A Night at the Drive In

Sometimes, life needs a pause button.

A couple of years ago, my lovely bride Karen and I wanted to go to the movies. Going to the movies now costs roughly $4,500 for a ticket, popcorn, and a Coke. Plus, everything seems to have a title like Cocaine Bear or is the ninth remake of Spider-Man. It's not beyond the realm of possibility to imagine Bluey the Movie starring Ryan Gosling.

Ye gods. I hate to think what my grandchildren will be watching on Turner Classic Movies one day.

So what to do when you need a classic movie fix?

You go to a drive in movie, that’s what you do.

Today, there are only roughly 400 drive-in movie theaters left across the United States, and one of the best happens to be The Swan, located in Blue Ridge, Georgia. The Swan has been around since 1955, showing movies on its outdoor big screen to generations of moviegoers arriving in everything from T-Birds and station wagon “woodies” to hybrids and SUVs.

A double feature of “Grease” and “American Graffiti” was showing and it sounded like a fun, simple evening. We packed a picnic basket of food and drove the scenic route on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the gorgeous foothills of northeast Georgia.

We got to the drive-in early and found a good spot. The theatre played 50s music on the loudspeakers and the night was cool in the mountain air. You almost expected to see Fonzie, Richie, and Potsie cruising in at any moment. We ate our sandwiches, and I practiced one of my favorite pastimes: people watching. A teenage couple parked next to us in his shiny truck. They sat on the tailgate and immediately immersed themselves in their cell phones. She was pretty, and he had clearly outkicked his coverage. It didn’t matter, as she was too busy taking selfies of herself making duck faces and flashing peace signs to notice him.

Just before showtime, I wandered over to the concession stand and immediately smelled the distinct aroma of funnel cakes. By law, there are only two types of entities that are justified in serving these deep-fried desserts: County fairs and drive-in movies. I ordered a couple and brought them along with approximately six hundred napkins back to the car. There is no earthly way not to look like Al Pacino from Scarface after eating a powdered sugar-covered funnel cake.

Halfway through the movie, I was about to ask Karen if she would wear my class ring and go to the big dance with me, but decided against it. We are definitely not teenagers any longer. My knees were getting stiff and we were both yawning by the time John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John drove Greased Lightning off into the sky and we couldn’t hang for the second feature. Still, it was a nice diversion and I’d highly recommend it. There are points in your life where trips abroad to faraway lands can seem intoxicating and exciting. These days, however, I am opting for simplicity. In a peculiar and uncertain world, it is good medicine.

A date with your sweetheart at the drive-in is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.