September 5, 2009
Airline Twin Drive-In Theatre
Winchester, Indiana
Well, after further review, last weekend was supposed to be the final Cruise and a Drive-In movie [especially since most all of the drive-in theatres are wrapping up the season and having weekend only movie showings due to the limited dusk hours and kids getting back to school, but I still “cruise” the internet and look to see which theatres [that I haven’t already visited, of course] were showing two good double features for this Labor Day weekend, although some were running “Triple Features” for the same low single admission price. Having found none, I got intereseted in finding out about the Woodbridge Michigan Cruise up in Michigan that Kevin and several other United Ford Owners members were raving about at the Fords at the Summit back in July, and thought about driving up there about now [since there would be no “traffic” to deal with this time of year since being a “Parade of One” and the lone wolf type and maybe catch a movie at a Michigan Drive-in that was still open in a good geographical distance close to the Ohio State Line is always a consideration as to my travel plans, etc.] but decided to look at other surrounding states to see what they had to offer as well!
After going to Drive-ins.com and looking up the still open Drive-ins [they also list the ones that have been since “plowed under” but still give their locations], I happened upon the Airline Twin Drive-In just across the Ohio border in Winchester, Indiana where they were going to show not two, not three, but four full length 2009 movies on each of their two screens, and as in the immortal words of the Godfather: “That was an offer I could not refuse.” I was, however planning to go on Sunday, but weather considerations for that area moved up my plans a day to head on over on Saturday [since on Friday they only planned to show just three movies]. It’s not that I don’t mind the rain [since it is more important for the farmers anyways], but it sometimes just spoils the whole day, especially with the long day and even longer evening and night just ahead, so I made sure to get plenty of naps in Friday!
With Saturday, it also brought the first game of the Ohio State Football season, and after a nail biter against Navy [and even though it was going to be a “win” for the Buckeyes] it pushed back my starting time from Brunswick Hills to 3 pm, a half hour past when I wanted to leave, and after getting everything ready [including figuring out where I was going to get gas and determining my “halfway point” since getting gas in the middle of the night in unfamiliar territory was going to be my biggest issue] I didn’t actually get started until 3:30 pm. So my original plan of chugging down US 42 on over to re-finding my way along the old Lincoln Highway and taking Route 4 to Route 47 was out the proverbial window, and hopefully could pick up US 42 at Ashland via I-71 and take another Lincoln Highway Route 89 to Mansfield after getting gas was also out the window as the Highway Patrol had “All Hands on Deck” for the Labor Day Weekend, so passed up that exit as well.
With gas getting low, I figured I could make it all the way down I-71 to Exit 140 Mt. Gilead / Sunbury where I that would be my halfway point, and with the gas needle pointing towards the Big E on the dash, was prudent on my part that if I wanted didn’t want to end up pushing it all the way back. So gassed up at the BP station, checked the map one last time and headed back North up Rt. 61 briefly until the Rt. 229 intersection and headed due west. I had a brief hiccup at the US 42 intersection [mistaking it for Rt. 23 somehow and headed up US 42 North until I realized it was wrong, but took a left at the next county road and then a couple of miles later took another left hoping it would filter back down to Rt 229 then finally found US 23 and worked my way to Rt. 47 [which would take me on through to the Indiana border and would join up with Indiana 32 to the Drive-In] and cruised briefly through Waldo, Ohio.
The remaining cruise on Rt. 47 was for the most part disappointing, and I do not know if it was because it was the flatness of the road, the many hairpin turns, the few towns that I went through [although cruising through Bellefontaine once again after many years was a nice added bonus, along with the odometer turning exactly 171,000 at the corner of Baker Rd (Rt 47 and Twp. 63 in Maplewood, OH], or leaving later than I wanted to and not getting to go the way I ultimately wanted to and having to deal with trying to deal with the time and making certain “checkpoints” I set up for myself [being at a certain place at a certain time to make sure that I am “on time” and don’t have to rush so much], and trying to enjoy the cruise as well; but it may have been a combination of all of the above, particularly since I was planning on a Sunday Cruise in the beginning. Once I got to Union City, Ohio [which is situated on each side of the Ohio / Indiana border] I looked at the town clock, and all of a sudden, it crossed my mind if Indiana observed Daylight Savings time [which would really have messed up my timing runs], but remembered that on the website that the gates would open around 8 pm with the show starting around 8:40 pm, so I hoped that the time was going to work itself out.
After crossing into Indiana and finding my way to Indiana 32, there was a notable difference between Ohio and Indiana almost immediately; whereas Ohio municipalities are 25, 35, and 45 mph, Indiana slows things down to 20, 30 and 40 mph. Corn grows right up to the road, and about 20 minutes driving along what felt like driving literally through a corn field, the Airline Drive-In Theatre soon came into view, and with about 20 minutes to spare, cruised on through to the town of Winchester, Indiana just 5 minutes up the road and did see some old time cars cruising around, probably going to their local car show but did a quick turn around and headed on back to the theatre to make sure I got in line and waited to make sure I got a good parking place!
Airline Twin Movie Theatre is another one of the single screen theatres that have doubled up and made use of the extra space to add a second screen that was erected on telephone pole ala Field of Dreams Drive-in. With what looked like limited pickings on the parking, I ended up in the second row of Screen 1, right in front of the cinder block house / concession stand [and FYI: in the front row directly in front, there is a pipe sticking out of the ground that would ruin ones front suspension and tie rods, just in case anyone was heading over there someday] and reclined back and waited for the start of the movie. Other “amenities” offered were swings, slide, “Jungle Gym”, and since it was Indiana, a corn field surrounding the entire Drive-In. The concession stand was small but well stocked, and since it was going to be an all night affair, served up a serving of eggs and toast sandwiches for those who would be enduring the movie marathon!
The movies on tap this evening were Night at the Museum II, Halloween II, Fast and the Furious 4, and Inglorious B*stards! All movies were previously seen, but were definitely worth the trip [with the exception of the Halloween second featured movie, which was absolutely the worst movie ever re-made, and if you haven’t seen it already, don’t worry, didn’t miss much, except for the desperate cameo by “Weird Al” Yankovic, and have to be desperate for a director to have him appear in it AS HIMSELF to top it all off. The movie itself was not scary at all and totally predictable as most of those movies genre types are: the only scary part was looking out into the surrounding corn field and hoping something was out there, and folks at the theatre were having their own fun jumping out from behind their parked cars and scaring their passengers in the darkened lot, but I got out during that movie and saved some of the car’s battery life]. I had missed the first 15 minutes or so of Inglorious at the Melody Cruise-In, but as it turns out, didn’t miss much at all, but for the Second Last Official 2009 Drive-In Cruise of the 2009 season, cruising One Last Inglorious Time was well worth it, even though the cruise over to Airline Twin wasn’t exactly what was originally planned and had to improvise along the way, it was still an overall great time!
Well, it was 5:30 am when the lights came on up above the movie screen and started up the car to go home [although it looked like those car who were remaining were all fast asleep since I was the only car that was leaving, but had to get back home to the Ohio side of the line ASAP. With 151 miles already driven [my fuel tanks “Halfway Point”] since fueling up the previous day at Exit 140, and although there were gas stations open, decided against heading back the way I cam and went back west into Winchester and took US 27 South 25 miles and got back on I-70 East at Richmond [where in Indiana the speed limit on interstates is 70 mph, but still had to deal with the even 20, 30, and 50 mph limits of speed, and couldn’t wait to get back to Ohio – mostly because I didn’t know what the Indiana State Police cars looked like, nor did I want to find out since I don’t think the stickers on the car carry much political weight on that side of the state line, which at 5:45 am at night there was absolutely no traffic what so ever (and could have made a quick side trip to the highest point in Indiana just east of US 27) but it would have been all down hill from there so just soldiered on back to the Ohio State Line via I-70 and after a quick pit stop, headed back home and was just after sun up for another gas and go at the TA Truck Stop at London at US 42, finally meandered my way home by 9:30 am and the end of “An Inglorious Labor Day Weekend”!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
End of the Summer Cruise at the Star View Drive-In Theatre [Norwalk Ohio]
August 30, 2009
With the summer days winding down, and with one last Summer Cruise blast left [and after last nights glorious cruise down to C-Bus with the United Ford Owners along with a double feature at the Melody Cruise-In over at Springfield], I did my daily routine check of all of the drive-in theatres now playing websites and decided at the last minute to get back into the saddle once again and head back over to Norwalk and had to stop for some go-go juice since it was getting a tad low from the previous evenings “Fun Run” over at Springfield [though running the highway gets a heck of better gas mileage than having to stop and start all of the time in Small Town USA], but still, having to stop when time keeps on running sometimes makes me wish that there were portable tankers like the US Air Force has where they can refuel in mid-flight without having to stop – oh well.
Got back on the back roads and made it my usual 45 minute flat run out Rt. 303 to US 20 out past Norwalk and bypassed Summit Raceway Park, opting to do an end run since the box office had already opened at Norwalk’s Star View Drive-In just west of Norwalk Ohio there on US 20 to see two of my favorite movies of the year, Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen and G I Joe, Rise of the Cobra. When I first entered the theatre after paying the $7.00 [which was not listed on their website, but I have always come to expect to pay between $5 - $8 dollars for single admittance when the price is not listed on the website, which for two movies is still a great bargain for the way the economy is going nowadays] I first went to my usual second row parking place, but after sitting there for a while, and how the screen was angled, started up the car again and went to the eastern side of the small cinderblock concession stand [right next to the concession’s exhaust fan which was belching out all of that sweet smelling and ever tempting freshly made butter popcorn] and for this theatre, I would highly recommend for this screen parking on the concession stand side furthest from the entrance give the best enjoyment of the films being shown at this single screen theatre, and even though there were some mini vans in front of me, the screen was high enough where I was four rows back that there was plenty of room [and the screen was high enough to see two great films, and I would recommend to the club that if anyone would want to see a movie after a long day over at Fords at Summit would want to stop by for a fun filled evening, but will reserve final judgment until I visit Tiffin’s Drive-In Theatre, probably it looks like next year since this will be my final visit to Drive-ins for this 2009 Cruisin’ Season.
Well, with the final credits rolling and the camera fading to black, it was time to get back on the road and head back to home for one last trip down Rt. 18, back rollin’ “quietly” thru my hometown of Wellington and on back in the early morning hours and looking forward to the summer of 2010 to complete the remaining 15 Ohio Drive-Ins yet to be visited. Overall, I have had a great time both cruising and visiting all of the Drive-Ins this year, and each of them have their own unique flavor and atmosphere that also uniquely defines what it is was to be American when they first started up and coinciding with the rise of the love of the American Automobile.
With the summer days winding down, and with one last Summer Cruise blast left [and after last nights glorious cruise down to C-Bus with the United Ford Owners along with a double feature at the Melody Cruise-In over at Springfield], I did my daily routine check of all of the drive-in theatres now playing websites and decided at the last minute to get back into the saddle once again and head back over to Norwalk and had to stop for some go-go juice since it was getting a tad low from the previous evenings “Fun Run” over at Springfield [though running the highway gets a heck of better gas mileage than having to stop and start all of the time in Small Town USA], but still, having to stop when time keeps on running sometimes makes me wish that there were portable tankers like the US Air Force has where they can refuel in mid-flight without having to stop – oh well.
Got back on the back roads and made it my usual 45 minute flat run out Rt. 303 to US 20 out past Norwalk and bypassed Summit Raceway Park, opting to do an end run since the box office had already opened at Norwalk’s Star View Drive-In just west of Norwalk Ohio there on US 20 to see two of my favorite movies of the year, Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen and G I Joe, Rise of the Cobra. When I first entered the theatre after paying the $7.00 [which was not listed on their website, but I have always come to expect to pay between $5 - $8 dollars for single admittance when the price is not listed on the website, which for two movies is still a great bargain for the way the economy is going nowadays] I first went to my usual second row parking place, but after sitting there for a while, and how the screen was angled, started up the car again and went to the eastern side of the small cinderblock concession stand [right next to the concession’s exhaust fan which was belching out all of that sweet smelling and ever tempting freshly made butter popcorn] and for this theatre, I would highly recommend for this screen parking on the concession stand side furthest from the entrance give the best enjoyment of the films being shown at this single screen theatre, and even though there were some mini vans in front of me, the screen was high enough where I was four rows back that there was plenty of room [and the screen was high enough to see two great films, and I would recommend to the club that if anyone would want to see a movie after a long day over at Fords at Summit would want to stop by for a fun filled evening, but will reserve final judgment until I visit Tiffin’s Drive-In Theatre, probably it looks like next year since this will be my final visit to Drive-ins for this 2009 Cruisin’ Season.
Well, with the final credits rolling and the camera fading to black, it was time to get back on the road and head back to home for one last trip down Rt. 18, back rollin’ “quietly” thru my hometown of Wellington and on back in the early morning hours and looking forward to the summer of 2010 to complete the remaining 15 Ohio Drive-Ins yet to be visited. Overall, I have had a great time both cruising and visiting all of the Drive-Ins this year, and each of them have their own unique flavor and atmosphere that also uniquely defines what it is was to be American when they first started up and coinciding with the rise of the love of the American Automobile.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
UFO Cruise-in & Melody Cruise-In Theatre Weekend FUN!
August 29
End of another month, and I am glad that August is almost over! Had to take the ’06 Fusion in for the first warranty service of a Ford vehicle in the family’s history of owning Fords last week [the driver’s front window got stuck in the down position, and couldn’t drive it anyways since a wide open window is just a wide open invitation to unscrupulous folks, plus it was going to rain, then with that car at the Liberty Dealership here in Brunswick, the “Hillbilly Deluxe minus the Deluxe” battery died [jump starting too many chevy’s, I reckon it got the H1N1 (Help this 1 but Not this 1) virus] but after 5 years [and no wonder the terminals were corroding], it was time, so pushed it out of the garage and called AAA got it started and picked up the Fusion at Liberty and got that home, then 2 hours later went to go to a car show and again it wouldn’t start so pushed it out of the garage once again and there was something wrong so called the experts and Yorktown and after getting it started for a second time drove it up to Parma Hts. and yep, it was the battery and picked it up the next day, and should have gotten an oil change since it was pushing 169,000 but don’t like to ask too much of them since they have always been very generous with getting our cars fixed for the past 37 years now.
Keeping an eye on the weather channel, which showed that the rain should skirt by Columbus by the time it was starting, and not having been down to UFO events all of August since Party Picnics and party business is starting to encroach on more and more of my time, and will probably have to put Car Club events on hiatus since it looks like there may be an out of state opportunity coming down the pike, but for now, headed out south on I-71 to CBus for the August Cruise at Quaker Steak and Lube, as well as heading west to Springfield’s Melody Cruise-In Theatre. As soon as I got to Mansfield, the rains came, and kept on raining all the way to the Polaris Exit [I kept looking west and it looked like it would clear up, but as weather goes, sometimes it just doesn’t but again, as long as the farmers get what they need when they need it, I don’t complain too much about a little rain now and then.
Maybe spent a little too long cruisin’ with the club, but as the song goes, “I’ve got no particular place to go”, but it was time well spent as always! Got back on the highway and headed around I-270 to I-70 to get to the US 40 exit to the Melody Cruise-In Theatre and with dusk quickly approaching [and figuring in the 10 minute movie trailers, would hit it just about right, but I missed the median crossover and not being too fond of U Turns [the old joke being: A guy made a U-Turn and found out he was going the wrong way and immediately did another U-Turn all in front of a police office, and when he got pulled over the officer asked him “What did you just do?” The man replied “A Circle”] at the next intersection, kinda did an end around down a secondary road and headed back east and by that time the movie had started and just as I pulled in, sheriff deputy was at the box office [Great] so shut off all of the illegal interior lights etc and as I was paying, I looked in my side view mirror and sure enough, he was eyeballing the car, then took out his cell phone and held it up while I’m trying to pay attention to the attendant telling me what screen the movies were on [Inglorious B**tards and G.I. Joe – for the third time] as well as what radio station to tune to [although the lights on my radio face kinda died a while back (although it kinda can be seen during the day) so I have to go through each individual station until finding the right station that goes to the right screen, not to mention losing all of my presets I had to re find all of the country stations I listen to in all of the major cities around Ohio] while the officer was taking pictures of it with his cell phone, then asked “Sir, could you pull this over” and I motioned to the side if that was ok since there was someone else behind me, so while the movie has already started, I’m pulled over INSIDE the movie theatre chatting about the car while he’s snapping pictures of it and I’m trying to watch the movie without seeming to be disinterested in his conversation, which I wasn’t since he asked me about the “Patriot’s” Theme and family members who are currently in Service, along with one of the statewide candidates name on one of the fenders etc., and after both saying “God Bless” and “Safe Journeys”, I actually found a pretty good spot middle of the field next to the concession stand on the far side of the entrance side, and missed most of the entire first “Chapter” of Quentin Tarentino’s movie [and fumbling through the stations to find the right channel] got there in time for Chapter Two, Inglorious B**tards. I saw on Reelz Channel movie previews that it took 10 years for him to write the script, and even heard that there is a prequel in the works.
As far as the movie goes, it is Quintessential Quentin Gore [which is why I only watch one of his movies a year – Reservoir Dogs is still my favorite, but his is a movie where one automatically throws disbelief out of the window, and this was kind of in a Pulp Fiction mold, but working on something for that long, can kind of see elements of all of his movies in the interim] and going back through it I can see the basic dumb down formula of Nazis bad, Brad Pitt good in the Twisted World History According to Tarentino, which is why they are making the prequel to feature more of the B**tards
and rake in another huge payday. It had been a “while” since I had seen G I Joe, Rise of the Cobra [the weather kinda last time made it disappointing and with all of the humidity and all] someone somewhere must had said something, since the night fight scene in the beginning of the movie was a lot brighter than I had seen in previously showings, and could see more of the action and wasn’t “in the dark” as much and trying to guess what was going and who was fighting whom and all, so I don’t know if it was in the projection or what, but it made that part of the movie a whole lot enjoyable to watch!
Got out during the break for a stretch, and although I couldn’t see what amenities that were offered up in front of the screen, I did enter a very different type of concession stand, which resembled a cafeteria style where one could go all around an outer circle and the food workers were on the inside to service more patrons at a time. After the second movie, and time to get back on the road home, but then and again, had another car that had its hood up [although most drive-ins have one of those automatic chargers now a days, still keep jumpers in the back “just in case”] so waited 5 minutes after the credits have ended, since a lot of movies now have something at the very end related to the movie that often gets missed and pulled up and once again [and just having battery trouble myself I sympathize, especially having a great time at the movies then the car has to die and not start and who knows if they have a car service or not, but as Great Granddad used to say: “The main goal in life is to make other people happy; and if you make other people happy, then you are happy yourself”, and not to get all preachy here or do that Kevin Spacey “Pass It On” sort of deal, but if asked for a reward, I just ask that they remember this and do a good deed towards another some day. So in the words of Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara:
Someone says to do a favor,
or if you have the opportunity
to help someone in your lifetime,
Do it.
In life do what is right because
it is right and leave it alone.
No ulterior motive.
Do what is right because it is right.
Don't make money from it.
Don't write about it or publicize it.
Do what is right because it is right."
End of another month, and I am glad that August is almost over! Had to take the ’06 Fusion in for the first warranty service of a Ford vehicle in the family’s history of owning Fords last week [the driver’s front window got stuck in the down position, and couldn’t drive it anyways since a wide open window is just a wide open invitation to unscrupulous folks, plus it was going to rain, then with that car at the Liberty Dealership here in Brunswick, the “Hillbilly Deluxe minus the Deluxe” battery died [jump starting too many chevy’s, I reckon it got the H1N1 (Help this 1 but Not this 1) virus] but after 5 years [and no wonder the terminals were corroding], it was time, so pushed it out of the garage and called AAA got it started and picked up the Fusion at Liberty and got that home, then 2 hours later went to go to a car show and again it wouldn’t start so pushed it out of the garage once again and there was something wrong so called the experts and Yorktown and after getting it started for a second time drove it up to Parma Hts. and yep, it was the battery and picked it up the next day, and should have gotten an oil change since it was pushing 169,000 but don’t like to ask too much of them since they have always been very generous with getting our cars fixed for the past 37 years now.
Keeping an eye on the weather channel, which showed that the rain should skirt by Columbus by the time it was starting, and not having been down to UFO events all of August since Party Picnics and party business is starting to encroach on more and more of my time, and will probably have to put Car Club events on hiatus since it looks like there may be an out of state opportunity coming down the pike, but for now, headed out south on I-71 to CBus for the August Cruise at Quaker Steak and Lube, as well as heading west to Springfield’s Melody Cruise-In Theatre. As soon as I got to Mansfield, the rains came, and kept on raining all the way to the Polaris Exit [I kept looking west and it looked like it would clear up, but as weather goes, sometimes it just doesn’t but again, as long as the farmers get what they need when they need it, I don’t complain too much about a little rain now and then.
Maybe spent a little too long cruisin’ with the club, but as the song goes, “I’ve got no particular place to go”, but it was time well spent as always! Got back on the highway and headed around I-270 to I-70 to get to the US 40 exit to the Melody Cruise-In Theatre and with dusk quickly approaching [and figuring in the 10 minute movie trailers, would hit it just about right, but I missed the median crossover and not being too fond of U Turns [the old joke being: A guy made a U-Turn and found out he was going the wrong way and immediately did another U-Turn all in front of a police office, and when he got pulled over the officer asked him “What did you just do?” The man replied “A Circle”] at the next intersection, kinda did an end around down a secondary road and headed back east and by that time the movie had started and just as I pulled in, sheriff deputy was at the box office [Great] so shut off all of the illegal interior lights etc and as I was paying, I looked in my side view mirror and sure enough, he was eyeballing the car, then took out his cell phone and held it up while I’m trying to pay attention to the attendant telling me what screen the movies were on [Inglorious B**tards and G.I. Joe – for the third time] as well as what radio station to tune to [although the lights on my radio face kinda died a while back (although it kinda can be seen during the day) so I have to go through each individual station until finding the right station that goes to the right screen, not to mention losing all of my presets I had to re find all of the country stations I listen to in all of the major cities around Ohio] while the officer was taking pictures of it with his cell phone, then asked “Sir, could you pull this over” and I motioned to the side if that was ok since there was someone else behind me, so while the movie has already started, I’m pulled over INSIDE the movie theatre chatting about the car while he’s snapping pictures of it and I’m trying to watch the movie without seeming to be disinterested in his conversation, which I wasn’t since he asked me about the “Patriot’s” Theme and family members who are currently in Service, along with one of the statewide candidates name on one of the fenders etc., and after both saying “God Bless” and “Safe Journeys”, I actually found a pretty good spot middle of the field next to the concession stand on the far side of the entrance side, and missed most of the entire first “Chapter” of Quentin Tarentino’s movie [and fumbling through the stations to find the right channel] got there in time for Chapter Two, Inglorious B**tards. I saw on Reelz Channel movie previews that it took 10 years for him to write the script, and even heard that there is a prequel in the works.
As far as the movie goes, it is Quintessential Quentin Gore [which is why I only watch one of his movies a year – Reservoir Dogs is still my favorite, but his is a movie where one automatically throws disbelief out of the window, and this was kind of in a Pulp Fiction mold, but working on something for that long, can kind of see elements of all of his movies in the interim] and going back through it I can see the basic dumb down formula of Nazis bad, Brad Pitt good in the Twisted World History According to Tarentino, which is why they are making the prequel to feature more of the B**tards
and rake in another huge payday. It had been a “while” since I had seen G I Joe, Rise of the Cobra [the weather kinda last time made it disappointing and with all of the humidity and all] someone somewhere must had said something, since the night fight scene in the beginning of the movie was a lot brighter than I had seen in previously showings, and could see more of the action and wasn’t “in the dark” as much and trying to guess what was going and who was fighting whom and all, so I don’t know if it was in the projection or what, but it made that part of the movie a whole lot enjoyable to watch!
Got out during the break for a stretch, and although I couldn’t see what amenities that were offered up in front of the screen, I did enter a very different type of concession stand, which resembled a cafeteria style where one could go all around an outer circle and the food workers were on the inside to service more patrons at a time. After the second movie, and time to get back on the road home, but then and again, had another car that had its hood up [although most drive-ins have one of those automatic chargers now a days, still keep jumpers in the back “just in case”] so waited 5 minutes after the credits have ended, since a lot of movies now have something at the very end related to the movie that often gets missed and pulled up and once again [and just having battery trouble myself I sympathize, especially having a great time at the movies then the car has to die and not start and who knows if they have a car service or not, but as Great Granddad used to say: “The main goal in life is to make other people happy; and if you make other people happy, then you are happy yourself”, and not to get all preachy here or do that Kevin Spacey “Pass It On” sort of deal, but if asked for a reward, I just ask that they remember this and do a good deed towards another some day. So in the words of Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara:
Someone says to do a favor,
or if you have the opportunity
to help someone in your lifetime,
Do it.
In life do what is right because
it is right and leave it alone.
No ulterior motive.
Do what is right because it is right.
Don't make money from it.
Don't write about it or publicize it.
Do what is right because it is right."
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Back to the Lynn Drive-In Theatre
August 13, 2009
Halfway through the Summer Season, and with 14 Drive-ins visited, it was time to go back to an early favorite, the Lynn Drive-in in Strassburg, Ohio. I have begun breaking down into categories [since it is almost impossible with each passing Drive-In I visit to pick a favorite, although I am about to declare both the Lynn and the North Ridgeville Aut-O-Rama as my top choices for Best Drive-In movie theatres with two screens! The breakdowns are as follows:
Best Single Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Holiday Drive-In
Field of Dreams Movie Theatre
3) Blue Sky Drive-In
4) Mayfield Road
5) Sunset Drive-In
6)Skyline Drive-in
Best Double Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Lynn Drive-In Theatre
Aut-O-Rama Drive-In Theatre
3) Van-Del Drive-In
4) Twin Drive-In Ravenna
5) Springmill Drive-In
6) Sundance Kid Drive-In
7) South Drive-In
Best Multiple Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Memphis Drive-In [closed]
2) Winter Drive-In
So on Thursday, went back down south on US 250 via Route 3 and through Wooster to and with extra time, went up through Massillon and Canton for some 16th Congressional District “timing runs” to see [once again, drum roll, please] G-Force and G.I Joe [movies previously discussed, but good enough to spend an ginormous $5 [not figuring in the cost of gas for all of these journeys, but hey, I work in state government and when has the government ever worried about the accurate cost of anything since all numbers are made up to begin with, but with 2010 elections just around the corner, it’s getting just about time to rake in another 6 month load]. Got there early this time, and instead of parking off to the side at the same Screen One where I saw Witch Mountain and Monsters vs. Aliens back in April, I found a middle third row space in front of the concession stand, and while the movie was going, I could see into the projection booth the movie reel spinning, which is another reason I enjoy going to the Lynn. Small but very efficient concession stand [got an ice cream sandwich bar for a buck] and overall another great experience here at the Lynn. Weather kinda got the better of the second movie of GI Joe [fog was rolling in and the rapid temperature change also played havoc with the humidity], and look forward to returning many more times to a new favorite Double Screen Drive-In theatre!
Halfway through the Summer Season, and with 14 Drive-ins visited, it was time to go back to an early favorite, the Lynn Drive-in in Strassburg, Ohio. I have begun breaking down into categories [since it is almost impossible with each passing Drive-In I visit to pick a favorite, although I am about to declare both the Lynn and the North Ridgeville Aut-O-Rama as my top choices for Best Drive-In movie theatres with two screens! The breakdowns are as follows:
Best Single Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Holiday Drive-In
Field of Dreams Movie Theatre
3) Blue Sky Drive-In
4) Mayfield Road
5) Sunset Drive-In
6)Skyline Drive-in
Best Double Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Lynn Drive-In Theatre
Aut-O-Rama Drive-In Theatre
3) Van-Del Drive-In
4) Twin Drive-In Ravenna
5) Springmill Drive-In
6) Sundance Kid Drive-In
7) South Drive-In
Best Multiple Screen Drive-In Theatre visited:
1) Memphis Drive-In [closed]
2) Winter Drive-In
So on Thursday, went back down south on US 250 via Route 3 and through Wooster to and with extra time, went up through Massillon and Canton for some 16th Congressional District “timing runs” to see [once again, drum roll, please] G-Force and G.I Joe [movies previously discussed, but good enough to spend an ginormous $5 [not figuring in the cost of gas for all of these journeys, but hey, I work in state government and when has the government ever worried about the accurate cost of anything since all numbers are made up to begin with, but with 2010 elections just around the corner, it’s getting just about time to rake in another 6 month load]. Got there early this time, and instead of parking off to the side at the same Screen One where I saw Witch Mountain and Monsters vs. Aliens back in April, I found a middle third row space in front of the concession stand, and while the movie was going, I could see into the projection booth the movie reel spinning, which is another reason I enjoy going to the Lynn. Small but very efficient concession stand [got an ice cream sandwich bar for a buck] and overall another great experience here at the Lynn. Weather kinda got the better of the second movie of GI Joe [fog was rolling in and the rapid temperature change also played havoc with the humidity], and look forward to returning many more times to a new favorite Double Screen Drive-In theatre!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A Fair-ly Good Day Medina County Fair & Van-Del Drive-in
August 9, 2009
Headed out Sunday down to the Medina County Fair at the fairgrounds to put in some booth time, and while 2010 elections are fast approaching, its time to gear up for another run and make some money! Won’t talk politics here, since car club time is my escape from my daily drag, and even though the car also functions as my office, anything car club and now drive-in theatre related is my “Vacation” time and even though work is now making my blog blobs postings fall further and further behind, will do my best to detail all that is Cruisin, though it may be a tad bit later than usual.
The plan for the day was to put in a couple of hours at the booth, tank up the car with some Go-Go juice and head out heading south on US 42 on over to Jeromesville on 89 and cruise the Western portion of the Lincoln Highway over to Van Wert County to the Van Wert Drive-in in Middle Point, Ohio. Well… put in more time that I wanted to at the fair booth and with points on the map [along with using an outdated map to boot] seeming a lot closer than they are in real life, had to make some adjustments along the way. Got to Jeromesville in good time and headed west at the town light, across US 30 and up past Hillsdale High School. Made Mansfield in pretty good time, and instead of following the Lincoln Highway signs at the town square, kept heading west and turned North at the Sunset Drive-In on Route 314, which was a mistake since it lead directly into a traffic jam lasting 25 minutes, but no worry, can pick up time elsewhere. Cruised through Creston, and then things got a bit tricky, since the Lincoln Highway split with an original route through Leesville and a later route to get to Bucyrus. So I zigged when I should have zagged, and ended up going in a circle back through Creston, and by that time I was totally turned around, so went South on Route 61 to hook up with US 30 west since time was kinda running out.
Passed a lot of 18 wheelers that had come from Indy Car racing at Mid Ohio, back to their base in Indiana since they left at the US 33 exit at Upper Sandusky, and again, the outdated map said that US 30 had not been completed yet [and even verified it with the satellite map that the road had not been built, but could see the roadbed being prepared, but all the same, had to hammer it a little bit and along with it being a scorching hot day and along with the heater on and the windows up [would rather conserve fuel aerodynamically than become a well done roast] and factoring in rest stops for water, it was a good thing they completed US 30 into an expressway [along with looking for a gas stop for after the movie], but was determined to cruise at least one portion of the Lincoln Highway. So I got off the interstate at Delphos [one exit before Middle Point], knowing that the Van-Del Drive-In was right adjacent to the road, and since there was no markings, again, I now zagged when I should have zigged, and with the sunset in sight, doubled back after a brief “square” of the city the way I came and got back on US 30 west and gunned it for the next exit.
With all of the Drive-ins now a dinosaur and thing of the past, I am glad that I got back on the expressway, and even though there was construction going on at the exit, the neon tubing lights lit up the Drive-In like an oasis in the Desert night, and thankful that those who planned the US 30 Expressway planned it in a way to highlight this magnificent dinosaur’s Giant screen marquee for all who pass through this way! The old Lincoln Way literally passes feet from the entrance, and like many of the original Drive-ins, it is a single screen [one of the tallest I have seen yet] that has expanded into another separate screen that the ownership has placed out in the field near the Old Lincoln Way [that still has the occasional 18 wheeler grind through], along with a separate projection booth. So got there late and couldn’t be picky about the parking, but got a good spot in the third row. Concession stand was small, but convenient, and had outside seating as well!
The movies for the evening were G-Force, and the opening of G.I. Joe. Having seen G-Force in movie trailers previews, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that this was going to be a suspension of disbelief movie, but who knows, after taking a couple of select “herbs” guinea pigs could actually talk, NOT! The only objections I had with it was the depiction of animal cruelty, and I know that the animals were all digital, but some impressionable kids might think it was OK to do some of the things that were done [lipstick and tossing them, though the film did acknowledge through the characters that it is animal cruelty, and me being no environmentalist and thinking PETA stands for “People Eating Tasty Animals” and know of one guy who put an WWII anti-aircraft gunners sight as a hood ornament here in the Township and another who uses his side view mirror as a gun steadier since those deer whistles aren’t as effective, it was just a downer since this wasn’t done for sport and necessity, but for meanness, and hopefully parents explained it to them later, and although we “Bruns-tuckians” joke about road kill as a delicacy here in the township, I do my best to brake and avoid animals (which always amazed me about how birds can avoid cars as fast as both are going, and if you see one deer, there are always two or more that are not too far behind, and as great granddad used to say, he always had a ditch picked out just in case)].
I used to watch the GI Joe cartoon back after school way back when, and to see the characters on the screen I was really at a loss [after getting back home in another long drive back, went to the Internet and looked up all of the characters on Wikipedia and their background] but it was pretty easy to figure out with my limited memory of the main characters which got jogged pretty quickly as to who [without giving away too much of the plot to those who haven’t seen the movie yet] who Cobra Leader was going to be, as well as who he was originally as movie now a days have so many lighted billboards as to where the story was heading. Joseph Gordon Levitt was a nice change of pace for him in a villain role, and along with the cameo by Brendan Frasier as Sgt. Stone [had a nice back story on his appearance from Wikipedia, and although I usually take that website with the tiniest grain of salt as possible], although it is another one of those fantasy action movies that always begs the question: when there is about to be great destruction, both the antagonist and protagonist both stop dead in their tracks and BOTH STOP AND WATCH the impending disaster, then resume the chase. My favorite site is the IMBD websites, where all of the goofs are revealed for continuity, historical facts, just plain goofs, etc. Oh well. My favorite movie on “goofs” was with Alan Alda in Sweet Liberty, who wrote a historically accurate Revolutionary War book until Hollywood took over and literally rewrote the screenplay because “modern Hollywood movies demanded only three things: 1) Big Explosions 2) Gratuitous Violence and 3) People getting naked” and at the end with his book totally shredded historically, Alda decided to turn the tables on the director and make all three things happen, just so I won’t spoil the whole “ending”.
Another late night back on the road, and getting low on gas so trekked back east on US 30 to the Beaverdam / I-75 gas plazas [there’s no direct access from I-75 to US 30] for some Go-Go Juice and headed up I-75 north to reach US 224 and take that through the University of Findley straight back east to I-71. Had only gone on US 224 as far west as Tiffen, and at 4 am was pretty much an open throttle run, with a 5 minute wait on a CSX coal train at Attica [Attica! Attica! Attica!].
Movies: A
Cruise: C [Couldn’t find anything]
Overall: A
Headed out Sunday down to the Medina County Fair at the fairgrounds to put in some booth time, and while 2010 elections are fast approaching, its time to gear up for another run and make some money! Won’t talk politics here, since car club time is my escape from my daily drag, and even though the car also functions as my office, anything car club and now drive-in theatre related is my “Vacation” time and even though work is now making my blog blobs postings fall further and further behind, will do my best to detail all that is Cruisin, though it may be a tad bit later than usual.
The plan for the day was to put in a couple of hours at the booth, tank up the car with some Go-Go juice and head out heading south on US 42 on over to Jeromesville on 89 and cruise the Western portion of the Lincoln Highway over to Van Wert County to the Van Wert Drive-in in Middle Point, Ohio. Well… put in more time that I wanted to at the fair booth and with points on the map [along with using an outdated map to boot] seeming a lot closer than they are in real life, had to make some adjustments along the way. Got to Jeromesville in good time and headed west at the town light, across US 30 and up past Hillsdale High School. Made Mansfield in pretty good time, and instead of following the Lincoln Highway signs at the town square, kept heading west and turned North at the Sunset Drive-In on Route 314, which was a mistake since it lead directly into a traffic jam lasting 25 minutes, but no worry, can pick up time elsewhere. Cruised through Creston, and then things got a bit tricky, since the Lincoln Highway split with an original route through Leesville and a later route to get to Bucyrus. So I zigged when I should have zagged, and ended up going in a circle back through Creston, and by that time I was totally turned around, so went South on Route 61 to hook up with US 30 west since time was kinda running out.
Passed a lot of 18 wheelers that had come from Indy Car racing at Mid Ohio, back to their base in Indiana since they left at the US 33 exit at Upper Sandusky, and again, the outdated map said that US 30 had not been completed yet [and even verified it with the satellite map that the road had not been built, but could see the roadbed being prepared, but all the same, had to hammer it a little bit and along with it being a scorching hot day and along with the heater on and the windows up [would rather conserve fuel aerodynamically than become a well done roast] and factoring in rest stops for water, it was a good thing they completed US 30 into an expressway [along with looking for a gas stop for after the movie], but was determined to cruise at least one portion of the Lincoln Highway. So I got off the interstate at Delphos [one exit before Middle Point], knowing that the Van-Del Drive-In was right adjacent to the road, and since there was no markings, again, I now zagged when I should have zigged, and with the sunset in sight, doubled back after a brief “square” of the city the way I came and got back on US 30 west and gunned it for the next exit.
With all of the Drive-ins now a dinosaur and thing of the past, I am glad that I got back on the expressway, and even though there was construction going on at the exit, the neon tubing lights lit up the Drive-In like an oasis in the Desert night, and thankful that those who planned the US 30 Expressway planned it in a way to highlight this magnificent dinosaur’s Giant screen marquee for all who pass through this way! The old Lincoln Way literally passes feet from the entrance, and like many of the original Drive-ins, it is a single screen [one of the tallest I have seen yet] that has expanded into another separate screen that the ownership has placed out in the field near the Old Lincoln Way [that still has the occasional 18 wheeler grind through], along with a separate projection booth. So got there late and couldn’t be picky about the parking, but got a good spot in the third row. Concession stand was small, but convenient, and had outside seating as well!
The movies for the evening were G-Force, and the opening of G.I. Joe. Having seen G-Force in movie trailers previews, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that this was going to be a suspension of disbelief movie, but who knows, after taking a couple of select “herbs” guinea pigs could actually talk, NOT! The only objections I had with it was the depiction of animal cruelty, and I know that the animals were all digital, but some impressionable kids might think it was OK to do some of the things that were done [lipstick and tossing them, though the film did acknowledge through the characters that it is animal cruelty, and me being no environmentalist and thinking PETA stands for “People Eating Tasty Animals” and know of one guy who put an WWII anti-aircraft gunners sight as a hood ornament here in the Township and another who uses his side view mirror as a gun steadier since those deer whistles aren’t as effective, it was just a downer since this wasn’t done for sport and necessity, but for meanness, and hopefully parents explained it to them later, and although we “Bruns-tuckians” joke about road kill as a delicacy here in the township, I do my best to brake and avoid animals (which always amazed me about how birds can avoid cars as fast as both are going, and if you see one deer, there are always two or more that are not too far behind, and as great granddad used to say, he always had a ditch picked out just in case)].
I used to watch the GI Joe cartoon back after school way back when, and to see the characters on the screen I was really at a loss [after getting back home in another long drive back, went to the Internet and looked up all of the characters on Wikipedia and their background] but it was pretty easy to figure out with my limited memory of the main characters which got jogged pretty quickly as to who [without giving away too much of the plot to those who haven’t seen the movie yet] who Cobra Leader was going to be, as well as who he was originally as movie now a days have so many lighted billboards as to where the story was heading. Joseph Gordon Levitt was a nice change of pace for him in a villain role, and along with the cameo by Brendan Frasier as Sgt. Stone [had a nice back story on his appearance from Wikipedia, and although I usually take that website with the tiniest grain of salt as possible], although it is another one of those fantasy action movies that always begs the question: when there is about to be great destruction, both the antagonist and protagonist both stop dead in their tracks and BOTH STOP AND WATCH the impending disaster, then resume the chase. My favorite site is the IMBD websites, where all of the goofs are revealed for continuity, historical facts, just plain goofs, etc. Oh well. My favorite movie on “goofs” was with Alan Alda in Sweet Liberty, who wrote a historically accurate Revolutionary War book until Hollywood took over and literally rewrote the screenplay because “modern Hollywood movies demanded only three things: 1) Big Explosions 2) Gratuitous Violence and 3) People getting naked” and at the end with his book totally shredded historically, Alda decided to turn the tables on the director and make all three things happen, just so I won’t spoil the whole “ending”.
Another late night back on the road, and getting low on gas so trekked back east on US 30 to the Beaverdam / I-75 gas plazas [there’s no direct access from I-75 to US 30] for some Go-Go Juice and headed up I-75 north to reach US 224 and take that through the University of Findley straight back east to I-71. Had only gone on US 224 as far west as Tiffen, and at 4 am was pretty much an open throttle run, with a 5 minute wait on a CSX coal train at Attica [Attica! Attica! Attica!].
Movies: A
Cruise: C [Couldn’t find anything]
Overall: A
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ford Fun Weekend er, Fords At The Summit & Winter Drive In Theatre Cruise
United Ford Owners were out in “Force” this weekend for the first annual Fords at the Summit over at Norwalk, Ohio, formally known as Norwalk Raceway Park, but then and again, that new NASCAR series will forever be know to me as The Winston Cup Series, along with other name brands that have gone the way of the corporate takeover, such as Gulf and Sohio [where there are still signs around in the more remote parts of The Roads Less Traveled that I have been on, since they have to keep the logo around for I guess what amounts to logo copyrights or whatnot, but I digress per usual] and “journeyed” over to the racetrack all four days [even though the weather was not going to cooperate as well as we would have liked, but I don’t really complain all that much as long as the farmers get what they need rain wise, and when they need it, and besides, it means a free car wash and more “mud baths” to pack on the side fenders later on].
Got there early Thursday evening [per usual] for the Fords at Summit walk through and while waiting for Kevin D and the Gang to make there way over from their hotel, decided to set up my own little personal “Speed Trap” there along Route 18 [just after a huge deluge of rain] and backed the car up to the chained entrance to get behind the United Ford Owners Convoy once they came by [with all of the antennae sprouting from the car and the illegal red light on the front dash – which is actually the rear high mount stop from the ’86 Taurus -- even 5-0 thinks I’m 5-0, but during the day cover it up – just in case], and once they drove by and honked, I got in line with all lights [and headlights – illegal stuff #2] flashing to “pull them over” we headed over to the Budweiser side gate to meet up with our host, and got caravanned around to the Summit side where Rod, Wayne, Dale and the other Happy Campers were already there. Unhooked the golf carts and went over the plan for the weekend, and walked the Swap Meet area to be manned by Dale and Morgan and the rest of the UFO "Gang".
This was the first time since 2003 that I had been there [since the Budweiser side was totally paved over, and being there with the old car club – North East Ohio Stang Gang and all Ford Club that has since disbanded -- had club drag racers including Patrick Cathan Team Racing had a tent site with the banner tied to the fence and it was a distinct difference to be back on the grounds once again, although I do drive out that way a couple of times a year just cruisin’ around and on business and I haven’t taken the Ohio Turnpike in 14 years on my way out to either Toledo or Youngstown since Routes 18, 20 and 224 have sufficed for my cruisin’ needs] and the improvements were very nice indeed! Back during the Fun Ford Weekend Days in their glory days, the club actually had cars on both sides on both the Summit and Budweiser sides, along with a car show that was held on Saturday. The way the field was set up was that general parking was in the far back [where the camping is now], one row was designated for the car show [where the car show was held this year]; which had both rows Plus the side by the fence filled with cars and they had Summit Tech inspections which went over each car show participant [I believe the participation fee was $10], and the other two sections of the field was filled with drag racers and NO Parts Swap, but did have the National Vendors at the same location where it was this year. Camping was over in the lot where the general parking was this year.
The ONLY problem with this set up was that folks driving in to get back to the general parking lot would not be paying attention and looking at all of the cars in the car show as they were rounding the corner, and the race cars coming back from their run down the track would be idling back to their pits on the Summit side and then BOOM!, even though both were going under 20 mph, when nobody is paying attention bad things happen, and between Ford Nostalgia runs I’d be over on the golf cart with my buddy and we’d bet “Hit or Miss” when two yo-yos would be close to “trading paint”, then everybody would run on over to see what’d just happened, since it was an insurance adjustors dream to figure out the blame since both the front quarter panels were like my favorite subject: History. So some kind of traffic control, or at least pavement markings should be there since those Visual Flight Rules don’t always work.
Got there early on Friday at the Budweiser Gate and they didn’t have the clubs credentials there yet, so went out cruisin’, out Route 18 and headed down to Tiffen [and hopin’ that 5-0 chick wasn’t still there that I never called back] and back up Route 53 to look for the Tiffin Drive-In that I missed the late at night last time after going to the Field of Dreams Drive-in at Liberty Center [much easier to find during the day, eh!] and then back around to Norwalk where they should have it by now, probably should have passed out the credentials for those going to be there for the weekend, but whatever whatever. Nice addition by the club for the parking safety vests, which I don’t know if it made us more visible or more invisible, but none the less, with ponchos in hand, so began the 1st Annual Fords at the Summit.
Rain, Rain, Go Away was pretty much the order for the rest of the weekend, which probably was the reason for the low car turnout, but then and again, I’m more of the “Other Side Of The Tracks” kind of guy anyways [having literally been born on the wrong side of the tracks in the nearby town of Wellington on Barker St, where Conrail and now CSX trains literally bisect the town with the many runs that go through daily and hopefully you don’t have an emergency that requires EMS, Police, Fire, etc response] and the car show idea is cool, although one has to be there all three days to be “judged” or something [I just pointed cars to the next guy up the hill] but my thing is Norwalk is all about “Waking up to the smell of nitrous oxide in the morning” and with all of the rain delays, waiting for the track to dry and the occasional breakdowns, did have an overall great time, especially Saturday evening with Rod, Wayne, Dale and everyone over at their site for a great evening of hospitality they all extended to those remaining for dinner!
Went back to leave since it was getting a little “late” in the evening for my 45 minute “Cannonball” back to the “barn”, and they had closed the gates on the Summit side [which they said was a 24 hr gate, but must have meant the Budweiser entrance, so lit up the lights blazing and cruised around the back staging lanes [where we cut through to get the $1 a pound ice cream bonanza] and back through the Budweiser pit area maze and hit the open road.
Sunday was pretty much a “mop up” day [no pun intended] and with the Swap meet what I thought was a great success from my point, the rain held off and didn’t put a damper on the “Ring of Fire” festivities, though I prefer enjoying, driving the snot out of my Fords, breaking it, then enjoy fixing it, then enjoy driving the snot of it again until it breaks [after buying the ’99 Hillbilly Deluxe minus the Deluxe back in 2002 used and now up to 162,000 + miles on it, only having to redo the transmission once back in 2004, and the Good Lord knows how many tie rods have been busted on my back creek adventures, which I would love to do an autocross sometime – but rules state nothing loose on the inside and don’t know where else I could put my “office”, and I love the “bounce” of the car hitting a curve at “??? mph” going up / down on a hill – more on that on the following cruise to the Winter Drive-In down in Wintersville Ohio in Jefferson County – those hills WOW!] Was asked by Kevin which one of the ROF cars I’d like, and without hesitation “The T-bolts” because of guess what, THE SOUND [although it might have been louder with subwoofers I’d put in them, along with a nice large flat screen on the interior of it’s trunk, so I wouldn’t need gas, I’d just vibrate down the highway]. After all was said and done, went up into the Summit stands right next to the start line to watch the remaining drag races [Y block Mercury made it to the DOT finals and unfortunately lost [once the hood went up, that is never a good sign, but love the race crew for giving them the time to fix whatever], and they had the original T-Bolts parked underneath the Summit stands, and whenever one of them left, the ENTIRE stands shook like it was a 10.9 earthquake, so if one ever wondered what it felt like to be inside a T-Bolt when it fired up, the fans in that section of stands got a thrill of a lifetime!
The rain held off for all of the finals, and went back home to unload some of the rain gear and headed out south to Wintersville Ohio to the Winter Drive-in. Didn’t get to the two remaining Drive-Ins there at Norwalk or Tiffin [sometimes, the two movie combinations just don’t jive with what I like to see and get the biggest bang for the proverbial buck], and after this time a 55 minute saunter back home via Route 18 [with the obligatory stop for the train there at Wellington – the line which also runs through Lagrange but just have to get lucky, and lucky for me is stopping for the train, since I get to turn the car off along with the radio and listen to the wheels going over the tracks (another reason I love going to the Aut-O-Rama there at North Ridgeville since the CSX tracks are right next to the drive-in, and although that can be annoying at times, I still love trains just as much as I love cruisn and Fords). Granddad on my mothers side was a conductor for the old New York Central out of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and a couple of years ago almost was hired by CSX for conductor, but as things worked out, if I did get the job I wouldn’t be doing what I do today, although I can’t go out and by a complete locomotive train – yet] and dumped off all of the Fun Ford Weekend UFO stuff that had accumulated.
Then while on my way, got the car “washed” going down Route 94, heading on over to Massillon down Route 21 after a short run on I-76, then ditched the expressways for the Lincoln Highway 172 running thru Massillon to Canton, getting some Go-Go juice and looking at a map for the best way, since it was getting sundown time. Chose to take 172 past Canton and head south on Route 43 which led directly into Wintersville [and hopefully I remembered correctly the map on the website, and thanks to Google, there satellite view, although only 1 dimensional, gives a somewhat accurate account of what is there, and having never been that far southeast before, I knew all of the squiggles on the map demarking the road meant better have good brakes and power steering]. Halfway there, I began to notice that the houses, barns, and even businesses were literally built into the hillsides on the narrow road [NO WAY am I going 55 on these hills, and I don’t care who else is behind me] with the first floor near the road, and the basement at least three stories below. Passed through several small towns, and the houses, particularly in the deep valleys, were scrunched together so tightly in the limited space that was flat, and the houses out in the country were only built where a flat space was available as these hills were worse than the one’s I have experience in Amish Country, and even gave the person I was following a good half mile since my ride doesn’t do to well on steep inclines with all of the extra “weight” it has to haul in speakers and personal “heft”. After an extreme roller coaster ride that seemed to last forever, finally made it to Route 22 and knew it was not much further.
I knew that the Winter Drive-In had 4 screens, and looking up the satellite imagery showed the up close cut of the land, but was pleasantly surprised after I entered, but after driving through all of the hills and valleys, I should not have been, since yes, there are 4 screens, but instead of the area of the drive-in being land flat as is per usual for all of the other drive-ins, because of the topography, the four screens [in four separate corners of the lot] are up on their own hill, and the projection booth along with the concession stand is down in the center of the valley(!) with an emergency access road running thru the first screen (red poles) so hope that the emergency brake is in full function! Since I haven’t been commenting too much on concession stands thus far [with the exception of the Field of Dreams and some others], went inside to use the facilities and both the facilities and concession stand were very well kept!
After hiking back up “Mt. Wintersville”, which was not too much of an incline [but one can always drive down to the concession area, eh?] reclined even further back in the car [which made drinking the soda an adventure, even though there was a straw] to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Transformers 2 [again]. Film critics were right that HP6 was a bridge to the final movie, but it was not a total waste of $7.50 since Transformers 2 hit it out of the ball park once again, along with going to a uniquely designed Drive-in Theatre! Had someone else’s car battery die between movies, so fortunately the trailers ran forever and finally got them started [note to self, better clean the battery terminals] and got back to my spot for T-2.
Got cold down there in the “holler” and although I would have loved to go back on US 250 via Route 22, I knew what those squiggly lines meant on the map, and at that late time with the fog rolling in, and knowing what Route 43 was like, took the roundabout way of heading east along Route 22 to hook up with Route 11 North and literally alongside the Ohio River. Even though it was like 3 am in the morning, foggy and on the road since like 8 am, it was still pretty cool to drive alongside a quite river, past the river locks, oil docks and coal plants which were literally right on top of Route 11, and would love to see it all during the day, although there will be much more traffic. Really didn’t have a real plan as to how to get back west, so followed Route 11 north until I got to Canfield and Route 224 West [although I am no environmentalist and am known to environmentalists by my carbon footprint as “Big Foot”, I do find it a wee bit wasteful to illuminate main street every two feet at 4 am like it is the center of the sun’s corona at high noon and almost needed sunglasses] to hook up to I-480 to I-71 south to Brunswick for another completed journey on the road less traveled.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Cruise Updates 4 This Week / FORDS AT THE SUMMIT Preperations
Keeping the car in the barn for the next two weeks [though would like to have gone out and seen Public Enemies down in Winterville down in Jefferson County but movies seem to be floating around until the next big wave of summer movie releases July 24th with Harry Potter Part 524 being released with another midnight drive-in special showing etc. but plan to go down to Amelia in Brown County in Southern Ohio to catch that movie later this month] and will be busy prepping the car for the FIRST ANNUAL FORDS AT THE SUMMIT at Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio July 24-26, 2009 [the old Fun Ford Weekend]!
May sneak in a cruise or two in between now and then, but finishing up on some of the smaller details I let slide during the winter months [including some major rear fender design work that will be completed by tomorrow -- have to look close each time the car is around since I have changed and / or added at least one different item on the car each month, something that is nice about the vynil is that easily comes on and off like butter [especially in the hot summer sun that bakes it right on, and sometimes gets too hot to work with, so just put it in the garage to cool the surface off so it can contract and adhere better to the car's exterior metal] but won't be entering it in any of the competitions [I don't think that they have a junk category yet, and the way I trash it every time I'm out driving, it's a wonder it is still in one piece!] since I have always been of the belief that Fords were made to be driven hard and way into the ground and have never once washed it since getting it used 5 years ago [and the soap used in the commerical car washes would automatically fade all of the colors, as the sun has already done on some of the stickers!] so just get it washed as the Good Lord Doth Provides whenever it rains [which means I get to go out and even though it washes off all of my entomology (bug) collection that were so painstakingly placed on the windshield means not only a whole new collection awaits as I tear up the back country roads] but it also means MUD, GLORIOUS MUD! as there is an open field I can cut thru on my way over Medina ways [and down in Wooster they are tearing up the whole length of Beall Ave. to which I rolled my eyes towards Heaven and gave a great big Thank You!]
Some folks Got their Armor All, us hill folks [and as Neal McCoy sings it:] GOT MUD!
More 411 at:
http://summitmotorsportspark.com/schedule/1st-annual-ford-heritage-nationals.ics
[P.S. Don't forget about the Fall SuperSwap !!!]
www.fallsuperswap.com
May sneak in a cruise or two in between now and then, but finishing up on some of the smaller details I let slide during the winter months [including some major rear fender design work that will be completed by tomorrow -- have to look close each time the car is around since I have changed and / or added at least one different item on the car each month, something that is nice about the vynil is that easily comes on and off like butter [especially in the hot summer sun that bakes it right on, and sometimes gets too hot to work with, so just put it in the garage to cool the surface off so it can contract and adhere better to the car's exterior metal] but won't be entering it in any of the competitions [I don't think that they have a junk category yet, and the way I trash it every time I'm out driving, it's a wonder it is still in one piece!] since I have always been of the belief that Fords were made to be driven hard and way into the ground and have never once washed it since getting it used 5 years ago [and the soap used in the commerical car washes would automatically fade all of the colors, as the sun has already done on some of the stickers!] so just get it washed as the Good Lord Doth Provides whenever it rains [which means I get to go out and even though it washes off all of my entomology (bug) collection that were so painstakingly placed on the windshield means not only a whole new collection awaits as I tear up the back country roads] but it also means MUD, GLORIOUS MUD! as there is an open field I can cut thru on my way over Medina ways [and down in Wooster they are tearing up the whole length of Beall Ave. to which I rolled my eyes towards Heaven and gave a great big Thank You!]
Some folks Got their Armor All, us hill folks [and as Neal McCoy sings it:] GOT MUD!
More 411 at:
http://summitmotorsportspark.com/schedule/1st-annual-ford-heritage-nationals.ics
[P.S. Don't forget about the Fall SuperSwap !!!]
www.fallsuperswap.com
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