Remember Drive-In Movies?

The weather is getting warmer here in the San Francisco Bay Area.The evenings are almost always cool no matter what because of the coastal breeze.  This made me think of the few times I’ve been to a drive-in theatre.  We used to have one here in Alameda but it turned into a flea market then the entire area was sold to a developer and is now full of tract homes, a Lucky’s grocery store, CVS pharmacy, and a few places to eat.  Oh, and a really goofy 99-cent store.

I recall when I was a teenager and we hid a few people in the trunk of the car and drove in, howling at what we’d been able to “pull off”.  We’d drive up as close as we could to that metal pole with the speaker box attached to it, roll the driver’s side window half-way down and hook the speaker box onto the glass.  The sound was always a little bit scratchy-sounding, but it was so cool to be able to talk as much as we wanted without getting heckled by other people watching the movie.

Sometimes we’d take our pillows and dress in pajamas but those were the times we went with our parents.  We’d always take our own food – popcorn and candy and such – so that we didn’t have to spend money at the concession stand.

Do you have any fond memories of going to the drive-in?