Nashville to Add Another Thing That Is Not A Drive-In

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It will have cars and a big screen and twinkly lights overhead, but do not be fooled. The August Moon project, to be built in the parking lot of the stadium where the Tennessee Titans play football, will be the latest in the list of Things That Are Not Drive-Ins.

Mind you, it sounds pretty cool. Local artist Michael Counts’ vision starts with an inflatable 40,000 square foot dome like over some athletic fields. He plans to install a tall movie screen and 50 stationary mid-1960s classic cars for viewing it. Like a real drive-in, the August Moon will include trees, grass, gravel walkways, a starry sky, fireflies, and of course the moon. According to The Tennessean, “The entry price is expected to range from $8 to $20 with seating ranging from stadium seats to tree swings and the highest $20 cost for watching a movie while sitting in a car.”

Counts told WTVF, Nashville’s News Leader, that visitors will experience the perfect climate-controlled, mosquito-free viewing experience. “Close your eyes and imagine the perfect Summer night in a classic American drive-in movie theatre in 1965, and that’s where August Moon is going to take you,” he said.

But this isn’t an “indoor drive-in theater,” as some sources have reported. (During the heyday of drive-ins, there were occasional rumblings and trial balloons about true indoor drive-ins, but I don’t believe any made it off the drawing board. But I digress.) One of the basics of a drive-in theater is that you, the patron, must be able to drive your car into the theater. Hence the name.

The closest match to the Harvest Moon is the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Disney World. There diners sit in faux cars and watch a looping 40-minute hash of old movies and extras. That also sounds pretty cool, but not too many people will refer to it as an indoor drive-in theater.

Bonus: Here’s a silly article from the Sep. 19, 2005 issue of the wildly fictional tabloid Weekly World News saying that opening night for the world’s first indoor drive-in movie theater, in Ventnor IA, “ended in disaster when dozens of patrons had to be hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.” It interviewed the suspiciously named owner, Ken Shoddy, presumably because Bat Boy wasn’t available.

So the Harvest Moon is the latest addition to our occasional series. Like grade school kids who sit in decorated cardboard boxes and watch a projector in the gym, like the local Chamber of Commerce lawn-chair night next to the civic center, and like the home theater that you can set up in your back yard, the Harvest Moon is definitely Not A Drive-In.

Feb. 6: South Bay Drive-In Theatres, San Diego CA

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It’s Day 37 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I drove from suburban San Diego to southern San Diego, and in less than a half hour I reached the appropriately named South Bay Drive-In Theatres, less than five miles from the Mexican border.

The South Bay opened in 1958 with a single 100-foot screen. In 1974, it replaced the original screen and added two more. According to a CinemaTreasures commenter, its main screen blew down during early 2003 winter storms and had to be replaced that spring. The South Bay converted to digital projection relatively early, in 2013.

The South Bay is open all week, even on this Monday night. I’d already seen all three early movie choices so I sat through Resident Evil: The Final Chapter for the third time in eight days. I hope this viewing really is final for me.

Miles Today / Total:  26 / 4719 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter / 27

Nearby Restaurant: Since I set up shop in Imperial (see below), I stayed close by for dinner at the Coronado Brewing Company. Shrimp tacos and fresh beer within walking distance of my hotel. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There aren’t a lot of options close by, but that turned out wonderfully for me. I drove three miles due west and found Imperial Beach’s Sand Castle Inn, a charming little renovated place that’s literally across the street from the Pacific Ocean. The price was great for such easy access to Dunes Park, and the kitchenette and wifi made life easier in the room.

A heavily fenced 15-foot obelisk

The obelisk in 1894.

Only in San Diego: Fifty-two obelisks, known as Boundary Monuments, were erected between 1849 and 1857 along the U.S – Mexico border. The westernmost obelisk, set between San Diego and Tijuana, was rededicated in 1971 by First Lady Pat Nixon as part of a new “Friendship Park.” In 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security closed down Friendship Park to build a new fence. In 2012, it agreed to reopen the park with an outer perimeter fence blocking access to the public except Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm.

Next Stop: Paramount Drive-In Theatres, Paramount CA.

Feb. 5: Santee Drive-In, Santee CA

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Santee Drive-In marquee

photo by Kevin, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 36 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It took just over and hour and a half to drive from Riverside to the Santee Drive-In Theatre in Santee CA.

The Santee is set far back from the road, and as you can see in this CinemaTreasures photo, the marquee doesn’t look like much during the day. But it sure looks great after dark, as shown by the photo on the right here.

The concession stand was clean and straightforward. As long as there are corn dogs and popcorn, it feels like a real vintage drive-in concession stand, and the Santee has been around since 1958.

I had seen Rings the night before, so I chose the Santee’s other early movie, A Dog’s Purpose. This was my second straight Sunday night with that movie; I hope I get something different next Sunday.

Miles Today / Total:  104 / 4693 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: A Dog’s Purpose / 26

Nearby Restaurant: Looking for some comfort food that happened to be within a mile of the drive-in, I stumbled onto The Omelette Factory. It actually has some decent low-calorie plates for lunch, but that’s probably not the reason to visit. I got here in time for the Southern Breakfast platter, and I wasn’t hungry again till that evening.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Although there are quite a few hotels in Santee and neighboring El Cajon, I couldn’t find any to get excited about. That’s why I just picked the closest place, the Best Western Santee Lodge. It was close, which I really appreciate driving back in an unfamiliar city after a drive-in has taken me to another reality for two hours. And it had a fridge and a microwave and free breakfast, so it worked out okay.

Only in Santee: In nearby Lemon Grove, there sits the World’s Biggest Lemon. Weighing some 3000 pounds, and approximately 10 feet long and six feet wide, the lemon sculpture lies before a small lemon grove beside the local trolley tracks. Designed by Lemon Grove architect Alberto Treganza, the lemon was originally built as a parade float for the 1928 Fourth of July Fiesta de San Diego parade, carrying the town’s first Miss Lemon Grove. In 1930, the float was plastered to create a permanent sculpture and displayed near its current location. (It shifted a few feet in 1988 to make room for those trolley tracks.)

Next Stop: South Bay Drive-In Theatres, San Diego CA.