OHIO DRIVE- IN ROADTRIP - FEBRUARY 2006 - DAY 2
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Drive-In #12: And Then There Were Two The first stop on day two was the recently closed Oakley Drive-In in Cincinnati. The latest in a long list of drive-in closings by National Amusements. Sadly, the demolition of the Oakley has begun and we missed the snack bar by just a few days. The screen, marquee and box offices remained. National Amusements has gone from 69 drive-ins, to just two, the Kenwood in Kentucky and the Miracle Twin here in Michigan. |
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Detour #3: Neon Big Boy On a southwesterly course down Hwy 125, we ran across a vintage Big Boy neon sign we couldn't resist in Bethel, Ohio. |
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Detour #4: Big Bird A vintage '59 T-Bird was spotted on a classic car lot in Amelia, Ohio as we closed in on our next target, it would make a great drive-in car. |
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Drive-In #13: Starlite Amelia After the depressing look at the Oakley, the next stop was much more positive. The amazing Starlite Drive-In, southwest of Cincinnati. The photos say it all, the Starlite is a very well maintained theater with a large enclosed screen tower. Beautifully landscaped with a pond out front, this drive-in is definately earmarked for a return visit in the summer. A large pile of speaker poles at the back of the lot made us wonder if a second screen is in the plans. |
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Drive-In #14: More Ruins Another drive-in graveyard, the Lake Drive-In, in Mt. Orab, Ohio. The screen is history, the as is the marquee. The box office and snack bar remain. This one looked to be abandoned for many years, and as usual, the vandals have made a mess of it. More Lake Drive-in photos are on Forgottenoh.com. As we now head back towards Cincinnati, a wreck on I-275 that closed the freeway, and the resulting detour knocked about an hour out of our schedule, sweet. |
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Detour #5: The K-Pre Motel Another cool roadside neon sign, this one for the Capri Motel in Fairfield, Ohio. |
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Drive-In #15: Breakin' The Law? We originally planned to catch a show at the normally year-round open Holiday Drive-In, in Hamilton, Ohio. But, the Holiday was closed when we visited, maybe it was better that way. After reading the multitude of negative comments on Drive-Ins.com, I wasn't too excited about spending much time here. This joint sounds just like another Bengies Drive-In, especially after reading the nearly identical "House Rules" on the Holiday Website. I was amazed to see a sign on the restrooms doors indicating there are video cameras IN the restrooms, hope you're not shy when you go in there....geez!! Apparently, the Holiday is for sale, maybe the new owners won't be so uptight. |
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Drive-In #16: Too Late Once Again Another unplanned stop, we decided to hunt for along the way was the Valley Drive-In, not far from the Holiday. Terra-Server and Horror-wood.com both indicated the screen tower might still be standing. We found the site, but we were a little late. The Valley screen was history, replaced by a church. We didn't bother taking any photos of the church, but here's one of the screen from Horror-wood.com |
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Drive-In #17: Keep On Truckin' Next up, another graveyard. This one was basically complete, and was being used for a heavy truck auction business. The screen, snack bar and box office all remained, the marquee was gone. The adjacent Towne East indoor theater that closed a few years ago, was being used as a retail TV store. The Starglow Drive-In could probably be revived without to much work. |
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Drive-In #18: Yes Mr. President The awesome Chakeres Skyborn Drive-In, right next to Wright-Patterson Air Force base, was the next stop. And what a stop it was. We didn't see any of the UFO's they supposedly keep at the base, but we did see Air Force One fly over the drive-in as we stood next to the snack bar! According to Curt Daltons Greater Dayton Drive-In Theatres book, in the 50's, the roar of the jets was so loud, the Air Force made a short film for the Skyborn, to be shown before the first movie. The film explained the jets were doing an important job and advised the drive-in patrons to simply turn up the volume on the speaker whenever a jet went over. The classic Skyborn is a must see! |
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Drive-In #19: Park Layne Then next Chakeres Springfield-area ozoner we hit was the Park Layne Drive-In. About 10 minutes from the Skyborn, we were still listening to the jets roar while here. The Park Layne is a nice big drive-in, oddly, there's no name on the marquee or screen. |
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Drive-In #20: A Great Melody One more Chakeres joint, and this one was simply amazing. The Melody Cruise-In, east of Springfield, quickly became another fav of ours. The Melody features an enourmous screen tower, vintage neon marquee, and a nice big lot. There's also a second screen, with a separate projection booth. This is another summer destination for us. |
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Drive-In #21: Drive-In Alley Directly across from the Melody, was the Show Boat Drive-In graveyard. We missed finding any real ruins at this one as well. From online research, we expected to find a snack bar and box offices. We only found the snack bar foundation, and not much else. |
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Drive-In #22: Lost Drive-In Heading back towards Michigan now, we arrived at the Piqua Drive-In graveyard, just west of Piqua, Ohio on Route 36. Here's another exclusive, as we couldn't find photos of this one anywhere online. Which is surprising, since it's located right in a main highway, and it looks like it could still be operating. Unfortunately it's not open, the snack bar is gone, replaced by a pole building. |
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Drive-In #23: In The Dark We've got one more stop, the still-operating Auto Vue Drive-In just off I-75 near Sidney, Ohio. Darkness and rain meant the photo op wouldn't be good, but here it is anyway. Back on the e-way, we sucked semi spray in the fast lane all the way home, sweet. The Welcome to Michigan sign is always a welcome sign! |
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Final Detour: The Side Of The Road What's a road trip without at least one speeding ticket?! And getting one less than 15 minutes from home! I was only popped for doing 73-mph in a 55-zone, nothing serious. But a once in a lifetime encounter with a unusually friendly police officer netted a no-points/5-mph over ticket, sweet! My wallet will be now 105 bucks lighter. At least it didn't happen in Ohio, I'm sure the outcome would have been much different. End of road trip! |
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