Sauerbeck Drive-In Movies - Harvest Host - 2024/05/22

Today we've got a fun one planned. Whenever Theresa looks at our route and places to stay, she's always looking for something fun to do. And so, when she saw that a brand new Harvest Host popped up in Kentucky that was a drive-in movie theater, she knew we'd be stopping! 

But first, we've got to get there. We left our friends Danny and Gayle early in the morning at 8am. It was requested by the drive-in to arrive by 6pm and have everything set up before 7pm so as not to interfere with the people coming to watch the movie. Sadly we're coming from the Central Time Zone back to the Eastern Time Zone, so it required an early morning departure from Sunset Holler. Let's hit the road! 

First state stop is... Tennessee! 

And how about we stop at the Welcome Center! Will they be handing out guitars? 

Pollinators at work. 

Both Theresa and I sang out "WE'RE POLLINATORS!" from the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. 

And as we drove through Tennessee, I made sure we played classic country hits featuring Dolly, Waylan, and Garth, along with some live recordings from the Grand Ole' Opry. Perfect to listen to while going through the Volunteer State! 

Time to get to Kentucky. 

Think they'll be handing out horses? 

No, but there's statues of horses out front. 

And as we drove away, I changed it so my phone would play some Kentucky Bluegrass. 

Here we are! Where we'll be spending the night. 

The Sauerbeck Family Drive-in! 

They just started participating in Harvest Host 5 weeks ago and said we were their 12th visitor. 

We've arrived before any of the employees, and were instructed to let ourselves in and park in the back of the lot near the grass. 

There we are! 

Whew! Another long driving day though. 

Let's walk around. We got a good look at the movie screen. 

And even went underneath it! 

It's a giant lot that I was told can hold up to 400 cars! Just us and another RV couple so far. 

Checking out the snack-shack that isn't quite open yet. 

And swinging on the playground. 

There's no hook-ups here, so we're running off batteries all night. A big rain storm cooled the temperature nicely. Now we won't need to run the AC! 

I cooked up a dinner of hamburgers and tater tots while the kids played outside. 

At 8:30 we went over to the concession stand to see what looks good. 

Now that the rain has let up a bit. 

They've got all the usual things you'd expect. Popcorn and pretzels. Soda and nachos. 

But some other unique things too. 

And I thought it was a cool idea that if you leave a review, you can get a free movie poster. 

A few of the rules and regulations of the park. I asked how old the place was, expecting it to be from the 70s or 80s, but they've only been in operation for 5 years! 

As we left, we caught a double rainbow! 

This is movie night so we're going to splurge a little (plus with Harvest Host you're expected to spend $30 as an appreciate to the host for letting you stay the night). 

Along with the ice cream bars, drinks, and french fries, I wanted to try a few things that were unique to here. Ale8 is a ginger and citrus soft drink that comes from Kentucky! And I've never heard of a Bosco stick before. 

It tasted like fried dough with a little salt on top (which was delicious) and was filled with mozzarella cheese. Overall, a little bland, but tasty. 

Theresa booked this Harvest Host weeks ago without knowing what was playing. We did know that it was Retro Wednesday, so we had high hopes for something like ET or Star Wars. 

Alas, this Retro Wednesday was being sponsored by a Jaguar car club and they chose... Play Misty for Me. I'd never heard of it, but apparently Clint Eastwood drives a Jaguar in it.

And... I don't think this R rated horror movie going to be appropriate for the kids. Funny enough, next week is a double-feature of Goonies followed by Back to the Future. D'oh!  

So, we took all our movie snacks and watched our own movies inside the RV. On May 4th, we watched Star Wars: A New Hope together for the very first time. We're working our way through all the movies now. The order I chose was: 4 A New Hope, 5 The Empire Strikes Back, 1 The Phantom Menace, 2 The Clone Wars, 3 Revenge of the Sith. We'll end with 6 Return of the Jedi, which ties up the plots of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker nicely. Tonight we're watching all of Revenge of the Sith and it definitely kept them both up past their bedtime. 

The next morning, we were the last to leave the parking lot. It was a quiet night out here. I pulled the RV in front of the screen to get a good picture, and we made sure to leave them a good review. 

Theresa letting us out of the gate so we can continue our journey North. 

Destination: Michigan! 

It gets crowded near the big cities. 

Welcome to Ohio! The music in the truck changed over to Rock and Roll because Ohio is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! 

And then when we crossed over to Michigan, I started playing the music of Motown. We're here!