More than meets the drive-in

Here's another quick blog entry to tell you about one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities: the Vali-Hi Drive-In in Lake Elmo.

Born in 1980, I kind of missed the whole drive-in movie phenomenon. I remember going to a drive-in once with my parents when I was growing up. I don't remember what the movies were. They didn't interest me, but I didn't care. The idea of watching a movie in your car was cool enough.

So imagine my delight last summer when Tracy and I moved to the Twin Cities and came across this drive-in theater a bit east of St. Paul on Interstate 94. Not only was there another chance to enjoy the whole movie-in-your-car thing (now with sound through the radio), but there were actually movies I wanted to see. Our first was "Superman Returns," a year ago, on Tracy's birthday. And since Vali-Hi offers a triple feature each night for $7.50, there are sometimes even two good movies in a row. The bonus movies (and the ability to bring your own food and soda) make it such a good value that it actually justified seeing "Snakes on a Plane" last summer. Well, almost.

You also find yourself in a great cross-section of society at the drive-in. To your right, you'll see somebody in a Lexus with all four windows rolled up. To your left, a beat-up utility van surrounded by people grilling out.

All this has made Vali-Hi our go-to movie theater during the warm-weather months. We actually haven't gone to an indoor movie in the Twin Cities since the drive-in season began.

So of course, when "Transformers" finally came out, we knew we were going to the drive-in. I used to be a "Transformers" fanatic, and we arranged weeks ago to see it under the stars with our Luther Seminary friends, Paula and David. Paula wasn't even that fired up about seeing the movie, but the drive-in novelty sold her. So Thursday night, we opened the hatchback to Tracy's Pontiac Vibe, cranked the speakers and set up our chairs behind it. (Tracy was so excited by all the transforming cars that she was hoping her Vibe would become a Transformer — if it did, though, it would probably be less of a fighting robot than one who serves coffee.)

We were not disappointed, certainly not by the drive-in experience. The movie, too, while just stupid ridiculous, was tons of fun. Even if it didn't quite match the brilliance of 1986's animated "The Transformers: The Movie," It was certainly better than "Snakes on a Plane."