The end of an era......

[Trevor]

menlynpark.co.za/drivein.htm

 

The last remaining drive in theatre in South Africa and one that was unique in that it was built on the roof of a six storey parking garage: wonderful views up there especially in summer.

Sad to see them all go. 

[Javakoala]

I feel your pain, Brother Trev.

I have such wonderful memories of drive-in theaters. From going to them as a kid and then as a teenager to watching them from a distance as we drove past them. My favorite one to watch from a distance was the Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When we came home from visiting my grandmother, we approached one screen and could watch the film until we passed it, then we got to watch the film the other screen as we drove away.

In fact, that drive-in was in The Outsiders, movie about kids from the wrong side of the tracks made by Coppola.

God, I miss drive-in theaters.

[RCMerchant]

thnak  the Fates we still got one about 10 miles from me in Hartford,Michigan! Very active that the kids pack every weekend in the summer!

[tracy]

That stinks,man. Drive-Ins were such an important part of growing up for me. Our folks took us to the one in our hometown of Cleburne to see lots of classic films....especially the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns.

[Umaril Has Returned]

We had the Somerville Drive-In theatre in Somerville, New Jersey.  From the time I was 5 (around 1969 or 1970) to the last set of movies I ever saw in 1985 (which were Day Of The Dead and F-12 3-The Final Chapter) it was a place near and dear to my heart. 

It also had a small train track that went around the drive-in and a small choo-choo train that the kids used to be able to ride when the engineer got us all together and took us round the track.

Big story here: Around last year, I went down to the sports complex that now graces the sacred grounds the drive-in once stood on, and lo and behold, they still have the old metal hut they stored the train in (with the faded pictures of clown faces and bouncie-balls on it) and they took the track and incorporated it into the 18-hole mini course.  The train is said to be in there, rusted by decades of non-use, but noone can get in to see it.

The memories came back, and I started crying when I saw it, and don't really have the heart to go back because I know I'll start crying again. As you guys can tell I'm loyal to my old memories