At the Drive-In

The small town where I went to high school didn't have a walk-in movie theater - though there was one in the next town over, which we went to often - but especially in the summertime, we lived at one of the two drive-ins in the vicinity. The one in our town was okay, but the one across the river was much better and preferred - better sound, bigger lot, bigger and nicer refreshment stand - so that's the one we usually went to.

It didn't have to be summer to hit the drive-in, though. We did the same plenty even during the winter, piling up people upon people in my parents' van and other large (and small sometimes) vehicles. It was more fun in the summer though simply because it was warmer, you could hang outside the car, etcetera. Frequently at the drive-in in my town, you'd find blankets stretched out in front of all the cars with a few dozen people hanging out on the grass, goofing off and (sometimes) watching whatever movie was on.

The summer one of my friends came home from college driving an MG convertible, though, was the best. We did plenty of cruising around town in that little car - me, him, and my best friend - but the most fun times of all were taking it to the drive-in. We'd mix up a great big jug full of usually some crazy concoction - pink lemonade and vodka was a favorite - and off we'd go. I'd sit on the back on top of the trunk while the two of them stayed in the seats, which meant I was usually in charge of pouring the drinks. We really did watch most of the movies that summer, except the ones that were just too awful (John Travolta in Staying Alive, anyone?).

Those were fun days, cruising in the MG across the river bridge, jug of lemonade behind the seats at the ready and headed toward the drive-in. My friend had picked up a cassette of The B-52s' new album Whammy and had it blaring from the speakers, and we were all singing at the top of our lungs into the wind high above the river. Seemed like we stopped going so much after he sold the convertible, and soon after, we'd all parted for colleges and cities elsewhere and had gone our separate ways.