Sept. 14: Sussex Drive In, Sussex NB

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Lit drive-in at night with cars, the screen, and the concession stand

Photo from the Sussex Drive-In Facebook page

It’s Day 257 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Another long drive (almost six hours) through the Canadian woods brought me from Sydney, near the eastern tip of Nova Scotia, to the Sussex Drive In in Sussex, New Brunswick.

A blog post by Open Air Cinema in 2009 gives us a few hints about the origin of the Sussex. It was founded by Gerald Alexander and his family in 1967, and they had kept the single-screen drive-in in operation ever since. Saint John NB businessmen Tom Boudreau, Paul Galloway and Randy Defazio bought the place in 2008 and separately purchased the adjacent campground.

“And like every year, the canteen will carry its complete menu,” Open Air Cinema wrote, “including typical movie favourites such as popcorn and nachos, as well as chicken wings, hamburgers, hotdogs, pogos, clams and chips, fries and onion rings.” Clams and chips? That’s a thing around here.

In 2012, the Sussex made the switch to digital projection, which led to a CBC News article. Manager Cindy MacDonald said, “If we wanted to keep the drive-in open, we didn’t have much choice but to do the upgrade because those big, old movie reels are going to be a thing of the past very soon.”

This year, the Telegraph-Journal (subscription required) wrote about the Sussex for its opening weekend. “It’s never been shut down in the over 50 years it has been in operation. It’s a part of the Sussex community, and it has been for years,” said Boudreau, described simply as “owner” in the article.

Boudreau said the drive-in reached its capacity of “around 450″ twice in 2016, turning away over a hundred cars. “Those were two great weekends last year, and we’re hoping to have weekends like that this year. On average we see from 70 to 80.”

For me, the most important update was on the Sussex Facebook page last week. “That’s a wrap folks! Thanks again to all our loyal customers for another great season! Have a great fall and winter, we will see you again in 2018!”

Miles Today / Total: 346 / 30408 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: A good old retro-feel diner is a decent choice as a substitute when the drive-in is closed for the season. In Sussex, that means JJ’s Diner. I was expecting burgers to go with the white-black checkerboard floor and the red vinyl furniture, but the hot turkey sandwich was even better. Topped with a banana split supreme for dessert, and I was set for the night.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The only thing better than a nice, safe chain motel is a really great mom and pop place like the Pinecone Motel. The rooms are clean and full of all the modern amenities. The best part is breakfast, featuring homemade blueberry waffles along with the continental breakfast regulars. All at less than half the price I paid the night before.

Only in Sussex: Just east of the Pinecone Motel is / was Animaland, founded in the 1960s by concrete sculptor Winston Bronnum. He wanted to build the “Disneyland of the north” along what was then the main highway into town. It was closed in the mid-1990s, but was reborn as a campground this year. Blowhard the bony horse still stands out front to welcome visitors.

Next stop: Neptune Drive-In, Shediac NB.

Sept. 13: Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre, Sydney NS

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It’s Day 256 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. It was another day of long hours (five of them) driving through lonely, tree-lined highways in the Canadian maritime provinces. This time, the trip was from Cambridge NS to the Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre in Sydney, near the eastern tip of Nova Scotia.

As described by its now-abandoned web site (found on Archive.org), the Cape Breton was “owned and operated by James and Toula Sifnakis … since July 10, 1975.” Its history appears to have been uneventful from then until 2013. That’s when James and Toula’s son Angelo Sifnakis had to decide what to do about the need to convert to digital projection.

“I’d love to take the leap but the thing is, is that the drive-in has to become more than just a drive-in theatre,” the younger Sifnakis told the Cape Breton Post in August 2013. “I want to make it into a recreational park but that’s going to take hoards of money and need some government help and so forth.”

When the Cape Breton closed after the 2013 season, its web site said “We look forward to our Spring 2014 opening,” but it stayed closed. Its marquee eventually said that the drive-in was closed for the 2014 season.

May 2015 brought good news. “I expect to try to have the drive-in open, let’s say the last weekend of May, or first weekend in June,” Sifnakis told CTV News. Because we’ve been shut down for a year, we’re going to have to do some repairs.”

Now the Cape Breton is open seven days a week during the summer and weekends at the edges of the season, like this day. If I could wait around for another couple of nights, there’s a triple bill scheduled for Friday, but I’ve got more drive-ins to visit and more lonely highways to drive to get there.

I really don’t like portrait-mode video, but today’s YouTube embed above is topical (May 2017) and a nice picture of what the Cape Breton experience is like. There’s another video, from 2011 and with fewer details, over here.

Miles Today / Total: 308 / 30062 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: I had to eat at a local legend, the food truck known as Fuzzy’s Fries. It’s been around forever, selling “chips” with a touch of salt and vinegar, but no ketchup. Well, it’s moved into the modern world in one small way; if you really want ketchup, they’ll give it to you.

Where I Virtually Stayed: It had been far too long since I stayed at a good old Hampton Inn. The Sydney location has in indoor pool with a 90-foot long, double corkscrew water slide. For my room, I sprang for the suite with all the modern amenities plus a fireplace. The breakfast was standard Hampton, which is a pretty good standard. I’m feeling closer to home already.

Only in Sydney: Out on the boardwalk, not so far from Fuzzy’s, you’ll find the Big Fiddle, a 55-foot high violin statue created by Sydney artist Cyril Hearn and unveiled in 2005. It’s called the “Largest Ceilidh Fiddle in the World”.

Next stop: Sussex Drive In, Sussex NB.

Sept. 12: Valley Drive In, Cambridge NS

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It’s Day 255 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. These Canadian maritime islands look so small on the map, but it was another 4+ hours to drive this day, from Brackley Beach on Prince Edward Island to the Valley Drive In in Cambridge, Nova Scotia.

The Valley opened around 1956, according to my reference books. Some online sources say it was 1950 or the early 1950s. At any rate, Rockwell Fletcher “Rocky” Hazel and a Phil Barkhouse bought a chunk of the former Waterville Airport, according to the Annapolis Valley Flying Association, and built the drive-in right where the hangar used to be.

The history of the Valley gets a little fuzzy after that, except that it stayed in operation into the 1990s. After it closed for a while, something remarkable happened. The Coldbrook and District Lions Club bought the place and reopened it in 1999. As described by ValleyConnect.ca, “The initial loan … has been repaid with proceeds from their very 1st season with money to spare, which was donated to local schools. Since then they have been able to preform a number of key upgrades. Switching to digital projection in 2012 with the help of the local Credit Union and replace their screen in 2013 in part by a grant from the Province of Nova Scotia.”

The Lions run the Valley as a civic-minded non-profit, staffed (mostly?) by volunteers. Other local non-profits take turns hosting 50/50 fundraisers at the site each weekend, and they sometimes rent out the screen for private functions. It’s a great example of how a local group can preserve a bit of history and provide entertainment to the community.

The YouTube video of the day is a great look at the Valley’s opening weekend this year. If you want to see another video from a couple of years ago showing the Valley’s then-new screen, and if you have a high tolerance for gratuitous profanity, there’s another YouTube clip here.

Pretty much all the drive-ins around here are closed on weeknights this time of year, yet there was a reason I made sure to visit the Valley on a Tuesday – drive-in bingo! Players buy cards from members of the Lions Club as they drive in and park. “We recommend you bring a piece of cardboard or TV tray to rest your cards on during play.” The announcer reads the details over the radio, and there’s an intermission break. The concession stand and bathrooms are open. All in all, it’s the next best thing to the drive-in movie experience when they aren’t showing a movie.

Miles Today / Total: 255 / 29754 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 163

Nearby Restaurant: It had been a while since I’d ordered a pizza, and the House of Dough was right across the street from my hotel (see below). I had a pie topped with the local spicy ground beef, called donair, plus bacon, pepperoni and the usual suspects. Glad I always pack some antacid to fight all those spices!

Where I Virtually Stayed: In this little hodgepodge of communities along Highway 1, the Greensboro Inn is one of the closest to the Valley, and probably one of the nicest. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary motel. Inside, my room was clean and stocked with all the modern amenities. It’s not one of those places that serves breakfast, but with a Tim Hortons just a couple hundred feet away, that’s not a problem.

Only in Cambridge: The Charles MacDonald Concrete House Museum in nearby Centerville is just what it says – a house made by Charles MacDonald out of concrete. He was an artist who spent four decades devoted to manufacturing, promoting, and using concrete. His house was a converted cement brick factory.

Next stop: Cape Breton Drive-in Theatre, Sydney NS.