In in 1976, and renamed American Dream Drive-In in 2004.

The Casper Star Tribune profiled the American Dream in 2013, just after it installed a digital projector. Scott and Kathleen Heny bought the drive-in in 2004, “fearing the property it stands on would be bought and the screen torn down.” Paul’s was the first drive-in in Wyoming, and now the American Dream is the last.

Kathleen Heny said of running her drive-in, “I call it a hobby. It has to be a hobby, because if you think you’re going to get rich on it, you’re not. To me, I guess this is my childhood. Part of my childhood is lost if this goes away.”

A Los Angeles Times story, picked up by the Las Vegas Sun, explained why the Henys renamed the Vali.  “It really is the American dream to be your own boss,” Kathleen said. “And there aren’t that many female small-business owners in Wyoming.”

It had been almost a month since I last saw Beauty and the Beast, so seeing it for the third time this year wasn’t so bad. I was just glad that the drive-in was open for me.

Miles Today / Total:  286 / 16551 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Beauty and the Beast / 63

Nearby Restaurant: I’m glad that Uncommon Grounds stayed open long enough for me to drop by for a late lunch after all that driving. I find that local coffee shops in smaller towns like this often offer interesting food choices as well as a welcoming atmosphere and most importantly, plenty of coffee. A bagel sandwich had me ready to face the afternoon and get ready for the American Dream’s concession stand at night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There’s not a lot to choose from in Powell, and I chose the Super 8. My room had a fridge and microwave, a comfy bed, and pretty good wifi. The breakfast was pretty good for a Super 8, with biscuits and gravy along with all the coffee and juice I wanted. After that, I was ready to return to Montana.

Only in Powell: Just west of Powell, halfway to Cody, are the ruins of the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, an World War II Japanese-American internment camp. The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation runs the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, which includes photographs, artifacts, oral histories and interactive exhibits about the wartime relocation of Japanese Americans, anti-Asian prejudice in America and the factors leading to their enforced relocation and confinement.

Next stop: Amusement Park Drive-in Theatre, Billings MT.