My children are growing. One has left the roost, others are getting close. I longed to share with them the memories that a movie night under the stars had created for me. But would I be willing to risk their lives to do it?
I did some research. I couldn't find ONE incident of an axe murder at the Redwood Drive-In. At least one that didn't appear on one of their screens. So, I figured what the hey. "Ant-Man" and "Inside Out" are playing on the same bill!
Conditions were perfect. The weather was clear and warm. My oldest had the night off of work. My sister, with whom I'd shared many a drive-in memory was in town visiting. So, we borrowed a close friend's pickup, an outdoor radio from another, packed up the truck and our van with pillows, blankets, a cooler full of drinks, and about 30 bucks worth of snacks and headed into the belly of the beast: West Valley City, Utah.
My heart almost stopped when we pulled up to the box office. There are four screens at the Redwood, a separate drive up box office for each. As we approached the booth for "Ant-Man/Inside Out," to my horror there were
traffic cones blocking our entrance! (I don't know about you, but I didn't want to expose my impressionable children to that trainwreck Amy Schumer or, worse, Ted the foulmouthed bear.) Fortunately, the cash register for booth #1 wasn't working and we were able to gain entrance from another.
An adjective that I've heard tossed around over the years about the Redwood is "ghetto." Granted, it isn't located in Salt Lake's posh "The Avenues." But it's only a couple of blocks from the Maverik Center, where folks from around the valley flock to on a regular basis. As we pulled into the paved lot and looked around, frankly I didn't think it was ghetto enough. Until I saw the bathrooms.
Just kidding. There were actually indoor restrooms for boys AND girls. They were surprisingly clean as well. Although, it was a Tuesday night. I'm sure on the weekend, the floor is doused in various spirits and/or sundry bodily fluids. The Honey Buckets are there for show. Or weekend overflow. Ewww. Did I ever tell you my theory on why they named these porta-potties Honey Buckets? Because when you lift the lid, you see pooh. Never mind.
We got there a bit early so we could get set up. A family near us was playing catch with a Nerf football below the towering screen. I chatted with the dad for a minute. The last time he'd been to the drive-in, Nemo was still trying to be found. We wandered to the snack bar. Again! Waaay too clean. Where was I? This was too nice for a drive-in. And where were the crack addicts and dead bodies I was promised? As we made our way back to our set up, I noticed a truck had taken the opposite angle to prop themselves up on the man made bumps created to help you see the screen better. I started up a conversation with an impossibly good looking young couple. Came to find out they were on their fourth date. Based on the way they were behaving before the sun even went down and when they didn't think Kenny was looking, my guess is there's going to be a fifth. And possibly a wedding.
You might mistake this next photo for a retro shot from 43 years ago. But, nope. It was taken last night. I was almost as excited as he was...
Finally, dusk started to settle. The familiar logo appeared and we knew we were in for a treat.
I'm not going to do a detailed review of "Ant-Man" here. Perhaps I'll save that for another post. But I liked it. It was funny and cool. The challenge I had was that we were having some sound issues, so it was a little hard to hear at times. Plus, I thought I smelled the sweet aroma of cannabis from a few cars over. Their guffaws were a tad loud. It wasn't THAT funny.
While I was very impressed with the Redwood, I must say it wasn't without its flaws. Again, sound is an issue at any drive in. Most drive-ins that I've been to in years gone by have been on the outskirts of town. The Redwood is right smack dab in the MIDDLE of town. And there's a see through fence surrounding the place. Note the apartment complex in the bottom right of the pic above. So, all night long, headlights came and went on a fairly busy thoroughfare. That, and it's in the path of the Salt Lake airport. So planes kept buzzing overhead.
Five year old Blake didn't quite make it through all of Ant-Man. But I was stoked when he awoke as Inside Out was starting. He'd already seen it but I loved listening to his giggles as we shifted to get comfortable. That's when it hit me. It wasn't what was on the screen. Or what they were serving at the snack bar. The reason I have such fond memories of the drive-in is because they are shared with the ones I love. And that filled me with, you guessed it,
joy.
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