Starlight Drive-In

Over the weekend we experienced a fleeting piece of American, the drive-in theater. I think I might have gone to a drive in once or twice when I was really young, but by the time I was a teenager they were all but extinct. I know my parents used to frequent the drive-in every weekend when they were teenagers and they still tell their grand kids about the great times they had seeing the James Dean and Marilyn Monroe flicks. Now my kids can tell them about their fun experience at the drive-in.

We went to the only drive-in theater in Atlanta, the Starlight 6 Drive-in. Apparently there are only 5 drive-in theaters in the state and we are lucky enough to have one in the city. It is located on Moreland Ave in East Atlanta. The Starlight is an Atlanta landmark and has been around since 1949. But don’t worry, they now the latest technology possible and the grounds and screen quality are very nice. Since I hadn’t been to a drive-in in many, many years, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Turns out, it is a lot like tailgating. When we pulled in, there were people with small grills cooking out, there were kids playing frisbee and throwing the football. Besides the fact that we were on hot asphalt, it had a nice tailgating feeling to it. We pulled in with the backs of the cars facing the screens so we could life the back doors and let the kids sit in the back for the movie. We brought a table, some chairs, and a nice meal to enjoy before the movie started. We had a couple glasses of wine while talking to our friends Mike and Kelley while enjoying the sunset. Before the movie, the kids had a great time playing Star Wars while using to two cars as their Millennium Falcon and Death Star space ships.

Here is Mac and Liam before the movie. The screen in the background was not the screen we were watching.

Once the sun was gone and the darkness fell, the movie began. Of course there were previews but this gave us time to get the kids situated in the back of the car. They were kicked back in bean bag chairs and pillows all ready for the movie to start. We were in front of screen 6 for the movie Despicable Me. I was expecting to have speakers provided in the space, but I guess that is old school. Now you just set your radio frequency to a designated number for each screen and you can hear the movie through your car speakers or jam box (speaking of old school!). Again the screen and the picture quality were surprising good and we all enjoyed the movie. It was a little warm earlier in the evening but once the sun went down it was nice a pleasant.

Here is most of the gang having dinner, Henry fell asleep on the drive down and is still in the car snoozing.

Everyone had a great time and this is something plan on doing again soon. It was an evening of family fun and it only cost $16! It is $7 for adults and $1 for kids. They have current movies and the concessions are nearly as pricey as the standard theaters. So for an alternative to the overpriced movies in a regular theater and a night of family fun, make the trip to the Starlight Drive-in, it will be worth the drive.