My husband has always been a proper romantic. In the eight years of our relationship, he has wooed me with considerate gifts, delectable words, and an overall willingness to put up with my ass. Which is why this past Friday when he offered to take me on a date to the Winchester Drive-In Theater, I knew it was a romantic gesture and not just a sly attempt to make up for clocking 85 hours on the new World of Warcraft expansion over the last couple of weeks.
If you have never been to the Winchester Drive-In, dare I say where have you been over the last 52 years? Surely you must at least be familiar with the neon salutations of the cowboy who waves from the side of the road, inviting drivers to stop by for the evening. Though the establishment has been a staple nestled off of Western and south 72nd street for over half a century, it’s just the place we need in 2020.
I know, I know. This picture was actually taken on our October date. The picture I took of the cowboy on Friday was blurry as hell. Sorry.
Being that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been inside of a grocery store since March and haven’t filled my car with gas since October, it’s safe to say I don’t get out much nowadays. Thankfully, I didn’t really have to get out to have a great night at the movie. We signed off from work at 5:00 on the nose, writing off anything left over as Monday’s problem, and began prepping our picnic for the picture show.
Now, the Winchester Drive-In does have a concession area plastered with late 90s/early aughts movie posts that serves reasonably-priced popcorn, candies, and other goodies. Plus, the staff always appear masked, safe, and socially distanced. But I don’t trust any of you other movie-going mother-effers in line as far as I can throw you to not have COVID. So before we made the trek down south, I made a meal of hot sandwiches, cold drinks, and Aldi snacks to enjoy.
Friday’s double feature consisted of two classic Christmas movies, Elf and Christmas Vacation. Due to what looked to be a pileup on I-240, we made it to the Winchester with 6 minutes to spare before showtime. The joint was busy, but the only contact we had with another human was the 30 seconds or so it took to pay the ticket and cooler fee to the masked attendant. We then followed his directions and parked at a yellow pole just as the pre-show was starting. Then we settled in snuggly in our seats, poured a bowl of salsa, and tuned our radio to 100.9 to hear the show.
We giggled and reminisced as Will Ferrell shoveled a plate full of chocolate spaghetti into his gullet. We opened the sunroof between the showings to stretch out and feel the blast of cold, December wind on our face before hunkering down in our hoodies for the second round. We laughed and one-upped each other with crazy family holiday stories as Chevy Chase beamed on the big screen brighter than his home’s Christmas lights. The parking lot seemed to be nearly full, but we felt like the show was put on just for us.
Whether it is because of the classic vibe of the joint or the beloved movies we enjoyed, life seems to slow down a bit at the Winchester. Coming to a stop at the end of the drive after the show, I asked my sweetie to head north up Western instead of making our way back south to I-240. The drive back up to Edmond may be a little longer, but that’s a little bit longer I got to hold his hand.
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Nothing like a hot date on a cold night with a hot cutie and a cold drink. Follow Hayley on twitter @squirrellygeek and become a contributing member of TLO here.
several years ago I took my then High School Daughter and some of her friends to the Drive-In in Chickasha, they could not believe how cool this was and to this day many years later when we see my daughters friends they still talk about that night and that they even gone back several times. Having grown up in a small town, I didn’t what a real proper movie theater was until I was in Junior High-I thought all people went to drive-ins. Some of my best high memories include sitting with a large group of teenage kids (even some from rival schools) in front of the concession stand trying to not to act scared as we all quaked in our boots at the LEGEND OF BOGEY CREEK.
I hope other people take the time to visit and keep these places open.
great article!
Not gonna lie, this made me a bit verklempt… thank you, just lovely
Just a little time before the pandemic started — late 1970 if my memory serves – I had one of these romantic drive-in dates at a place whose name I cannot recall on the NW Highway.
I remember the movie, and it was only a little less sweet as Elf – Night of the Living Dead. We did not bring any snacks. We did bring a blanket – smuggled out of her home without her parents noticing.
We got exceedingly naked. We got more entangled than any of the undead scrums up on that big screen. And to this day, I always like to have a soundtrack playing of zombies munching on brains during any romantic event. My wife is not too pleased with this, but then again it’s usually just me there. Some of the sounds I make myself.
Good times, good times,…
fantastic memories from drive-ins in the late 70’s and early to mid 80’s…
just a wonderful time in every way imaginable.
just good old Americana.
better times.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a drive-in movie, but…
What’s a “cooler fee”?
You’re supposed to pay them a $20 cooler fee if you’re bringing your own food/drinks and not eating at the concession stand… Which you really should pay to help them out, but the last time I went, I was in a car by myself and meeting friends who were eating at the concession stand. They didn’t ask so I didn’t mention it. No one is policing it or anything.
What the hell? I don’t usually notice the thumbs up or down thingies, but how do you manage to get seven thumbs down for that question?
I remember borrowing the Old Man’s car back in HS for a drive-in date. He always said “don’t come back with Peter tracks on the windshield.” Unfortunately that never happened.
That holiday double feature sounds lovely. I saw a few movies there over the summer including the new Bill and Ted. It was nice get out and do something with some semblance of normalcy. The masked and distanced security guards who drive around on golf carts are friendly as they can be, too. Don’t forget to bring cash, though. Cash only.
The only thing that would make this story complete was if you sneaked somebody into the movie in the trunk of the car. Not that I ever did that but I heard about it somewhere…
Thank you for sharing. So beautiful!
My girlfriend and I was at this drive-in in 1970 when she told me she was in love with me. I somewhat stupefied and giddy said I love you too. What do we do now? Do you want to get married? She said yes! We just celebrated our 50th!! A great romantic place!!
Great post!! Thank you
Our family went to the drive-in movies quite a bit, especially back in the early 60’s. Had us a ’54 Ford that burned oil like a motherfucker. Put out billows of heavy dark gray tailpipe smoke. One evening as we were leaving the drive-in, cars had become backed up and it was taking an unusually long time to exit. Apparently, the overwhelming exhaust from our car was blinding, choking and making life utterly fuckin’ miserable for folks in a top down convertible immediately behind us. To this day, I can still hear the pissed-off driver of that convertible screaming…. “Get that goddamned piece a’ shit outta’ here and next time bring a horse!”