Things I Like - Chicago

Drive in movie night is one of favorite childhood memories. I have no idea how old I was the last time my parents popped some corn, packed up the family and piled into the station wagon for a trip to the movies but it seems we stopped doing this by the time I got to 6th grade. I’m not sure why we stopped – maybe the new air conditioned Cineplex at the mall had better movie options or maybe our family had gotten too unruly to sit in a car for 3 hours (there would have been 3 kids 10 or under plus a newborn by that point). It’s more likely that the drive in theaters in our area closed.

The drive in movie theater seems to be a thing of the past – at its high point, there were more than 120 theaters in Illinois. Today, there are only 13 operating drive ins, only one of which is within an hour’s drive of the city.

If you miss the drive in experience and don’t feel like a journey out of the city, take advantage of Chicago’s outdoor movie season. Screenings in Grant Park are every Tuesday at dusk beginning July 14th with Sunset Boulevard. Go early (the park starts to fill up at 5:00 when the loop office towers begin to empty) with a blanket to stake your place, something for dinner and a book to keep you occupied until the movie starts. Dusk can come pretty late in July and August.

Another option is to avoid the huge crowds and catch recent as well as classic flicks at many of your local parks. The Chicago Park District sponsors free movies throughout the summer – see the full guide here. There are three movies scheduled for the park closest to us (Park No. 511…because we’re really creative here in River North). I’m looking forward to Kung Fu Panda in August – hard to pass up an opportunity to enjoy huge cartoon animals while sipping an icy cold Absolut Pear & tonic under the stars.