The Drive In

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As I learned last night, there used to be over 4000 Drive ins in the United States. Now there are less than 400. The last time I went to a drive in, I was about five years old. I went with my mother and aunt and we saw Jaws. Actually, they saw Jaws, and I hid in the back seat with my eyes closed and my hands over my ears scared shitless of the giant shark.

Since I now spend many nights standing thigh deep in a very large ocean, without thought of sharks, I thought it might be time to go back to my youth and go to a Drive In movie. Laurie and I had been talking about going to the Drive In for two years, last night we finally went.

We went to the Rustic Drive In in  North Smithfield. It is very simple to get to it as it is only a mile from I-295 on Route 146. From 295, you have to pass it and do a U-turn at the light. The cost is $27 a car load. This is obviously a very expensive trip for one person, but a really good deal for a family of five. It was just Laurie and I, so we just looked at the cost as an experience. Your twenty seven dollars get you two movies as a double feature.

There are three screens and at this time of year the movies start at 8:55. The options for last night were:

1. Despicable Me/ Transformers

Our screen before the movies

2. Rough Night/ The House

3. Cars/ Wonder Woman

Since Laurie does not like movies with special effects, we went to screen 2. Since this is a review of my experience at the Drive In and not of the movies, all I'll say about them is they were both cheesy comedies. Rough Night was the better movie. The House had every bad cliche'a comedy can have.

We got to the parking lot 40 minutes early because online reviews said there can be a long wait. We did not have that problem, there was only two cars in front of us. After you pay your fare a parking lot attendant tells you which screen to go to. By far, our screen had the least amount of cars watching the movies. Wouldn't you rather watch Wonder Woman or Transformers also?

There is a concession stand in the middle of all three screens. The prices are the same expensive prices you would expect to pay at the movies. We bought a large popcorn ($7) and brought our own soda and ice.

There is a ten minute intermission between movies
This little clock on the screen counts it down

To listen to the movie, all you have to do is tune into the radio station they tell you. The sound was
clear and obviously, you control the volume.

The one thing online reviews are right about is the parking lot. It is terrible. The speed limit is 5 MPH because so many kids are running around. However anything more than that, and you'd be liable to blow a tire or break an axle. The lot is full of potholes, dips, and large bumps. I hope they resurface the lot soon because quite frankly it is so bad, it can turn people off from going back.

After the movies were over around 12:15 we exited. We had no trouble leaving the lot other than avoiding falling into a pothole never to be seen again. We did not have any wait what so ever leaving the lot.

I enjoyed my nostalgic experience going to the Drive In. Although the movies kind of sucked, that wasn't why we went. If I went again, I'd like to see a big action movie on one of those huge screens. I liked everything about going back in time to the movies except the parking lot surface.

A scene from Rough Night