See ‘Grease’ tonight in the great outdoors

When I first moved to Spokane, a few months before Mount St. Helens blew in 1980, I was the father of a 16-month-old girl. And anyone who is both a movie lover and a parent of a young child knows that, back in the days before video/DVD/online movie viewing, the two didn't always mix.

I remember having to leave a screening of the movie "Magic" because my daughter, then a mere infant, woke up and began fussing. I suspect she was disturbed by a creepy Anthony Hopkins, too.

In 1980 Spokane, though, we discovered the solution: drive-in movies. Off the top of my head, I can recall at least six drive-in theaters that we attended on a regular basis — none of which exists today, few of which made even to the 1990s.

Which is why I am heartened to see that "Grease" will be playing at 7 tonight at a drive-in theater set up at the Spokane County Raceway in Airway Heights. Admission is $20 per car ($25 for VIP parking, whatever that means); outdoor seating is provided, too, and concessions will be for sale.

Movies have been screening at the racetrack every other Wednesday since June 10, and George Lucas' "American Graffiti" will play on Aug. 19. (Another drive-in site in Mead has been showing movies every other Tuesday since June 9, and "Dirty Dancing" is scheduled to play Aug. 19.) So if you don't want to see John Travolta and Olivia Newton John romp around tonight, you still have a couple of more chances.

Chances, you know, to relive the past.