I remember my mother taking me to a drive-in double feature near where we grew up outside of Philadelphia when I was around 10 or so. Jurassic Park, I think.

It’s summer. You pull the car into a giant field that becomes a parking lot. Everyone has their windows down. Feet hanging out of some of them. Car radios tuned to a local AM signal piping in the audio. It’s a beautiful night, warm breezes wafting through the open cars. Sun sets, the movie ends, and the cars pull way. Eventually the drive-ins disappear. I think they mostly had even by the time I went. That particular drive-in is a Target/Lowe’s now.

I drove past Valley Drive-In Theatre just outside of Lompoc on the way out of town today. The giant concrete wall and sign are what remain, though it’s a scrap business today.

Great landmark, too expensive to bother to dynamite.