To me summer isn’t complete without that old time tradition of going to the drive in movies at least once. I remember going to the VFW Drive In in West Roxbury MA (now a Home Depot) with my mother to see American Graffitti, and falling alseep right after it started. Alas. But to this day I still love the idea of going to the movies in pajamas!
The Delsea Drive In is one of the few places here I have not gone to but am going to recommend anyways. Why? Because it’s the ONLY Drive In movie theatre left in New Jersey, THE STATE THAT INVENTED DRIVE IN MOVIES! I seriously can’t believe that Jersey only has one DI, but there you go.
I would have totally gone there but at the time I was alone and it was a bright sunny day and who in their right mind wants to go to a drive in movie:
Alone.
On a bright sunny day.
Here are some interesting notes about the Delsea:
Originally opened from 1949-1987, it re-opened just a few years ago in 2004.
2 screens and always a double feature
In addition to standard snackbar fare (popcorn and snocaps, please) they’ve got a pretty wide selection of food, including:
Shrimp Kabob
Stir-Fry Asparagus
LOW-CARB Chicken Cucumber Salad
Eggplant Parmesan
Chicken Parmesan
Atkins Foods!
Regarding movie food, let me get on the soap box for just a sec:
As some of you may know and now you will know, most mom and pop theatres don’t make their money from admission, but rather at the snackbar. Please help places like this survive by not sneaking in your own snacks, as this does eventually lead to the demise of the places that we hold so dear.
With the Drive-In season so short because of the weather, it’s important for them to make their operating money however they can. So do your part and buy your food at the snackbar.
If you REALLY want to bring your own food in, the Delsea has instituted a Food Policy which asks that if you bring in your own food to please buy an Outside Food Permit. The OFP only cost $7 so if you’re going to load up the car with food from the outside, do your bit and pay the 7 bucks.
OK off soapbox!
If you’re still on the fence about the allure of the Delsea or any Drive In movie for that matter, perhaps these clips will bring back some fond memories:
Delsea Drive In
2203 S Delsea Dr
Vineland, NJ 08360-7025
(856) 696-0011
View NJ – New Jersey Retro RoadMAP in a larger map
Helium Design
I have a clear memory of seeing Star Wars at a Drive-In near Sebago Lake, Maine. It wasn’t quite dark enough at the beginning so we had a hard time reading the scrolling text at the opening. Dad fell asleep within the first few minutes and was snoring so loudly that we had to move the window speaker away from the driver’s seat to the back window so that we could actually hear the movie!
This is one of my favorite places! We’ve gone to the Delsea at least 4 times in the past year and we LOVE it. It is very sad to see that this is the only one in all of NJ considering that they started right here in Camden, NJ. There’s so many screens left up in vacant, weed-ridden lots, just rotting and graffitied. The first time we went here we bought the food permit, but as the night wore on, the siren call (smell) of hot dogs and cheese fries reeled us in. We have bought from their yummy, terrifically priced concession stand ever since. You can buy a whole pizza for less than you would pay for popcorn and a soda from a huge multiplex. They even sell hoagies! Good ones! But I digress on the food… The Delsea is such a wonderful place to spend an evening, I can’t tell enough people about it.
Amy – thanks so much for adding your first hand experience to the post about the Delsea, and for making so many visits to it! Retro Roadhusband and I were lucky to happen upon a drive in theatre when we were on vacation a few weeks ago, and it was a thrill to be able to actually see a movie there! But mostly when I see them it’s during the day, by myself when I can snap a photo of the sign, and just encourage people to come. Thanks for fighting the good fight and spreading the word about Retro Roadmap worthy places like the Delsea!