I grew up in the drive-in movie era, and miss those summer nights of watching movies outdoors viewing them from the car or sitting on a lawn chair that we had brought with us.  Of course, as a young child the very best seat at the theater was a playground swing, one of those that swung so high you could almost go into a weightless state coming back down.  (Good thing there weren’t any parents watching, or that would have been the end of the swings.)

You can imagine my delight to find that outdoor movies are still shown here in the Coachella Valley.   The City of Palm Desert Civic Center Park has screenings every other Thursday this summer with some contemporary classics like “Happy Feet”, “Charlotte’s Web”, and “Akeelah and the Bee” on the bill.  The City of La Quinta Civic Center Campus also offers Saturday night movies this summer, and some of their sure to please films will include “Cars”, “Wily Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, and “Racing Stripes”. 

For a grown ups evening out, the Hotel Zoso and the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs, have movies in their courtyard/outdoor areas.  No charge, but I imagine they will have adult beverages available to be purchased.  No need to bring you lawn chairs as they will provide couches, chairs, and pillows.

If you care to wax nostalgically as I did, there is at least one web site that you can read more about the rise and fall of the Drive In Theater; but possibly even more entertaining is to look up all those B movies that appeared at the drive ins, and recall those great old actors that put the camp in campy.

Well, that’s all for this entry, put on your pajamas with the feet, pack up popcorn in the Tupperware bowls, make the coolaide extra sweet, and see you out under the stars.