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Every drive-in we've been to, in the order we went. The five scores are, left to right,
Screen - Sound - Snack Bar - Intermission - Field, each out of 5,
and the total is out of 25. The scale is explained on the front page.
Scores are for the night we were there. A place can have a bad night, and we've been back to a few
and changed our minds, but the book shows the score from our first visit unless I say otherwise.
We don't print the towns. These are family businesses, and the families didn't ask to be on the
Internet. If you live near one you'll know it, and if you want to find one, write to me and I'll
tell you how to get there.
| # |
Drive-in, state, year |
Scores |
Total |
| 1 |
The Moonbeam, Pa. · 1993
Our first anniversary, and still our home drive-in. One screen, the old reel, and a grill cook who remembers how we like our burgers. |
4-4-5-5-4 |
22 |
| 2 |
Hemlock Hollow Drive-In, Pa. · 1993
Down in a valley with hemlocks right up to the fence. The prettiest field on the list. The screen has seen better days. |
3-3-3-2-5 |
16 |
| 3 |
Twin Silos Drive-In, Pa. · 1994
Two screens, named for the silos next door on a dairy farm. You know when the wind changes. |
4-3-4-3-3 |
17 |
| 4 |
The Starhaven, Pa. · 1994
CLOSED after the 1996 season. Self-storage now. |
3-2-3-4-3 |
15 |
| 5 |
Old Mill Drive-In, N.Y. · 1994
Our first one out of state. The snack bar is in an old feed mill. |
4-4-3-4-4 |
19 |
| 6 |
The Laurel Dale, Pa. · 1995
CLOSED 1997. The best french fries I have ever eaten. A supermarket now. |
3-3-5-3-3 |
17 |
| 7 |
Big Dipper Drive-In, Ohio · 1995
The biggest screen we've seen. I tried to pace off the bottom of it and a teenager with a flashlight asked me to get back in my car. |
5-4-3-3-4 |
19 |
| 8 |
Bay Breeze Drive-In, Md. · 1995
Crab cake sandwiches at the snack bar. Mosquitoes the size of sparrows. |
3-4-4-2-3 |
16 |
| 9 |
Whippoorwill Drive-In, Pa. · 1996
The best on the list. A reel so old it's pink, a window speaker on every pole that still works, FM too, and real butter. |
5-5-5-5-4 |
24 |
| 10 |
Cornfield Cinema, Ohio · 1996
Corn on three sides, taller than the cars by August. Like watching a movie in a room made of corn. |
3-3-3-3-5 |
17 |
| 11 |
Two Rivers Drive-In, Md. · 1996
A friendly place where the owner takes the tickets himself. |
4-3-3-4-3 |
17 |
| 12 |
Bluebird Drive-In, Pa. · 1997
Solid all around. The one we'd send a beginner to. |
4-4-4-3-4 |
19 |
| 13 |
Twin Pines Auto-Vue, Ohio · 1997
CLOSED. The big screen blew down in a storm in the spring of 1998. |
3-3-4-4-3 |
17 |
| 14 |
Starlight Valley Drive-In, N.Y. · 1997
The clearest FM sound of the twenty-three. You could hear a pin drop on that radio station. |
4-5-3-4-4 |
20 |
| 15 |
Ridgerunner Drive-In, W.Va. · 1997
Up on top of a ridge, with more real stars over the screen than anywhere else we've been. The old reel, every night. |
3-3-4-5-4 |
19 |
| 16 |
Orchard Twin, Pa. · 1998
Built in an old apple orchard, with a few trees left at the back. Intermission is a slide that says INTERMISSION. |
4-4-3-2-3 |
16 |
| 17 |
Sunset Ridge Drive-In, Pa. · 1998
Good pizza. Very good pizza. Lisa wants it noted. |
3-4-4-3-3 |
17 |
| 18 |
Night Owl Drive-In, Md. · 1998
Triple features on Saturdays. We made it to the third one once. Once. |
4-4-2-3-4 |
17 |
| 19 |
Coal Hollow Drive-In, W.Va. · 1998
The screen needs paint, but the owner's wife makes the pie, and the pie is a 5 on its own. |
2-3-4-4-3 |
16 |
| 20 |
Firefly Drive-In, Pa. · 1999
Drive-in number 20. A mown grass field with the fireflies out at dusk. Hence the name, I suppose. |
4-4-4-4-5 |
21 |
| 21 |
Polaris Drive-In, N.Y. · 1999
Five hours each way and worth every mile. A beautiful screen, an old reel, and a sky full of stars. |
5-4-4-5-4 |
22 |
| 22 |
Kettle Run Drive-In, Pa. · 1999
A nice field and a good picture. The intermission is a radio commercial for a car dealer. |
4-3-3-2-4 |
16 |
| 23 |
Sandpiper Drive-In, Ohio · 1999
Drive-in number 23. Near the lake, with a breeze off the water that kept the bugs down. |
4-4-3-3-4 |
18 |
The Top Five
| 1. Whippoorwill, Pa. | 24 |
| 2. The Moonbeam, Pa. (tie) | 22 |
| 2. Polaris, N.Y. (tie) | 22 |
| 4. Firefly, Pa. | 21 |
| 5. Starlight Valley, N.Y. | 20 |
Nobody has ever scored a 25. Lisa says nobody ever will, because I'd have nothing left to drive
to. She may be right. The Whippoorwill lost its one point on the field, which floods along the
low side after a hard rain. I've told the owner. He says he knows.
By the Numbers
- Drive-ins visited: 23 (Pennsylvania 11, Ohio 4, New York 3, Maryland 3, West Virginia 2)
- Still open: 20
- Average score: a little over 18 out of 25
- Most new ones in a summer: 4 (1997, 1998 and 1999, tied)
- Best snack bar that's still open: a tie, and I'm not breaking it in public
- Times we've jump-started a stranger's car: 2
- Times a stranger has jump-started ours: 1, the Night Owl, 1998, around 3 a.m.
Next Summer
We have a list. There's a drive-in in Virginia we've heard about with a screen that faces the
mountains, and two in New York that friends of ours swear by. We'd like to make it to twenty-five
before the year 2000 is out, and to thirty before we're forty. School's back in session,
the cooler goes back in the basement, and the planning starts in about February, when it's
twelve degrees outside and I need something to look forward to.
Tell us about yours: [email protected]
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Last updated Monday, September 6, 1999
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