If you are looking for a fun, inexpensive and nostalgic date night (with or without the kids) boy do I have the place for you: The Silver Moon Drive-In.
The Silver Moon, in operation since 1948 (you can read about their history here) is located in Lakeland, FL and was about an hour drive from our house – about 45 minutes from downtown Orlando; and well worth the drive.
I had heard great things about this drive-in before and was so excited to try it out. After visiting their website, which is very informative, and reading a few blog reviews we got the gist of how it worked, packed up the car and headed out.
Check out these authentic car speakers from “back in the day”. When we arrived they were playing music and worked pretty well. Not all spots have these speakers, however. If you arrive early enough to get a spot with speakers you can use those for your in-car sound, if not, tune your car radio to the movie station and you can listen to the sound that way (we actually used both).
The Silver Moon also has complimentary battery jumping service in case your battery runs down while watching the movie – they have everything covered!
The cost is $4 for adults and $1 for kids ages 4-9 which gets you in for the double feature.
We opted for screen 2 which was playing Bourne Legacy first at 8:30 followed by Ted at 11:00 (we actually could have stayed for another viewing of Bourne Legacy which started at 12:35am, but headed home instead). I loved that it was a nostalgic feel with current, recent released movies.
The website suggests to arrive early, which we did and we had our pick of spots and had time to explore. We chose to park in near the back with the speakers since we wanted to back in our SUV, open the back hatch and lay down to watch the movies.
This is allowed as long as you aren’t blocking the view of the other visitors, which we weren’t since we were on the back row.
Although we were novices, there were definitely some seasoned veterans who knew how to set up for a drive-in (see below).
I couldn’t believe how big the screen was – it was gigantic and actually amazingly clear when the movie started. We were both impressed with the screen quality.
Another thing I loved was the fact that you could bring your own food and drink (although they do have a pretty legit snack bar). It felt like we were tailgating at the movies. There were even kids throwing footballs in the big grassy area in front of the cars to pass the time.
I made an easy batch of Pealla for dinner and packed it in our trusty Chinese take out boxes (fyi: you can buy for .25 cents each at Chinese restaurants to have on hand) for easy clean up.
Mike opted for beer to drink as I made Preggo Mimosas to feel festive: OJ and Ginger Ale. It was actually pretty good!
Although we were planning on laying in our car for the movie, we also brought beach chairs (recommended on the website) which worked well for chillin’ before the festivities started.
The weather was perfect and the bugs were no where to be seen – we couldn’t believe it…although we were equipped with bug spray just in case; we never leave home with out it!
My first time wearing a maternity shirt – thanks Kam!
After dinner we started getting our “bed” ready. We took our outdoor chair cushions, topped with a quilt for the mattress and then stacked pillows for ample viewing angles.
I can honestly say it was so comfy that I fell asleep during the second movie – which I usually do at home, so it wasn’t a big surprise!
As the sun was setting, more and more cars were piling in at a steady stream. By the time the movie started there weren’t any spots left near us and we were lucky we had small cars in front of us – score.
There were two short movie promos (not 15 like the regular theater) and then the movie started just as nighttime arrived.
After the first movie finished there was about 10 minutes in between films. Those cars leaving headed out and a few cars only coming for the second feature piled in.
Since we were staying for both we opted for dessert: Apple Crisp!
Washed down with moonshine water.
We had a great night and can’t wait to go back and experience it with our friends – this is definitely a must do. Put it on your list today!
---Disclaimer: The Ginger Beer featured in yesterday’s post was non-alcoholic. It’s kind of like a concentrated ginger ale. I just wanted to clarify…my mom was a little worried!
