Cool Interactive Map Shows Former and Current Drive-In Theatres

I stumbled on this map this morning while cruising Facebook with my coffee. The website Braid has put together a map of all current and former Drive-In locations.  I have a lot of great memories of watching movies at the Drive-In.

I grew up in the Torrington area, and we had 2 Drive-In's right in town: The Skyvue, and the Torrington Drive-In.  Our parents took us to the Skyvue a lot, because they showed most of the kids' movies.  I remember seeing a bunch of Kurt Russell Disney movies there, like "The World's Greatest Athlete" and "The Strongest Man In The World."

I also remember some really strange movie pairings. I have vivid memories of seeing one of the Planet Of The Apes movies alongside the World War 2 epic "Tora! Tora! Tora!" It was always a real challenge to stay awake for the second movie.  "Must... not... fall... asleep... must... not... fall... asleep..." then "Damn It!" as the motion of Dad driving away woke you up.

Later on in my late teens, friends and I went to the Watertown Drive-In quite a bit, though I have to confess that it was more because it was a good place to sneak a few underage beers than actually going there to watch a movie. Watertown had 3 screens, and I definitely remember seeing "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" there. (Probably because I was the driver that night, and wasn't having said underage beers.)

Danbury had a Drive-In on Federal Road, where the Ingersoll Chevy-Buick dealership stands today.

For those of you that are nostalgic for the Drive-In experience, happily there are still a few around today, most notably the Pleasant Valley Drive-In just north of Winsted, the Four Brothers Drive-In in Amenia, and the Southington Drive-in, plus a couple still active in the Poughkeepsie area.

To check out where the Drive-In theatres were and still are, here's the map.