Travel (Around the USA)

A Summer Tradition

- Mama 9 Comments

So I’m not sure how it happened exactly… but somehow this post that I wrote the day after Labor Day got caught in some sort of blog filter. My thoughts and feelings still resonate with me, so I really wanted to go ahead and continue to post this as planned. I hope that it resonates with you, as well, and I hope that, despite it’s long after Labor Day, it will still make sense in the grand scheme of things.

Labor Day is pretty much the official end of summer. It’s the last real sign that summer has just about thrown in the towel, and it’s time to get ready for fall. But Labor Day weekend also marks one other very important sign of the end of the summer, and that is the very last night of the Drive-In for the season.

I have been very lucky to grow up less than half an hour from one of the greatest summer family fun activities in history, and that is heading over to a drive-in movie. You simply can’t beat paying a few bucks per person to see a double-feature in the comfort of your car (or your lawn chairs).

We make an evening of visiting the drive-in. We almost always pack snacks, blankets, and a frisbee and soccer ball. It’s a part of our family’s tradition to get there early, as soon as the gates open, so we can park in the very front. We have ample grass space for Zach to crawl around on his blanket, and we’re right by the playground and grass area so everyone else can play a pickup game of soccer or hang out on the swings until dark.

At dark, the movie begins to play, the snacks come out of our bags, and we curl up under the stars, watching the film and bonding as a family.

Hundreds of thousands of families have visited a drive-in since the first drive-in opened in New Jersey in 1933. It’s truly been an American past-time. It’s always fun to take people who have never been to a drive-in, too… we frequently take friends who have never been, and they absolutely love it.

However, the last night of the season has never been quite as sad to me as last night. The movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, was hilarious, of course (we didn’t stay for Paranorman). But it was the sinking realization that, if Hollywood doesn’t change some things, this will be the last season I get to share this tradition with my family. It made me really sad to realize that Zach might not have memories of going to the drive in as a child, because the drive-in might not come back. Ever.

See, Hollywood has been working hard to make the switch to digital for a very long time. Which is fine, for movies in a traditional theatre, but it makes it very hard for a drive-in to survive. Often, they just don’t make the revenue to make the switch, and that switch is an incredibly costly one… to the tune of $150,000-$200,000.

Drive-In owners certainly don’t own a drive-in to get rich. Many times, the cost of running it barely covers their costs enough to make a profit, but it’s such a strong American tradition that they don’t want to see it go. $150,000-$200,000 is a lot of money to get new equipment, especially since the media requirements change every few years, requiring more and more money to keep up-to-date.

A traditional theatre could easily afford this change because there are many screens with many daily showings. Drive-ins typically only show 1-2 films each weekend, charge less than most regular theatres, and only have these two showings to get revenue from concessions from. Additionally, they only show 2-3 days each week.

There are a few things that a drive-in could do to combat the large cost, but only one is a perfect solution for the drive-in itself.

First, a Drive-In theatre could pay the obscene prices to upgrade to the new format for films. The downsides to this, obviously, are the high cost and the fact that media changes so even more money would be going out the door.

The second option is for a drive-in to only air movies that were previously released in the old format, but even then, a film can only be played so many times before it wears out, and not as many people will pay to see previously released films as will new releases.

The last option is for Hollywood to make sure they support not only drive-ins, but also vintage independent theatres, by releasing the films in the old format while still moving ahead with their digital plans for most other theatres. The best of both worlds, though, of course, twice the work for Hollywood.

To me, going to the Drive-In has been a life-long tradition, and I fully want it to be part of my son’s traditions, too, or even preferably part of his children’s traditions. I feel like drive-ins are a dying art already. What used to be over 4,000 drive in theatres around the country is now only 368, and each year, that number gets smaller and smaller…

Someday, I hope my son will continue to know the joy of heading out to the Midway Drive-In on a weekend evening, playing before the show, and munching on snacks as we watch the films, cuddling up under a blanket as a cool chill fills the air… but unless Hollywood can do something to support this American tradition, I’ll have to let that dream of mine fade out, just like the lights after the last showing on Labor Day…

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Have you ever been to a drive-in theatre? Have your kids? What do you think about the Hollywood vs. Drive-Ins debate? Let me know in the comments below!

Monday at Dauphin Island

- Mama 3 Comments

After exploring the island on Sunday, our Monday tends to be more laid back.

We decided to spend some time at the pool. This is one of the few times that my mom actually left the condo, because she was struggling with some serious illness at the time. It was great to see her spending time with Zach at the pool– they had a blast!

My grandma was at the pool with us, too!

Later that day, we decided to head to the Treasure Trove. I love the Treasure Trove– it’s so much fun to spend time exploring the fun souvenirs that they have, from postcards and tee shirts to pirate coins and windchimes. The entire store is held in what used to be a church, as you can tell by the beautiful architecture of the building!

For me, it’s a tradition each year to buy one of the anklets they have there. Typically they have some sort of colored beads or shells on it, and the colors are said to each symbolize a different “wish”– wealth, or luck, or friendship, perhaps– and you tie it on. When it falls off, it’s said that your wish will come true. This year, I selected a pink bracelet for love.

Another great thing about Treasure Trove is that out front, they have one of my favorite kinds of flowers in the whole world! I can never resist snapping a picture or five!

Plus, the Treasure Trove parking lot is the perfect place to stop and get a great snapshot of the beautiful, iconic Dauphin Island water tower. The water tower is literally the first thing you see on the island, and it’s fun curvy shape and beautiful style makes it one of my favorite features of the island.

After our trip to the Treasure Trove, it was time to buy sno cones and head home, where we could spend the rest of the day napping, reading, or enjoying the day at our leisure.

If you’re interested in visiting the Island, you can check out more information on their chamber of commerce page at http://dauphinislandcoc.com or find them on facebook!

Stay tuned as I bring you more updates from our recent trip to Dauphin Island!

A Dauphin Island Sunday

- Mama 5 Comments

I know, I know, we’ve been back from Dauphin Island for a little while, but between Zach’s birthday, and family health, I’ve still been working on editing and uploading my photos! Can you believe it? Seriously… worst blogger ever. I swear!

Anyway, here goes, more of my photos from Dauphin Island.

Sunday was our opportunity to really explore the Island. Each year, we take time to drive around the Island and visit different things. We devote a couple of hours to looking around. We usually go for a drive and explore the streets and see what is up. Sometimes, Jeffrey makes fun faces along the way.

For being such a small island, there is really a lot of great things there, like the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Historic Fort Gaines, the Lighthouse Bakery, and more.

Our first stop was Historic Fort Gaines. We’ve been inside a few times, so we decided to skip the actual fort, which costs money (but is very worth it, especially if you have an interest in history, particularly Civil War era). Instead, we took a peek at the outside of the fort.

Fort Gaines was established in 1821, and is named after Edward Pendleton Gaines. It is best known for it’s role during the Battle of Mobile Bay (during the Civil War). It’s actually been on lists for most endangered historic places, because erosion and hurricanes have put it at risk of disappearing entirely. For now, though, it is an amazing fort worth checking out.

It even still features the original cannons used in the battle!

I snapped this shot of my sister peeking into the tunnels outside of the fort. I felt like this shot seemed very “Tomb Raider” of her.

On that same side of the island is a rocky beach, where the waves kind of splash up against the rocks, and you can really enjoy the view, or maybe even go fishing! (But don’t go swimming– seriously, that side of the island has a bad current!)

It’s also a great place to snap some photos. My brother was great at leaping from rock to rock to catch some shots of the waves. Unfortunately, I was a little less stable on my feet, so I either stayed off of the rocks, or tread very carefully!

After driving up and down the island, exploring, we decided to head back to our condo and go to the beach! I’ll tell you more about our condo experience in another post, but I will let you know that the beach was just about the only usable part of it, so a trip down there was a welcome release from sitting in our condo!

Aside from the night before, this was Zach’s first-ever experience with sand and the beach, so it was sure to be either really amazing, or really awful (you never know with kids).

Luckily, it was a HIT! Zach loved playing on the beach and building sand castles with Carolin!

Zach wasn’t the only one to enjoy the beach, though. Jeffrey and Carolin had a lot of fun, as well. The beach is always a great family fun activity. Jeffrey could easily spend his entire day out there, if he was allowed to.

Jeffrey is a huge fan of anything that involves a board… back home, he loves skateboarding, wakeboarding, and kneeboarding, and on vacation, he is all about the boogie board and skimboard!

When it came time for Zach to get to have some waterplay, he raced to the ocean as fast as he could!

I love these photos of Zach and I on the beach. Even though in some ways, I wish I weren’t in these photos because I feel like they’re not the “perfect” photos of me– I’m not at my goal weight, my hair is windblown, I’m so pale, etc– I feel like they are pictures that Zach will still be able to treasure, regardless, because they’re pictures of us together at the beach.

My favorite series of pictures was just adorable. Jeffrey had decided to dig a hole to catch some crabs. Sometimes, if you dig the hole, the crabs will skitter up with the surf, and get caught in the hole. He started digging, and suddenly, Zach was interested.

He looked at him like, “Hey, Jeffrey! What’re you doing?”

It was at that point that the plastic bag I had brought to protect my camera from sea and sand started blowing down the beach. Jeffrey abandoned his digging to chase after the bag!

What happened next was purely Zach deciding to do what he was going to do… my only involvement was to keep the camera ready.

It was seriously one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen!

Later that evening, Zach got to try out the pool for the first time! We had to venture over to the pool at the condo next door (like I said, I will tell you all about that crazy story soon), but it was worth the walk over there.

It was such a great day on the Island. I honestly can’t wait until we can venture back down there.

Saturday Night on Dauphin Island

- Mama 5 Comments

Last week, my family took a trip to our favorite vacation spot. The best thing about Dauphin Island is that it’s relatively unknown. There are very few condos at Dauphin Island, and because it is the less tourist-riddled little sister of the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores/Pensacola area, you skip out on the surf shops that flood each corner.

We have been coming to Alabama since my brother was 3 or 4. He’s 11 now, so you can do the math and see how influential this beach is in our memories and lives. This year was no exception. I plan on posting some in-depth reviews of our favorite Dauphin Island hotspots and locations, but for now, I wanted to give you a peek into our day-to-day life on the island.

We arrived on Saturday, and decided that it would be a lot of fun to take a quick trip to the beach that evening before the others arrive. Our family typically travels in a large group… me, my parents, my brother, my son, my grandmother, her sisters and brothers-in-law, and this year, my sister flew in from Germany to join us. Because we were still waiting for the others to arrive (my sister, grandmother, great aunts and uncles), I was just hanging out in the condo, when my brother approached me. The conversation went something like this.

Jeffrey: “Hey, Jenni.”
Me: “Hey, what?”
Jeffrey: “Go get your camera.”
Me: “Okay. Why?”
Jeffrey: “I found the perfect picture for you.”
Me: “Sure. Where’s it at?”
Jeffrey: “Oh, just right out there. It’s just sunset and it’s really pretty and there’s a little log and I wanted you to take a picture of me standing on it.”
Me: “Okay.”

We ambled out the door, past the place where you wash your feet, and I’m thinking the log is going to be pretty far in, near the sand. Uh, no. I get there and I say “Okay, where’s this log.”

Jeffrey points way out, close to the water, saying “It’s that one, over there!”

But, unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, Jeffrey was right. The light was perfect. The timing was perfect. If I didn’t hoof it out to that log, I would miss a really great moment that his eye happened to catch. So, we walked down the beach.

Luckily, it had rained all week before, so the sand wasn’t as hard to walk on as usual. See the picture below? Yeah, that’s not ocean. That’s rain, piled up on the beach.

Zach loved the feeling of the breeze blowing through his hair as we walked towards the beach. I also think he was intrigued by the crashing waves!

See that look of pure joy on his face? I can’t get over how cute he is! After quite a trek, we made it out to the log that Jeffrey had found. Isn’t it just such a fun shape? It was a good prop for a few photos, including this shot below of Jeffrey with his arms stretched wide!

I had put Zach up on the log for Jeffrey to hold him and play with him for a few minutes. Lately, we’ve been having a few problems where you say “smile,” and you get that weird, self-conscious, teenage smile that isn’t really a smile? Yeah, I get that a lot. That’s why it’s so refreshing when I end up capturing a cute candid shot between those smiles, featuring some real, genuine giggles.

I also asked Jeffrey to take control of the camera a few times. He’s only 11, but he has an incredible eye for a good shot, and he can always tell exactly how to frame a picture, the times of the day that have just the right light, and he often uses my camera to get better shots than I do! I swear, he needs his own Nikon, doesn’t he? He snapped this adorable shot of me lifting Zach high above my head so he could look over the beautiful beach sunset.

Since we were this close to the water already, we decided to take the trip to the edge and dip our toes in. As we approached the water, we noticed some funny little prints in the sand!

Then, it was finally time for my little guy to dip his toes into the ocean for the very first time. Jeffrey took about 100 shots of his first trip in, so it was really hard picking a favorite shot to share with you! I ended up narrowing it down to a handful. Bear with me, I think my son is the cutest thing ever and I would feel like a terrible mom if I were able to narrow it down any more than this!

Look at him march towards that water like he owns the place! I love it! He had such confidence, even going into such a vast, sometimes scary, body of water. I mean, look at it! It’s HUGE compared to that little boy, and he just charges towards it!

I love how Jeffrey was able to capture very intimate mother-son moments when he was snapping photos. He framed the images so well… I swear, he would make an incredible photographer. He has skill at silhouetting that many pros I know don’t have.

Zach kept doing this funny little lean backwards, like he wanted to lay down on the water. It was so adorable, but I kept having to really work to keep him upright, since he kept wanting to really duck into the water.

As you can see, he loved the water. Look at the pure joy radiating on his face! He is such a fan of the soft waves of Dauphin Island, such a fan of the peaceful ocean air. I have certainly raised a water baby, after all.