Last night was my first time to visit the Swingin’ Midway Drive-In Theatre located on Highway 30 between Athens, TN & Etowah, TN. For years I have been wanting to visit there and for awhile I had people telling me it had closed so I forgot all about it, until I came across their Facebook page almost a year ago. What prompted me to go was that a movie I have been wanting to watch since it came out in June (Madea’s Witness Protection) was being shown all this weekend. After talking it over with my best friend we decided it was time to go visit the Swingin’ Midway.
I hadn’t been to a Drive-In movie theatre since I was around 4 or 5, about the time they were dying out. I remember my parents taking me to one near where we lived in SE Texas. Up until a few years ago I didn’t think any of them existed anymore. But what I have recently learned though is that they are trying to make a comeback or at least stay with the times.
For the Swingin’ Midway Drive In Theatre, this season is quite important. They are still running on 35 mm film and they have to convert to digital, which they have until the end of this year to do. Word is spreading they need to raise between 70K & 90K to make this conversion or they have to close their doors…possibly forever.
Every patron is encouraged to purchase snacks and drinks from their snack bar since most of those sales will help contribute towards the money needed to make the conversion. The snack bar offers everything from sandwiches, nachos, popcorn to candy and drinks. Just before it opened at 8 PM, there were plenty of people standing in line ready to get snackin’. I for one was ready to enjoy some popcorn, one of my all time favorite snacks to have while watching a good movie.
Restrooms were very conveniently located, at least for us as they are located behind the building of the snack bar. They were shockingly very clean too.
It was definitely a neat experience to be at a drive in movie theatre that still had some of the feel from 3,4 and even 5 decades ago. The people there were all friendly and it was obvious they were thankful we were there patronizing their establishment. For 3 adults and two children ages 10 and 7, it cost us $31. We also received two Swingin’ bucks to save towards future visits, if you save 8 of them you can get a free pass. And by the way, that $31 covered seeing two movies, but we were very exhausted after the first one which ended shortly after 11:30 PM.
When we first arrived there a little after 7:30, there were probably two handfuls of vehicles. By 8:30 when the movie was starting, the parking area was starting to fill up and by 9:30 it was pretty much covered up. We chose to park close to the front, near the snack bar (of course). I was glad to see that there are speakers still available because I had assumed it was all FM radio converted. Now I know that I can bring my Jeep which doesn’t have a working radio right now.
Since we were all newbies to the Swingin’ Midway we learned that: We could and should have brought our lawn chairs, been aware that some of the cars around us do have smokers and we could have brought our beloved dog, Smash although he would have loved to been petted by a multitude of people before and during the movie.
If you love movies or are trying to find a great way to spend time with those you love, going to the Swingin’ Midway Drive-In or really any other one that you know is still in existence is a great reason to not only have quality time but also help contribute to saving an icon. For my kids, it was definitely a treat. My youngest son thought it was the neatest thing to be able to sit in the vehicle and watch a movie outside. The only downfall was that there were smokers standing near our vehicle.
My personal hope is that the Swingin’ Midway is able to do the conversion and continue running so I can make some more trips with my family and friends.