Sunday, February 19, 2012

Getty 4 and Cherry Bowl Drive-in Theaters

Muskegon Heights, Michigan

September 16 turned out to be a long, productive day. After making pictures at the Sunset Theater in Hartford I left at about noon for what the GPS predicted would be an hour and a half drive to Muskegon Heights and the Getty 4. This turns out to be a really large four-screen theater with a gravel and grass field surrounded by a fringe of trees and shrubs for privacy and light pollution screening around the entrance side and a surprisingly large wooded area at the back. The layout of this theater shows up wonderfully in the aerial view in Google Maps.

Muskegon Heights, Michigan

The theater had just closed for the season the week before, but I got to talk with the management who were on site preparing the grounds for the winter break. The Getty still uses a lot of traditional pole speakers and they were all meticulously wrapped in plastic for the long off season. Between the northern latitude and lake effects I'm sure Muskegon sees some pretty serious winter weather.

Honor, Michigan

I left the Getty 4 with a projected two hour and forty minute ride to Honor, MI, and The Cherry Bowl, one of the most well-known drive-in theaters in the country. I got there right at five o'clock with really nice late light on the amazing screen tower, plus the other features like old cars, giant hot dogs and chickens, a miniature golf course, and more.

 Honor, Michigan

I've already written about my visit here at this post from the road. I also posted from the road on how the day finally ended, in Traverse City, MI,  where I found a place to stay at seven thirty, or about twelve hours, 391 miles, and six drive-in theaters after the day began in Coldwater, MI. The Cherry Bowl's name comes from the fact that cherries are the area's primary agricultural crop. In fact, not far away in Charlevoix there's a monument to what's claimed to have been the largest cherry pie ever created.

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