West Wind Drive-In
907 S. Kellogg
Goleta, CA
So let's start with this.
If you happen to be driving between Ventura and Santa Barbara on the 101, remember it is heavily patrolled by the CHP, and they will stop you if you are speeding. Especially on a holiday weekend.
It's been about five years since my last ticket, so I guess I was due.
The family and I decided to try a drive-in yesterday. We loaded up the car with beach chairs, sodas, fruit juice and candy and headed off to the West Wind Drive-In to catch Despicable Me 2 (if you liked the first one, you'll like this one too). The West Wind is actually beyond Santa Barbara in Goleta, a 40 minute drive that I was going to try to make in 30, hence the above warning.
I haven't been to a drive-in since 1982 with a girl named Mary Beth in either Sante Fe Springs or Norwalk-both theaters long gone now (Mary Beth, too). So with a 30 year gap in between, it was time to give it a try.
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| In line to enter-but we could hear the movie! |
As you might have guessed, we were late. But the good thing is that the sound is broadcast on FM 96.9, and we were able to pick it up about a block out. The way cars were brought in, you can see the screen as you're waiting to pay, so we didn't really miss anything. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $1 for kids under 11, so it was actually cheaper than going to a regular film. I was thinking about sneaking in my youngest just for fun anyway, and she was actually getting excited about being buried in the back of my car, but opted not to. Start time in the summer for movies is 8:30. Snack bar carries usual movie goodies, and free refills on large popcorns.
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| Picture of the movie |
As late as we were, there weren't many places to park and we ended up in the back off to the side. Two of my kids like sitting to the side and were perfectly happy, but if we go again, I'm going to try to arrive earlier (obviously) and get a space more toward the center and closer to the front. It was a nice night, so we backed up the car and opened the hatch. Every other car was doing pretty much the same thing as we placed our lawn chairs in a spot where we could see between cars. My youngest watched from inside the hatch. Because every car had their windows down, the sound was very good considering the setting. No stereo sound if you're outside, but if that's what your after, don't get out of the car.
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| Snack Bar |
Sitting in my lawn chair, drinking a soda and looking at stars above the screen, with my kids around me, it really was a nice night.
When we do this again, we may stop at In-N-Out and pick up some burgers, and I might pack a coffee and hot chocolate for the kids. I had blankets, but I think I would have been more comfortable in pants instead of shorts. It got cold to the point of slightly uncomfortable at about 10.
Without the speeding ticket, it would have been a really fun night, and once I blocked the ticket out, it was fun anyway.
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