2009 Ohio Drive-In Theatre REVIEWS

NE Ohio Drive-In Theatres

Aut-O-Rama Twin Drive-In
autoramadrivein.com/nowshowing.php
$8.00 (cc-D/V/MC)
33395 Lorain Rd.North Ridgeville OH Lorain County

Drive-In Theatre Season’s Official Kick-off

Aut-O-Rama

Time to officially kick-off the 2009 Drive-In Theatre Season with a Visit to North Ridgeville’s Aut-O-Rama. Located just a literal stone throws from both the CSX train tracks and the Ohio Turnpike, the Aut-O-Rama has been one of my traditional Drive-In Movie haunts for the past 10 years [along with Mayfield Road Drive-In in Chesterland Ohio on Mayfield Road, and the now closed Memphis Triple Drive Drive-In on Memphis Ave just off of I-480 in Brooklyn, bought out by American Greetings for “Green Space” for its employees] the Aut-O-Rama has some of the friendliest staff personel and the lot is always extremely well kept, which makes summertime the one thing that I always look forward to crank up the engine [as well as cranking up the radio and speakers] for an always entertaining evening, as well as the cruise over to North Ridgeville. Although this summer I will be going around the state of Ohio to experience other Drive-In Theatre venues [as sort of a mini personal “bucket list” of things I want to do before I reach that “Great Junkyard in the Sky”], the Aut-O-Rama will always be my own personal favorite of all of the previous ones mentioned [Memphis, Mayfield Road, and even went to Midway Drive-In down in Ravenna during my college years at Kent State – yes, did the trunk stuff thing for the “carload” price on more than one occasion].

Went to see Fast and Furious 4 and Paul Blart, Mall Cop [F&F 4 for the obvious “need for speed” reasons and Blart just to laugh at something, OK, it was all about seeing F&F 4], but mostly to be back at the Aut-O-Rama to kick off another great summer season of Drive-In movies at one of the finest locations here in NE Ohio!

TRANSFORMERS 2: RISE OF THE FALLEN OPENING MORNING June 24, 2009

Even though I have been going over to North Ridgeville for eons, received and email for a special midnight showing of Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen on the day that it was being released Nationwide, and even though I would have waited to go and see it eventually [and knowing that it was so huge that it’ll be around for several weeks to come] and had always known that movie chains always show their summer blockbusters with the special midnight showing the day of the summer release, mid week no less, it was being shown with Star Trek [now seen for the 5th or so time] so fired up the car and cruised on over to The Aut-O-Rama for the midnight opening [which I had never been to, but used that as an excuse to see Star Trek one more time] and arrived early enough to cruise around my old cruising ground of North Olmstead and Olmstead Falls before settling in for an evening filled with the typical “Hollywood Fireworks and Explosions” and got the most bang for buck.

For those of you who haven’t heard about the recent controversy surrounding the Aut-O-Rama and a nearby softball field [whose lights were affecting the screen picture quality] here is an update from the Aut-O-Rama’s email and website:

http://autoramadrivein.com/lighting_issue.php

Original Message: 6/4/09

Dear Patrons and Friends of the Aut-O-Rama Drive-In,Our thanks to all of those patrons who took part in our survey over the Memorial Day weekend and continue to be patient with our less than acceptable movie presentation. We are still working with our attorneys to get to a permanent solution to our lighting problem from the nearby sports park. Many of you have seen the attention our situation is getting from the media. If you haven’t been to the drive-in this past month you may not have realized something was going on. At this point, it doesn’t look like our light pollution problem will be solved without going to court. After dealing with this problem since May 8, 2009, we did obtain a temporary restraining order on Thursday, May 28, 2009. The Temporary Restraining Order forbid the sports park from turning any of their 8 baseball/softball field lights on after 9:25pm. Finally after three weeks of trying to get a resolution to the light spillage, we got a phone call from the lawyer for the sports park on Friday, May 29, after we served them with the restraining order, asking if we could meet and discuss this with them. We have no desire to harm the sports park, so we agreed to meet. As a result of that meeting, we agreed to do an experiment on Friday night, in an effort to let them use any fields that might not be contributing to the glare problem at the drive-in. As a result of this test, which lasted almost the entire first movie, we came to an agreement that the sports park would have the use of all eight fields until 9:25 but only 4 of their 8 ball fields after that time. We again went to court on Tuesday, June 2, because the sports park wanted to amend the Temporary Restraining Order. Since it is staying light out a little later, again we compromised and moved the time that all the fields could be lit, from 9:25pm until 10:00pm and allowing the continued use of the other 4 fields after that time. There is still a problem with those other fields, but we are doing all we can to help the sports park keep playing their games. The next step is a preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning, June 10. The hearing is likely to take all morning long. Over the Memorial Day weekend, we obtained a long list of people who said they would be willing to testify in court. Beginning probably tonight, Thursday, June 4, 2009, my daughter-in-law Niki and I will start calling the people on this list to see if they are still willing and able to be at the Lorain County Court building in Elyria, Ohio beginning at 8:30am on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. I know this is a lot to ask of our very loyal customers, but we need the assistance of as many people as possible. You can also contact me to confirm or decline your participation, by answering this email. We are working to get a permanent solution to this problem as quickly as possible, and again, we appreciate your co-operation, help and understanding.Best Regards, and our thanks,Deb Sherman and FamilyAut-O-Rama Drive-In

Update: 6/12/09

We had the hearing for our preliminary injunction. The Judge will not rule on our case for about a week. Our hearing took all day Wednesday June 10, and all morning on Thursday, June 11. We are indebted to all of our customers who took time out of their lives to come to the courthouse and testify. Unfortunately, with the hearing taking so long, the Judge would only allow testimony from 3 people. Their testimony was important because it put a face on the “customers” of Aut-O-Rama Drive-In. We feel that we presented a strong case against the sports park and are very hopeful that the judge will rule in our favor. In the meantime, we have the restraining order in place that compels the sports park to turn off lights on the 4 fields that affect the drive-in the most. Our thanks to everyone for their patience and support.


Mayfield Road Drive-In
http://www.funflick.com/mayfield.html
FM 101.5
12091 Mayfield Rd.Chardon, OH Geauga County

A single screen theatre way out in the country that I also look forward to visiting each summer. Haven’t been there this year yet [did see Speed Racer last year – for the third time, and again had to offer an assist for a dead battery to my “next door neighbor”] and between the Aut-O-Rama, [the now demolished] Memphis and Mayfield Road were my main Drive-In “Haunts” and could regularly find me cruising down Route 44 thru Chardon city square, especially after a weeknight of cruising with my old car club, the North East Ohio Stang Gang and All Ford Club located up in Mentor the first Tuesday of the month before it broke apart a couple of years ago, and opening up the throttle a bit until reaching the 322 / Mayfield Road intersection and heading east just a couple of seconds and reaching the Drive-In, then can either trek back home east on Mayfield Road after the movie, or open up the throttle once again back down Route 44.

Located in kind of a “woodsy” area, always best to bring along some kind of repellant [along with jumper cables, etc), but overall, another family friendly environment and also a well kept family owned facility that keeps me coming back year after year after year!

Midway Twin Drive-In
http://www.funflick.com/midway.html
FM(102.7, 104.7)
2736 SR 59Ravenna, OH Portage County

Going to Kent State U. just up the road from the Midway during the early 90’s was actually the first drive in I ever went to, and yes, we did pile 3 cars worth of kids into one car [with me ending up in the trunk after parking just down the road from the theatre!] and “sneaking” in, although it was by the carload back then. Don’t remember what we saw that night, since, well, I was concentrating on other “endeavors” at the time, but have been back several times in the last couple of years and always keep track of what is playing there in hopes of returning their someday in the near future [and yes, had to figure out to get all of us wild and crazy kids stuffed back into the car once the movie was over and back to KSU.

Blue Sky Drive-In
www.blueskydrive-in.com/
FM 103.7 $16/Car - $8 Single
959 Broad St
Wadsworth OH Medina County
July 3

I don’t know why [since Wadsworth is so close to Brunswick] that I have never visited Blue Sky Drive-In after all of the many years that I have been cruising to Drive-ins – maybe its because I could never find the right combination of movies to see, since it is only a single screen movie theatre [it is also kinda hard to locate if one is not looking specifically for it since it is nicely tucked away in a nice cozy atmosphere on Broad Street just inside the Wadsworth city limits]. Never the less, finally made a point to go there after finding the right combo of movies to see [Ice Age 3 and Night at the Museum 2]. The weather looked “iffy”
[and was going to go the previous evening but rain was predicted – and it did: always like to pick an evening that the weather is going to be favorable, both precipitation and temp wise but have seen movies in the rain but prefer as most do to roll down the windows and get the full drive-in experience for the full value of the great admission price drive-ins do afford] and the grey clouds still hanging around tonight did look like it would rain all day, but after several consultations with The Weather Channel radar, it looked like another perfect night, along with brief fireworks just above the trees from someone’s July 4th celebrations.

After an evening of cruisng over to Summit Motorsports Performance store over in Montrose to pick up some Summit Magazine swag for next weeks meeting of the United Ford Owners, I briefly cruised on back via 532 and US 422/I-76 over to Wadsworth to get in line before it opens [always easier to show up early and get a “primo” parking spot in the center of the screen, usually in row 3, 4 or 5, depending on how far back the rows begin from in front of the screen, as I usually recline anyways – tonight was in row 2 right in front center, and in front of the concession / projection stand -- before all the good spots are taken, eh?], and since the lot is vaulted in a giant steel blue frame, I was totally surprised as to what was awaiting on the other side.

Blue Sky Drive-In is one of the smallest venues I have so far visited [no wonder I have missed it so many times driving by, even when I was trying hard to locate it several years ago [I still had to turn around and go back just to find it since the marquee is not prominently displayed as it is right up against the screen wall, and only a hundred feet or less of actual frontage, only a total of 5 cars can fit in the drive] the amenities that the ownership includes makes it worthy of any big lot drive-in! With only 4 rows for cars and the other 10 or so for the ever increasing SUV and mini-van family contingency [including a handicap space near the concession stand] Blue Sky is among the very few remaining drive-ins that have the old style speaker hookups [two at a pole, one for each side of the pole for the pull up patron], and for the first time ever, I decided to not use my stereo system and listen to their speakers for BOTH movies [although with today’s movies being sent out by studios in that Dolby THX surround sound, I could definitely hear the mono speakers were having trouble with the distortion and splitting the decoded signal, although no one was to my right so got a pretty good “stereo” sound]. Although Blue Sky is small, it also has a small playground like many of the old time sites [slide, swings, a spinning go round] and something else unique that I have found no where else as of this writing – benches right up in front of the playground WITH working speakers for those who don’t want either sit in their cars or have brought chairs to sit in front of their cars. Exceptionally clean and well maintained place [with red and yellow litter bins dotting the establishment and a well graded gravel lot] it is equally enjoyable to enter and leave a clean theatre, knowing the hard work that goes on before and after folks enter, including a small but well provisioned concession stand will place Blue Sky easily into my Top Tier of single screen theatres.

The movies were good as expected [I hadn’t seen the first two Ice Ages – although FX networks just had them on last night so caught up with the “Herd’s” antics in the first two, and hadn’t read the plot before hand but did see the movie trailer at the other movie – which is where I get most of my movie 411 and CAN’T WAIT TO SEE the new Johnny Depp in the John Dillinger Movie!] but having seen Night at the Museum 2 for now the second time, it was an enjoyable way to kick off the Fourth of July Weekend!

Magic City Drive-In
www.magiccitydrive-in.com/
FM 103.7 102.7
5602 S Cleveland-Massillon Rd
Barberton OH Summit County

Elm Road Triple Drive-In Theatre
http://www.elmroadtripledrivein.com/
$7.00 FM 93.7 89.5 90.5
1895 Elm Rd. NE
Warren OH Trumbull County

Skyway Drive-In
www.skywaydrivein.com/
$6.75 FM 88.7
1805 N Leavitt Rd.
Warren OH Trumbull County

Cruised on over to Warren today to the Skyview Drive-In on the west side of town. Stopped in over at Summit Racing for some magazine swag for the United Ford Owners Car Club , and headed on over to Kent to cruise thru the town and KSU campus to see Aliens Vs. Monsters [again] and Fast and Furious 4 [again]. Drove past the Midway Drive-In up Route 5 and past Ravenna, including the Ravenna Arsenal, with its miles and miles and miles of barbed wire fencing. Was looking forward to going to this Drive-In ever since I looked up its website while doing research for this project and found it really informative and from at least the website it looked like it was going to be an enjoyable evening, but when I got there, it looked closed and although I did get there a bit early [had time to cruise around Warren for about an hour – and every time I got back around to when it was supposed to be open, it looked like it was totally abandoned, so went out and cruised around some more [true, it was REALLY early in the Drive-In season and it being a Sunday night (about 10 cars were there) AND a single screen Theatre with movies that had already been out for three weeks] it was kinda disappointing and will leave it at that, since granddad always said if you ain’t got nothing nice to say then don’t say it, but will place it in my second tier of favorite single screen Drive-Ins and maybe if I have the time will give it a second chance to make a first impression, but have a lot of miles to burn between here and sunup so will keep on rollin’.

The movies were great as usual, and got to crank up the stereo on my way back home via US 422 in the late morning hours!


Pymatuning Drive-In
440-293-7757 (S)
FM 90.7
6352 Marvin Rd
Andover OH Ashtabula County

NW Ohio Drive-In Theatres
Star View Drive-In
www.starviewdriveintheatre.com/
FM 88.5
2083 US Hwy 20 West
Norwalk OH Huron County

Tiffin Drive-In
419-447-2551 (S) 419-443-1889 (Ph.)
$6.00 FM 88.1
4041 Hwy. 53 North
Tiffin OH Seneca County

Field of Dreams Drive-In
www.fieldofdreamsdrivein.com/
$ 6.00 FM 87.9
V602 County Road 6
Liberty Center OH Henry County

June 14

Sunday is another beautiful day for a Cruise and a Movie! Filled up the tank the rest of the way in Medina and headed out Route 18 to Field of Dreams Drive-In Theatre in Liberty Center Ohio in NW Ohio. Passed Norwalk / Summit Dragway and got on US 20 and continued heading East, and although I have been to Bowling Green before and looked on the map several times [always preplanning each trip way in advance so that time isn't wasted on the side of the road looking at maps] I did get lost momentarily when I mistook a Route 6 heading 'East' exit -- knowing full well I needed to take Route 6 'West' all the way over to Henry County to Liberty Center -- and I knew it wasn't right so got off and found an empty parking lot and got back on heading in the right direction. After passing I-75 for a few miles, I saw 6 of the ugliest wind propellers alongside the road, placed appropriately in the Wood County Landfill two hundred or so feet up in the air and are what I consider a complete eyesore -- thank goodness it would be dark when I passed them again!Finally got to Field of Dreams Theatre just north of Liberty Center after a 140 mile cruise -- its intereting that Henry County is one of the only counties here in Ohio that uses letters of the alphabet for it's north-south county roads, and numbers its east-west back roads, but it is nice that they have nice big green square placards marking each road for us "foriegners" -- and like in the movie "Field of Dreams" it literally is "Build it and they will come" as someone actually build a small drive in theatre in thier backyard as a screen was built on several telephone poles and the projection house was made of cinderblocks!Several cornhole boards were available, as well as a volleyball sand lot and net were also available and a game was well underway, with folks welcomed to join in as more cars [including a white Ford Torino Convertable] made their way to Field of Dreams. Concessions consisted of a utility truck converted for food service, and before the movie started, the owner invited anyone who wanted to see how the projection booth operated to come on over see inside the inner workings of the theatre. The movies, btw, were NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM and STAR TREK, and both were well worth the drive all the way over in far NW corner of Ohio [in fact, I rank Field of Dreams Drive-In #2 overall of drive-in theatres I have so far visited!]Before heading back, had the inevitable dead battery of a group of folks parked just in front of me, so had the drive-in staff with their portable charger [but the guy was driving a Saturn, and for some reason their battery is in the trunk] and offered up my flashlight as well, but their charger wasn't working so went into AAA mode and got the jumper cables out of the trunk and opened up the hood and after a couple of good revs of the engine, got them started and on their way! Headed back out out Route 6, but headed south when I got to Route 53 towards Tiffen [to find the Tiffin Drive-In [when the UFO Ford Club heads up to Fords at Summit in July so I can go their after a days worth of All Ford entertainment] but can't really find anything in the dark so did a brief cruise thru Tiffin and picked up Route 18 and took that back to homebase until the next Great American Cruise!

Movies: A -
Cruise: A +
Overall: A[wesome!!!]



Sundance Kid Drive-In
www.greateasterntheatres.com/sundancehome.asp
$7.50
4500 Navarre Ave.
Oregon OH Lucas County

Gotta Hurry Gotta Hurry Gotta Hurry! June 24th

Started out late kinda cruisng out to Oregon, Ohio to the Sundance Kid Drive-In theatre this evening to see Transformer 2: Rise of the Fallen and Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 [mostly since I was going to take in all three of the remaining NW Ohio Drive-In Theatres Sundance Kid, Tiffin Drive and Star View over the July 24th Fords at Summit Raceway Park with the United Ford Owners, but after reconsidering that after 3 days of drag racing, driving 1.5 hours round trip back and forth from Norwalk to Brunswick that the extra 3 hours of movies each night will prove the Toby Keith song “I Ain’t As Good As I Once Was” a little too much, so even though having already seen Transformers 2 just last night at the early morning showing at The Aut-O-Rama, I had some extra miles to “Turn and Burn” [and wanted to see Pelham 1 2 3 and thought this combo would be a good show] so started out criss-crossing routes 303 to 252 up thru North Olmstead, getting on I-480 to the new cut through just completed of Stearns Road up to I-90 Westbound and splitting off to Route 2 which the Sundance Kid Theatre was locates on [Navaree Road]. Now that Route 2 is completed [although for at least a decade, still remembering getting off on a country road up to Sandusky’s Cedar Point and passing all of the local bait and tackle shops – haven’t been to Cedar Point since High School Graduation, but cruising the local back roads here in Wayne, Medina and Ashland Counties [especially the Lincoln Highway there in Jeromesville] makes all of the rides at both Cedar Point and Kings Island combined seem like little more than speed bumps, especially Abbeyville Road in Medina County between Route 252 and Hamilton Road [although more house building means more traffic -- and bicyclists -- and more folks not wanting to brave the zig zag curves]; Route 604 [between Route 83 and Congress, Ohio] where one has to double check their power steering fluid since it goes down in a deep valley and back up the other side with several twisty turns -- one time a few years ago came right up on an 18 wheel semi which had a little “trouble” getting back up the “hill” and eventually stopped and started rolling backwards right towards me so after throwing the car in reverse [and being fortunate no one was behind me] and got far enough away from the slowly rolling semi [and hoping beyond all hope] no one was coming from the other way] turned on all my flashers and gunned it around the semi since I was going to get crushed either by the trucks trailer or a head on, but driving in the hills, especially if you can see the crest of a second oncoming hill that is higher where you can at least know if someone is going to pop up on the other side [which is why I always have cab lights on the car [though I am going to have to reposition them and drill new holes in the roof next year since they are too high and need to be more towards the front and rear window, but that also means at least 10 new holes that I need to fill AND reposition the Chrome Shop Mafia logo in the rear as well, but that is 2010 summer project] so that folks can see the cab lights lighted first coming up on a hilly section of roads. Smithville-Western Road between US 42 and Route 83 is one of the worst “roads” that I have ever been on and is only 1.5 lanes with a wicked “Z” bend in the road down in the valley that is another “Up and Down” hilly power steering challenger. For an easier challenge, either Route 301 [between US 42 and Route 302] or Route 302 [between old 30A and US 42] are just as much fun, something that the amusements parks just can’t compete with.

Heading out to Sundance Kid Theatre on Route 2, it was another beautiful Northern Ohio day, crossing the causeway at Sandusky Bay [it must have just rained or something that kicked up the algae since something smelled really “fishy”] but this was the farthest west on Route 2 I had ever traveled, and with the occasional “State Flower” [i.e. construction barrel] popping up, was still behind schedule so gunned the engine only to see 5-0 come roaring up behind me while passing a semi, but was out of its jurisdiction [had to back it on down just in case] since it passed me and was actually Toledo PD but was still running behind to get to the opening of the box office. With the road now narrowing to two lanes [and the occasional glance at the map to see how many miles further it was to go and according to the time and posted speed limit] saw and passed Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant up close and personal for the first time -- don’t know why there was a waterfall of water dripping out of the cooling tower, so if I am seen ever glowing, be best assured it isn’t my personality -- and finally arrived at Sundance Kid while folks were still waiting back onto Route 2, and did have time to get gas and all, but since today was the first “day” that they were showing Transformers 2 here, turned around in a local business and got in line on an increasing wait line on the roads shoulder, reminiscient of the Skyview Cruise-In down in Lancaster I witnessed over Memorial Day, and with this being the day of release for Transformer 2, like I said in the opening: Gotta Hurry, Gotta Hurry, Gotta Hurry!

With 3 lanes of ticket booths, wouldn’t it just be my luck [with everyone behind me waiting] that the credit card machine broke down after I used mine -- especially since the car sticks out like a sore thumb and actually thought about taking off all 5 years worth of stickers since I was holding up the line and hiding the car is definitely not an option and after 3 minutes I finally got waved thru since Sundance Kid, along with a growing number of drive-ins now accept credit cards at the gate and concession stands, but can understand in their small business model how cash is more important, and many now have flea markets on weekends to subsidize an ever troubling economy. As for the experience itself, Sundance Kid is a double screen, also well kept by the ownership and also an urban drive-in theatre [being right outside of Toledo], and in addition to the customary concession stand, it also has several stand-alone vendors in parked trucks outside of the stand to accommodate a vast acreage of vehicle spaces, which was filled to capacity for both screens, another reminder that bears remembering is to ALWAYS GO SLOW and always watch out for the little ones, especially between cars since many are thinking only of the movie and what treats are awaiting them at the concession stand, but again, arrive early and don’t have to worry so much, but always being attentive wherever one is.

As for the movies, Pelham 1 2 3 was up first and never saw the original with Walter Mathau [though I suspect with this being the remake with John Travolta and Denzel Washington, they pretty much stuck to the original script with the same beginning, middle and ending, though the story never appealed to me much to go out to the library and check it out the first time, John Travolta plays a wickedly bad guy that I could never accept as a bad guy after watching all of his years in Welcome Back Kotter as Vinny Barbarino as well as Danny in Grease -- and no, I never saw any of the Saturday Night Fever movies -- and although he is on a recent tear of playing the bad guy, his first movie I saw was Broken Arrow with him as a renegade nuke stealing Air Force pilot and his ambiguous good cop / bad cop role in Basic Training, it is hard for me such a sweat, great guy that Vinny Barbarino was in “Kotter” could do anything wrong to anyone, and even rooted for him in Swordfish when his character got away with bank robbery, hostage taking, etc -- maybe it is my failure as movie goer to look beyond the person playing the character in the movie: got mad that they even thought about shooting at Frank Sinatra let along shooting him in the back at the end of Von Ryan’s Express since he is FRANK SINATRA after all and will never see Man With The Golden Arm with him playing a recovering junkie and don’t have time to go through all of the Humphry Bogart movies {The Caine Mutiny etc.} where he plays the bad guy, although that is what is called “typecasting” I guess which Edward G. Robertson always fit that gangster mold to a “T” {although playing the typical gangster, he broke out and expanded his gangster typecast role some in Brother Orchid and Larceny, Inc. }] and event hough I had not seen the original, one thing I don’t like about remakes is that again they have the same exact beginning, middle and end, and except for a few technical tricks that are available to filmmakers now, I would like to see a different ending like they did in the movie Clue [based on the board game] a decade plus ago, where they made 4 different film, 3 with different endings and the fourth with all 3 endings [and yes, the butler did it in one ending -- although the best murder mystery comedy is the classic Murder By Death where all of the worlds famous detectives gather at Truman Capote’s House of Mirrors and at the end Peter Sellers character, when asked if there was an actual murder committed, he answered “Yes, It Killed Perfectly Good Weekend”.

Cruised back down Route 128 to US 20 back home via Route 18 and put the car back in the barn awaiting another double feature to cruise on down to!

Central Ohio Drive-Ins
Lynn Auto Theatre
http://www.lynndrivein.com/
$5.00 FM 103.9 90.3 9735 SR 250
Strasburg OH Tuscarawas County

Lynn Drive-In Theatre

Driving down US 250 after cruising thru Wooster, the overcast skies looked like it should rain, though weather reports on the radio and TV had a cold front just clipping the Strassburg area, which the oldest Drive-In theatre in Ohio was locating, and after looking on their website, going to the Lynn is my most anticipated Drive-In to cruise to this summer, and I definitely was looking to seeing a movie there, as this is my Third drive in this season. Even though I had driven past the Lynn countless times, I never even noticed it as I cruised on by on my trips back from Dover, and even missed it several weeks earlier, but thanks to Google and Mapquest, I now always do a computer check and get an ariel visual of the terrain before going.

The Lynn was originally a single screen theatre, but was partitioned into two screens with one now in the rear, and when I pulled up to the box office gate, I knew that I was going to have great time this evening. Unlike the previously attended Drive-Ins, the entire lot is grass covered between the gravel alleys, and the pride and details to which the owners pay close attention to reflects on what I consider to be the best place to go see a movie [never mind the $5 admission for TWO movies, which I submit could be more] so far this season.

One of the owners came by and chatted me up about all of the logos on the car, and I complimented him on such a fine establishment he was running, and got ready for the movie, that consisted of “Race to Witch Mountain” and “Monsters Vs. Aliens” which both were a great way to end a great evening and the Lynn Theatre will make my Top 10 list of favorite Drive-Ins.


Springmill Drive-In
www.greateasterntheatres.com/springmillhome.asp
FM 88.5 AM 830
1040 Springmill Rd
Mansfield OH Richland County

June 13

After a morning and afternoon of assisting the United Ford Owners at their annual Ricarts / Earth Angel Foundation Charity Cruise-In, fired up the engine and made my way back up I-71 North to Mansfield, Ohio to the Springmill Drive-In Theatre [thought about heading over to the Sunset Drive-In located near the Springmill, but since they were both showing the same movies (UP and STAR TREK) the old art deco type front on their web page made me lean towards Springmill]. Got there a little too early again, and in the interest of gas mileage cruised thru Mansfield, them past the theatre on Springmill Road and up thru Shelby and doubled back and got there just as cars were starting to line up. Another one of these double screens that were converted into two from just the one main one, and the front deco marquee was in need of some paint, but overall was a very pleasant experience!

Went inside the concession stand to stretch between movies [they even give door prizes from the last digits of the admission tickets they have listed on the board behind the counter, and giving folks a chance to smell the popcorn, so to speak, and maybe purchase a drink or two] and again, for the smaller [and probably original single screen theatres] the building and interior were set up like all of the others, though it was just a little bit bigger, but on the same floor plan with the food on one side and management [along with the projection booth] on the other side. Security was around and chasing the SUV’s and pick-ups back to their designated areas, and the weather held out and had an overall pleasant experience, with the exception of a new coat of paint for the marquis, I look forward to a return trip and another fun evening at Springmill Drive-In Theatre!
As for the movies, just wanted to see Star Trek for a second time and also saw UP, which felt like they concentrated more on the animation more than the story, and in the end, both of those negatives ended up dragging the movie UP, DOWN

Sunset Drive-In
www.sunsetdrivein.net/
FM 89.1 AM 530
4018 Park Ave West
Mansfield OH Richland County

South Drive-In
http://www.drive-inmovies.com/
FM 91.5 90.9 3050 S High St
Columbus OH Franklin County

South Drive-In

Was in Cbus Saturday for business, and stopped at the South Drive-In on High Street in Columbus and saw STAR TREK and I love you man [absolutely the worst movie ever made – but on Friday’s and Saturday’s they replay the first movie twice, so it was worth seeing STAR TREK for a second time, so although the ACLU might declare the second feature “cruel and unusual punishment” – and was thankful that the power went out on the projection screen for 5 minutes as to not to have to endure any more torture -- and had a hard time even mentioning it the first time, but I digress, per usual] and nothing real special, except for the fact that they show the first feature over, which is kinda a triple feature – only if you like the first feature [which I absolutely did, not having seen the previews or read any of the plotline, the way I pick movies are usually familiarity with the actors, the theme of the movie, and then any TV trailers that makes it worth cruising on down, and since I only see movies in the summer, I try to pick out two that I really want to see, breaking that rule this time since sometimes I go and just jump in and take a leap of faith that it’ll be good, this time I got burned, but I did get to see the much anticipated STAR TREK which seeing it a second time tied some loose ends together that I missed the altered time line concept the first time, which makes a clean break from the William Shatner ‘60’s TV series (with the exception of Leonard Nemoy reprising his role as Spock) timeline and I foresee two to three more movie possibilities, which in Hollywood nowadays sequels are always a given and is now the norm.

Security was busy chasing the SUV’s and mini vans back to the back row of the theatre, and had local Cbus 5-0 on duty to a packed house, but got in early enough to get my usual 3rd row center of the aisle, but that can change from theatre to theatre as well, depending if the rows are “sloped up” on a rise or not. An all stone lot (like the Aut-O-Rama in North Ridgeville) and overall was another relaxing time after a hectic day at the office. Not many stayed for the Star Trek replay, and had another late late drive back home to the barn. The only negatives of the South Drive-In was the excessive amount of litter that was left behind [had a cat poke around a bag left behind] and also the rear screen where I was at had an apartment complex behind the drive in without much of a wall that let an annoying street lamp shine all the way through the thin tree line during both movies, so it kinda dampened the overall ambiance I am used to, but this being in literally in the middle of an urban setting and unlike the Auto-O-Rama where it is situated in a corner of literally unusable land for anything else commercial or residential with CSX tracks on one side and the Ohio Turnpike in the other corner, most of the now closed theatres were originally built far away from the towns out in farm country, but, like the 42 Drive-in [now a closed lumber yard, but the single screen still remains standing] just up the road from me up here in Brunswick Hills Twp. and the Pearl Road Drive-In in Middleburg Hts. [now a golf driving range and Saturn Dealership now I guess for 20 years or so now] the land became more valuable for the owners who got a deal that they just couldn’t refuse and sold the lot to developers [as in the case of the drive-in now closed in Delaware, although Memphis Road Triple Drive-In just sold out period to American Greetings card company for the company’s need for “Green Space”, but it was only a matter of time anyways for it to be forever gone], but I have found through my research that some just lie completely abandoned [as of the person who did the pictures and the website postings] with the last movie poster that was shown at that drive-in still in the weed covered projection booth, which as a history lover I find sad, and still pass the “Last Screen Standing” here in the township almost everyday, and if I don’t get to all of them here in Ohio I’ve been to a lot of great ones so far in my quest, and by seeing folks paying anywhere from $5 each to $16 a carload [have found with going solo all of the time that it si half a carload price, though after this journey of going to all of the ones in Ohio will probably only go back to those accepting credit cards or are at the $5 level depending on their location and fuel prices etc. in the future, but just want to complete this mini “Bucket List” before any more drive-ins go under since once they are gone, they are gone forever!] to full capacity lots each evening -- and with the low overhead and mostly kids who are family or friends who are working the theatre lots and with the taxes on the land remaining where they are for the time being, the future at least looks a little brighter at least in one corner of the universe where all may go to enjoy a little family fun filled evening of escapism at a great price!

Cruise: C [for cruisn’ downtown Cbus& OSU]
Movie: A/I/A [Awesome / Idiocy/ Awesome]
Overall: OK


Skyview Cruise-In
www.skyviewdrivein.com/
$6.00 FM 100.1
2420 E. Main St
Lancaster OH Fairfield County

June 28

After leaving the United Ford Owners monthly Cruise-In at Quaker Steak and Lube at Poloaris there in Cbus about 5ish for a trek down to Lancaster to the Skyview Drive-In Theatre to see Night at the Museum 2 and Star Trek, taking I-270 to south US 33, but as soon as I came upon a two mile long backup on Route 22 just east of Lancaster and as I neared the theatre I forgot it was Memorial Day weekend so I doubled back and went back and visited with my cousin back in Cbus since the local 5-0 were already starting to turn folks away from the theatre [about a mile up the road from the theatre entrance], and it was too late to get to another theatre in time to get primo parking so I called it a wrap and hope to catch a flick there later this summer!





West Central Ohio Drive-Ins
Auto-Vue Drive-In
937-492-5905(S)
1409 4th Ave
Sidney OH Shelby County

Melody Cruise-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/melodyci.shtml
$7.50 (D/Amex/V/MC) FM 107.3 103.3
4025 E National Road
Springfield OH Clark County

Hi Road Drive-In
www.metheatres.com/hiroad.shtml
$6.00FM 99.3
8059 SR. 68 N
Kenton OH Hardin County

Lake Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/lakedi.shtml
$10.00 / car
8477 Hwy 703
Celina OH Mercer County

Starlite Drive-In
419-925-4944 (S)
1889 Route 127
Maria Stein OH Mercer County

Van Del Drive-In
http://www.van-del.com/
$6.00
19986 Lincoln Hwy
Middle Point OH Van Wert County

SW Ohio Drive-In Theatres
Holiday Auto Theatre
www.holidayautotheatre.com/
$8.00 (cc- V/MC) FM 95.5 [Open All Year]
1816 Old Oxford Hwy
Hamilton OH Hamilton County

Started out going down to the Holiday Drive-In Theatres 2009 New Years Triple Feature in a blizzard after getting an oil change up at Yorktown Automotive in Parma Hts. and after the traditional stop at the TA at Lodi for their buffet before every major cruise, made my way down South to Hamilton, Ohio. With limited time and finding a gas station before they closed for the New Year Celebrations I found it necessary to get gas ASAP and fill up before the stations closed and make sure I had a full tank since I was going to run the heater during the 3 movies shown with below freezing temperatures predicted and be able to get all the way back home, sometimes just have to throw the book out of the window 3 movies shown with below freezing temperatures predicted and be able to get all the way back home, again with New Years Eve early closing for businesses it was time to get there.

Although I have gone to Drive-in Theatres for over a decade, going to a New Years Eve triple feature was definitely a first, with the Holiday Drive-In being my fifth different one I had gone to out of the 33 which still "survive" here in Ohio [down from 270 original] and the Holiday celebrating its 70th year of continuous operation! I always find drive-ins to be a great value [$8 for a double feature where the megaplex cinemas charge even more for just one], and saw Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories [with the obligatory Rob Schneider “cameo”] along with Bolt and Twilight [a movie I admit I knew absolutely nothing about and the first time that I went to a movie and not have had an inkling about what I was about to see – though safe to say that it is a “Cross” between “Dracula meats Juliet” without the typical ending of either Dracula or Romeo and Juliet, but hey, I had never been to anything this fun on New Years Eve in years, so was pleasantly surprised, and was worth getting frozen], with a special midnight "toast" of apple cider [between the second and third movies] along with party favors and special cinematic "Countdown to Midnight" on the big screen, and although the temperature was well below freezing and not your typical drive-in movie summer evening, it was none the less a great atmosphere provided by the owner and staff of the Holiday which made me looking forward to heading out after one of our UFO's Quaker Steak Cruise and head back on down to Hamilton Ohio this summer for another fantastic evening of fun entertainment and this single screen Drive-In gem definitely makes my top 5 Drive-Ins, which if all of the Drive-Ins are this cool and fun, may have to expand my favorites list!

Skyborn Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/skyborndi.shtml
$7.50(cc-D/Amex /V/MC)
Rte 235 & Haddix Rd
Fairborn OH Greene County

Dixie Twin Drive-In
http://www.dixietwin.com/
$7.00 FM 107.3 103.3
6201 N Dixie Rd
Dayton OH Montgomery County

Starlight Drive-In
www.starlitedriveinohio.com/
FM 90.5
2255 Ohio Pike Rt. 125
Amelia OH Clermont County

Melody 49 Twin Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/melody49di.shtml
$7.50 (cc-D/Amex /V/MC) FM 103.3 107.3
7696 Pleasant-Plain Rd
Clayton OH Adams County

East Bend Drive-In
937-373-1307 (S)
Hwy 125
Decatur OH Adams County

Wilmington Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/wilmingtondi.shtml
$10.00 / car
1129 N Rt. 134 Wilmington OH Clinton County
SE Ohio Drive-In Theatres
Kanauga Drive-In
http://www.kanaugadrive-in.com/
740-446-1088(S)
1483 SR 7 N
Gallipolis OH Gallia County

Scioto Breeze Drive-In
www.chakerestheatres.com/sciotodi.shtml
$7.00(cc-D/Amex /V/MC)
9959 US Route 23
Lucasville OH Scioto County

Winter Drive-In Theatre
www.winterdrivein.com/movies.htm
FM 100.1 102.1 104.1 107.1
400 Luray Dr
Wintersville OH Jefferson County


cc- D / V / MC / Amex [Credit Cards Accepted – Discover / Visa / Master Card / American Express]
(S) – Show Times phone hotline