When Damon came home last evening, I turned Fuller and dinner making responsibilities over to him so I could just go lay down for a little bit. Damon’s response was to plan a spur of the moment, totally easy on me, outing. We went to the drive-in!

About twenty minutes away from our house is the Wilderness Outdoor Movie Theater. It is located in Trenton, Georgia and when we thought about it, it was about equidistant to us going to the Regal Cinemas “Dollar” Theater. (Not really a dollar anymore, but the name has stuck.)

The cost is $5 a person, free for three and under. And all movies are double features. So, it looks like our family gets a better deal going to the drive-in, since we have the opportunity to see two movies, if we so please.

Gates open at 7, with the movies (there are two screens) starting around 9 p.m. They have a light meter that tells them when the optimum time is to start the movie, so 9 p.m. is a guesstimate. And I guess as the days get shorter and darkness falls earlier, these times will probably change. Last night they announced the drive-in will be going year round, 52 weeks a year, so I’m thinking we will get to go back several times.

The theater doesn’t allow outside food, so we ate before heading over around 7:30. Once we got there, we explained to Fuller the movie wouldn’t start until it was dark and wouldn’t it be cool to head over to the big green space to run around like a wild animal?

After last night, I am convinced heading to the drive-in an hour and half before the movie is not really so you can get a “good spot.” It is really so you can run around and play with your kids to get their energy level so low they will be thrilled to sit and stare at a screen for four to five hours. The theater sells glow in the dark frisbees for $3, so we procured one of those (I’m sure you can bring your own, we just didn’t think about it), and we had fun watching Fuller attempt to throw a frisbee.

We were both very impressed with the theater as a whole. The grass was well maintained, the gravel was thick, the bathrooms were awesome (I should have made a picture of the bathrooms! I only went like five times), and the concession stand was stocked with all kinds of food, not just popcorn and soft drinks.

We gathered at the car about 8:30 and started to settle in for the movie. We brought chairs, but I opted to sit in the car, reclining with my feet up. Fuller sat still for a good while, but he eventually announced he was tired and moved into his car seat. I had to move from my comfortable seat so he could see, and he decided being in the car was an acceptable place to start a conversation. We thought he would fall asleep, but he didn’t until the drive home.

The movie we saw was Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This is an animated movie, rated PG. Damon thought it would be safe for Fuller, who is familiar with crashes and machinery falling apart. I guess it comes with having seen plenty of Speed Racer cartoons and cultivating a love of robots. Fuller is totally unfamiliar with the idea of Star Wars (he is only 3), but I don’t think you have to have a knowledge of Jedi ways in order to enjoy this movie (I haven’t even seen episodes 2 and 3). There are plenty of battles and lots and lots of robots droids die, but nothing is bloody or gory. The story line involved a concept Fuller could understand- a baby, a sick baby, and getting home to his daddy.

We left after the first movie, opting to not see Journey to the Center of the Earth because Fuller was still not asleep and my legs were hurting. And while the movie wasn’t the best thing we had ever seen, we decided the over all experience of going to the drive-in was the absolute best. And watching the moon rise while seeing the young Skywalker guide his Padawan, made it even better.

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