Sitting out under the stars watching a favorite film at a drive-in movie theater is a great way to send off summer. There are fewer than a dozen drive-in movie theaters left in Minnesota, so we decided to check one out to experience movie-going from decades gone by. We chose the Long Drive-In near Long Prairie because it was about 90 minutes from our house and was showing E.T. and Back to the Future. Many drive-in theaters are turning to classic movie showings for 2020 as there are no new releases coming to the big screen.
Watching a movie on the more than 50-foot screen at a drive-in movie would be one of our last summer adventures. Choosing to wait until later in the summer paid off for this movie-going experience. It gets darker earlier, so the movie was able to start at about 8:30 pm instead of a whole hour later as they do in the height of summer. At Long Drive-In the gates open about an hour before the anticipated start time. We arrived early and were able to park in the center in the second row. Many moviegoers chose to watch from their vehicles. We opted to bring collapsible chairs and sit in the bed of the truck.
Pro Tip: Bring bug spray. If you chose to sit outside your vehicle, you’ll need it!
As we waited for dusk the boys played in the lawn in front of the screen. There were many groups of kids doing similar things like kicking a soccer ball or tossing a football to one another. As we neared the start of the movie we of course made a trip to the concession stand. Long Drive-In offers typically movie theater popcorn and snacks as well as pizza, hot dogs, nachos and ice cream treats.
Pro Tip: Hit the concession stand and the bathroom early. There’s a steady stream of people from about 30 minutes until showtime.
Once the movie began it was time to sit back and enjoy the show. Admission to Long Drive In is $7 for adults and $3 for kiddos aged three to eleven. Your ticket allows you to see both movies that are showing that evening. We stayed for the first feature, E.T. and then left after it ended around 10:30 pm (many people do). We are old and our kids are still young so sticking around for the second feature wasn’t an option.
The drive-in movie theater was one of my favorite summer adventures of 2020. For more ideas on Minnesota summer adventure see Mommy Baggage’s posts from Paul Bunyan Land, several Minnesota State Parks or Minnesota’s Largest Candy store.
Happy Adventuring, Rochelle