And now for something a little different. We have one of the few remaining drive-in theaters right here in San Jose. What say we throw them some business and gather for a night under the stars watching movies on the big screen outdoors. If you've never been, then experience something new. If you haven't been in a while, then come by for nostalgia's sake. Bring the significant other, bring the kids, bring your friends, bring your neighbors. I also understand that there's some purists among us who REALLY hate it when you're using your rig for something other than bashing on the Rubicon Trail or crossing the Sahara so this will really get their goat.

Which movie we're watching is yet to-be-determined. They don't have showtimes that far ahead. We're gonna shoot for something family friendly like The Incredibles II so you can bring the entire family but be flexible if that isn't feasible. There's also double-feature option that we can check out.

General Admission is $7.95, kids 5-11 are $1.50, kids under 4 are free.

This is a Monday night meet. They're usually not too busy at the drive-in on those nights so we should have no problem hogging a few rows in the back.

Meet at the wide, empty parking lot before the ticket booths. The booths usually open around 7:30PM and we'll make our way in at that point. We'll know at least a week in advance which movie and lot we'll be in so latecomers will know where to go. Movies usually start around 8:45 so that should give us plenty of time to setup and mingle.

Dogs, weapons, alcohol, open fires/grilling are prohibited. The speed limit is 3MPH, it's dark and there are children running around so please exercise caution driving in and out.

Do bring food and snacks. I personally like to bring In n' Out (there's one 10 minutes away on Santa Teresa), but there's also DiMaggio's (pizza and calzones), Lee's Sandwiches (banh mi), La Costa (great tacos) and Burger King across Monterey Hwy from the Drive-In. There's also a Lucky's, Taco Bell and a Subway a couple of block's west of the drive-in on Capitol. There is a concession stand at the drive-in but depending on where our movie is it can be a bit of a hike, and according to Yelp reviews it's nothing to rave about.

A lot of people like to watch the movies outside their vehicles, so bring camping/folding chairs if you're gonna do that. You could also watch from the comfort of your truck bed (which I do). Keep in mind that the movie audio is transmitted via FM, so if you're watching outside the vehicle you will need some sort of portable FM tuner or boom box, or keep your vehicle running and roll the windows down. If you have a newer vehicle that has an auto-shut-off function it can get annoying having to turn your audio back on every 15 minutes.

Please RSVP so I can get an idea of the headcount when I talk to the drive-in management.

Let's do this!

Relevant Links:
West Wind Drive-In website: https://www.westwinddi.com/
West Wind FAQ: https://www.westwinddi.com/about-us/faq