Starlite Drive-In
Posted on August 12, 2007 by Ching under Life.
You all know that the Jamaica trip was actually are anniversary celebration this year. Since we celebrated it early, we really didn’t plan anything big for the day of our actual anniversary. We even decided to forgo gifts for each other because the trip is supposed to be it. That’s why I was surprised when I got these..
I hadn’t received flowers from him in years! Seriously. When they say that you don’t get flowers after so many years of marriage, they’re usually implying that the guy has become less thoughtful or less caring. That is not the case with Brian. I know that he cares, it’s just we decided long ago that flowers were impractical. I’m not sure what got into to Brian that made him feel so frivolous on Friday, but there it is.. My beautiful bouquet.
He really shouldn’t have because flowers are expensive, but it was a very sweet and thoughtful gesture. I decided I shouldn’t give him grief about the cost. Although, he was disappointed that they got the type of flower wrong. He asked for stargazers (my favorite) and just got regular white lilies instead.
Friday night is poker night so that’s where we were the other night. Then on Saturday we attended the MKMVPA cook out after the monthly club meeting. It was kind of embarrassing, actually, because Brian and I arrived at the tail end of the meeting. I think everyone knew we were just there for the cook out. LOL. We are horrible as club members.
Anyway, we couldn’t let the weekend pass without doing anything during our actual anniversary weekend. So we decided to just go to the drive-in on Saturday night. It actually worked out perfectly because I’ve never ever been. At least now I can say I’ve been to the drive-in before my 30th birthday. 🙂
We actually had a pretty good setup. We inflated the air mattress in the bed of Brian’s truck, took our back rest pillows, several blankets, a cooler full of Pepsi, snacks, a boombox, reading material, and bug repellent. We figured if we are staying to watch three movies, we might as well be comfortable.
Here are some of the photos we took..
The weather last night was actually perfect. It wasn’t too hot. It cooled down considerably later in the evening, but it didn’t get too cold that we needed to bundle up. In fact, we didn’t even need our blankets. It’s better to be prepared, though, so we brought them anyway just in case. With the weather in Wichita as unpredictable as it is, you never know.
Brian and I were really well prepared for my first drive-in experience. I think we actually might have been too prepared, if there is such a thing. I think we’ve found a new way to watch movies. Brian is kind of fed up with the incompetence of Warren Theater employees and their lack of decent customer service so the drive-in is actually a nice substitute. We can create our very own comfortable space, enjoy our snacks, and not have to worry about being disappointed about bad service because we pretty much just fend for ourselves. I mean, where else can you go to watch three newly released movies for a measly eight bucks? Plus, kids get in for a dollar (or free if they’re under seven years old). It’s a bargain!
- Here are some tips to make your drive-in experience wonderful and satisfying:
- Get there early to get a good spot.
I am anal about being right in the middle of any movie theater so at the drive-in I wanted to make sure that we were in perfect alignment with the center of the screen. You don’t want to be all the way at the front or all the way at the back. So try to get there early to get a good spot. Also, you won’t have to rush setting up your area (cleaning your windshield, setting up lawn chairs or blankets, that sort of thing).
You probably don’t want to get there too early, though. That’s what happened to us. We got there way too early (we were actually the first car there; we might as well have plastered “drive-in movie virgins” to our windshield) so we had to wait a long time before we could actually get in. I didn’t mind, though, because I was at the front of the line. I like being first.
- Bring something to do.
Lucky for us, we brought stuff to do. We brought a magazine and a couple of books. We even brought our travel game set. You can read or play games while waiting in line. If you get there early, as in our previous advice, you still have to wait a while for the movie to start so it can be boring if you don’t bring anything to do while you wait. After we got set up, we still had plenty of time to kill. We didn’t end up using our game, but I did get some reading done.
- Plan your setup.
Plan your setup carefully in advance. You want to be comfortable otherwise you won’t enjoy the movie.
If you are watching from inside the car, make sure your windshield is clean. You can bring something to clean it with or you can buy the stuff they sell at the concession stand (it’s less than a dollar).
We didn’t need windshiled cleaner, though, because we watched the movie from the truck bed. With the air mattress and back rest pillows, our space was comfortable enough to sleep in.
If you plan to sit outside the car to watch the movie, make sure you have enough lawn chairs for everyone. Don’t take over the next space. The drive-in management doesn’t like that.
- Bring a blanket.
It might get cold later in the evening. In our case, we didn’t need it because the weather was just right. However, it’s better to be prepared.
- Don’t forget bug repellent.
You can bring bug spray but you can also light up a bug repellent candle for a more romantic ambience. If you’re on a date, I would suggest going with the candle. 😉
We didn’t have bug spray, but when we stopped by Brian’s parents’ house to inflate our air mattress (his dad has an air compressor so it was faster to inflate it there rather than using the pump that came with the bed) he gave us this terra cotta pot bug repellent kit. You light up the bug repellent coil and you put it in the pot. The incense repels bugs. I believe they are fairly inexpensive. Ours came with four coils and we only used two so we can use the other two coils next time. From then on you can just get coil refills.
- Bring headphones or a boombox.
This is particularly useful if you are watching the movie outside the vehicle. The spreakers provide may not be enough. We brought a boombox but, at even at max volume, it could have been louder. It may be sufficient for most, though. Brian and I are thinking of experimenting and bringing a headphone splitter and separate headphones next time to see if the sound quality improves.
Anyway, I recommend bringing a boombox so you don’t have to leave the car on. I know you can turn the car on accessory mode so you can run your radio without leaving the car running, but you have to do it in a specific way. If you do it wrong, you end up draining your car battery and when it’s time to leave you can’t. If you do decide to forgo the boombox and use your car radio, make sure you have your car emergency kit complete with jumper cables with you. You may not need it, but like blankets it’s good to have just in case.
- Bring lots of soda and snacks.
You won’t be able to sit through three movies and not have the munchies. Take advantage of the time they allow in between movies to hit the concession stand and stock up. If you don’t want to make the trek, then bring your own stuff. Although, it’s a good idea to support the concession stand to keep the drive-in in business.
It’s a good idea to bring a cooler because the concession stand usually closes at the tail end of the second movie. If you don’t have anything and have munchies later on then you’ll be out of luck. You won’t run into this problem if you bring your own stuff.
We hope you find these tips useful. If you have others that you’d like to share, please feel free to post them in the comments.
P.S. Mom and dad, you guys want to go to the drive in one night with the kiddos? Jenni? Jen? Anyone? It is super fun. Way better than going to the regular theater!
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