Jan. 1: Blue Starlite, Miami FL

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On Day One of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey, I chose the US’s southernmost drive-in, the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In, which recently declared that its Florida “full time location” is in Miami.

Since I want to catch as many drive-ins on nights when they’re showing movies, that means that I’ll start 2017 with a drive across the southern states. Since I don’t want a lot of wasted miles, I’m starting in south Florida and working my way north before I turn west.

Although the Blue Starlite was dark tonight (its next film is Jurassic Park on Jan. 14), I love its location – by the beach at David T. Kennedy Park in the Coconut Grove neighborhood.

Miles Today / Total: 0 / 0 (I just got here.)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 0

Nearby Restaurant: Berries, less than a mile away. The perfect place for a healthy, relaxing Sunday brunch.

Where I Virtually Stayed: Hampton Inn Coconut Grove. Rated one of the best hotels in Miami, yet one of the least expensive within two miles of the drive-in.

Only in Miami: In 2011, NPR ran a story about the invasion of house-eating giant African land snails. Four years later, the Miami Herald wrote that detector dog teams were making a dent in the problem, resulting in 156,253 snail casualties.

Next Stop: Thunderbird Drive-in Theatres, Fort Lauderdale FL

Blue Starlite needs help to move Austin drive-in

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Cars at a drive-in at twilight

The Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive In at its old location in Austin. Photo courtesy Blue Starlite.

It’s a commonly sad story. Development expands near a drive-in theater, and its landlord cuts off its lease. What gives that script a happy ending in Austin TX is that the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive In already knows how to relocate, and it plans to reopen just south of town in February.

Blue Starlite owner Josh Frank has a fundraiser going on Kickstarter to improve the new location with a larger screen, “fancy” bathrooms, a 35mm projector, and much more. With 19 days to go, the drive still needed almost $10,000 more in pledges.

When the Austin American-Statesman wrote about the move, it mentioned a specific location on the outskirts of Buda with “a 10-year lease”. Frank told me that’s not so certain. “The exact address has NOT been officially announced,” he wrote, “we are still considering a lot of variables.”

What is certain is that the new location will be significantly south of Austin, albeit within 15 minutes or so. Frank told the Austin Eater, “our small business can not afford the incredible rent rates for 3 acres of land in Central Austin.”

The history of the Blue Starlite is a testament to flexibility in overcoming obstacles. It started seven years ago in an alley that fit only about a dozen cars. That was successful enough for a move to a larger lot, then again to an even larger lot next to the Austin Film Society. But the landlord now wants that spot to build condos, so the Blue Starlite will have to set up elsewhere after the first week of January. Fortunately, Frank has had enough warning to scout out alternative locations.

I asked Frank if a permanent location would change the Blue Starlite’s quirky culture. He said that the chance to offer more services would only improve it. “The Blue will always be a bootstrapped business, no matter what. That IS its charm and what I think people find endearing, But it is time to think about the future, to think about sustainability. Because in the end what people want most out of a business they love is that it will stick around forever, and that is what we are trying to do.”

There are some nice incentives on the Kickstarter page. If you want to support this unique drive-in vision, you ought to go check it out!

Mumbai excited to see return of drive-in

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Diners in faux cars watching a movie

Couldn’t find a Mumbai drive-in photo, so here’s the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater near Disney World in Florida. © Depositphotos.com / quackersnaps

Here’s the story of another reborn drive-in theater. The old one was built in the 1970s, then torn down in the 2000s, and the neighborhood became swanky, and so now they want to rebuild it in the same place. That’s a twist! The site is in Bandra-east, next to Mumbai, which was called Bombay when the drive-in first opened.

Several English-language newspapers in India seem excited about the return, but the best and possibly the first news came from the Mumbai Mirror. It reports that the former swampy, mosquito-infested land that held the old drive-in has turned into the business hub known as the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The Mirror also said the drive-in was torn down in 2003, but a CNN report says that there was a final art gallery show, the kind that put Rudolph and Bambi in the empty ticket booth, in 2010 before it was razed. So maybe it just shut down in 2003? Hard to tell from here, but CNN’s photos are worth checking out anyway.

Returning to the Mirror story, the unnamed theater originally held 800 cars but will be rebuilt for 295. According to a senior officer of the Maker group, which is developing the drive-in, “Each car parked in the drive-in will be provided with a sound system and an AC duct to enjoy the movie experience.” Like an in-car heater, except for sweltering, humid India? That sounds like a great way to keep out insects and stay cool! For more details, you should just go check it out.