Minnesota
An evening at the Long Drive-In, one of the last drive-in theaters in Minnesota
My 12-year-old daughter and a friend bopped a volleyball around our campsite, a nicely shaded corner beauty at the edge of a meadow. My teenage son and another friend were off exploring on foot. I was pulling together blankets, bug spray and other necessities for our evening at the Long Drive-In, just down the road.
I’d imagined we’d all head down together when the gate opened at 7:30 to stake out a prime spot — only the first three rows have carside speakers — until my son texted.
“mom … people are already lining up … you should go like now.”
The girls and I picked up the pace, and soon we pulled into the line of cars filling the long approach and snaking out the entrance, 10 minutes before gate time. We stalled near the marquee, which advertised the night’s double feature in classic red plastic letters: “Inside Out 2″ and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”
Finally, brake lights ahead flashed like fireflies and we inched forward, one car-length at a time, gravel crunching under the tires, to the ticket booth. A tidy green field spread out before us, and at the far end, a giant white screen rose up higher than the trees.
The front rows were filling up, but we still had options. We backed into the second row, mid-screen, directly in front of the concessions building. Perfect.
On the upswing
This is the Long Drive-In’s 68th season. It was built on the outskirts of central Minnesota’s Long Prairie (pop. 3,600) in 1956, when drive-in theaters were America’s latest obsession. Minnesota boasted around 80 drive-ins at peak popularity. In the 1980s, as cars shrunk and movie nights shifted into living rooms, many drive-ins were shuttered. The Long endured. It’s now one of five left in the state.
“It definitely cycles,” said owner Michelle Claseman of the business. She’s run the drive-in alongside her family through peaks and valleys, like her parents before her. Special events helped create the current upswing, she said, like last fall’s “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” screening, when Claseman stocked a big table outside of the concession stand with friendship bracelet-making supplies, or the annual Classic Car Cruise (coming Aug. 24), when the types of vehicles this experience was created for fill the front rows before a retro movie selection.
Another smart move: After Claseman learned that many moviegoers were traveling an hour or more, she cleared some space at the edge of the field for bare-bones campsites that regularly sell out on weekends.
Making a day of it
We’d considered reserving one of the drive-in’s last available sites, but opted instead for Camp S’More a half-mile away. The campground’s bathroom/shower building, pickleball courts, tubing trips and other perks won us over.
“It looks like the Microsoft home screen,” one of the kids marveled about the gently rolling meadow topped in blue sky at the edge of our site. He wasn’t wrong. As we set up camp, one of the owners came around on a golf cart with little bags of fresh popcorn. We were happy with our choice.
I stopped to chat with a couple of RV-ing sisters hanging out with their four little dogs inside a portable fence. When I asked what they like to do around here, they didn’t hesitate: the drive-in. “It doesn’t even matter what’s playing,” one said.
Tubing was off the table for us, due to flooding on the Long Prairie River. We were content to explore the tidy campground, and the garage sales around town, until it was time for the movie.
Dinner and a movie
I popped the liftback, laid the third row of seats flat, shook out blankets and unfolded chairs. My daughter and her friend grabbed our Frisbee and joined the crowd of other kids in the green space in front of the screen, with their soccer balls, footballs and ladder toss. The Jackson 5′s “ABC” blared from the concession stand. The groups that scored front-row spots sat at picnic tables and prepped blow-up mattresses. It was opening night for the Disney/Pixar “Inside Out” sequel, bolstering both the attendance and wholesome family vibes.
An announcement over the loudspeaker encouraged ordering pre-show food ASAP, so I hopped into the short line to get dinner for our group. The menu and its prices contributed beautifully to the throwback theme: Hot dogs were $2, root beer floats $3.50 and sno-cones $1.50. I fed the five of us, including the two bottomless teen boys who’d finally caught up, for just under $40. By the time we set our haul down on a table outside the stand, the line was out the door and down the row of cars.
We cozied into our setup as the sky finally darkened enough for the first feature to start. It felt unique and beautiful to make this effort. Not to pluck something off a digital menu in our living room, or even pay a premium to sit in an immersive air-conditioned box, but to instead drive all this way, together, with our blankets and pillows and chairs.
To settle into this communal experience, where pre-show games, crackling vintage speakers, the stars overhead and chirping crickets are all part of the show.
Getting there
The Long Drive-In, outside Long Prairie, Minn., is two hours northwest of the Twin Cities. Showing July 25-28: “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Twisters” (separate admission for each). $8 adults, $5 ages 5-11, free for 4 and younger (thelongdrivein.com).
Where else to stay
The Prairie Ridge Inn in town is a basic option with recently remodeled rooms. The drive-in website and locals recommended the Long Prairie Treehouse, a unique cabin perched in oaks and maples (but sold out until 2025).
More drive-ins
Minnesota’s other four drive-in theaters are the Starlite Drive-In (Litchfield); Elko Drive-In (Elko New Market); Verne Drive-In (Luverne); and Sky-Vu Drive-In (Warren).
Also within road-trip distance: the Stardust Drive-In (Chetek, Wis.); and the Superior 71 Drive-In (Spirit Lake, Iowa).
Berit Thorkelson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer.
Could a UCLA baseball team that’s perfect in Big Ten play get better?
Bruins coach John Savage thinks so, which is a frightening prospect for the rest of a seemingly overmatched conference.
While Savage’s top-ranked Bruins completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Sunday with a 5-2 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium — stretching their Big Ten winning streak to 21 games — he said there’s more upside to be realized.
“Offensively, we just really couldn’t get a lot going,” Savage said after his team went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six baserunners. “We just weren’t able to put a lot together, but when that pitching and defense shows up every day, it gives yourself a chance to win, and that’s kind of what we did all three games, really.”
Those elements were so good Sunday that they overshadowed Roman Martin’s solo homer in the third inning and Will Gasparino’s two-run shot in the sixth.
Bruins left fielder Dean West made three superb catches — two leaping and one diving — and four relievers combined to give up only one run in 4 ⅔ innings. Closer Easton Hawk needed only six pitches to record a 1-2-3 ninth inning while notching his third save in as many days.
Savage credited Minnesota’s pitching after the Golden Gophers (22-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten) held the Bruins (36-3) to an average of five runs during the series and said many of his team’s offensive struggles were situational.
“We have very, very good offensive players — some of them are in … little ruts right now, but that’s OK,” Savage said. “These guys play a lot and get a lot of at-bats; there’s a lot of ups and downs.”
When it comes to UCLA’s conference record, it’s all been up.
What it means
UCLA’s sweep is further evidence that the Bruins aren’t getting complacent because of their record.
“This culture is really solid, and these guys truly believe in one another and they’re playing for the team,” Savage said. “We’re very fortunate to have this group, and so they love playing together, so there’s no complacency and there’s no reason to because we haven’t done anything; I mean, you’re 36-3, that’s great, but at the end of the day it’s about getting better and playing your best baseball the next 75 days.”
Turning point
Spotting a dominant team an early lead is never a good idea.
That’s what happened when the Bruins struck for two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
West led off with a single to center field, took third on Roch Cholowsky’s double to left and scored on a balk. With one out, Martin hit an RBI infield single off the pitcher’s glove. UCLA was up 2-0, and the Golden Gophers could never catch up.
Did you see that?
Minnesota did not like it when Gasparino admired his home run by lingering in the batter’s box before commencing his trot around the bases.
There was consensus in both dugouts because Savage also didn’t care for it.
“I thought he probably stayed in the box a little too long for me,” Savage said. “That’s kind of not who we are, and they didn’t like that; I wouldn’t like that either, really.”
MVP
West saved multiple extra-base hits with his catches.
Which was his favorite?
“Probably the diving one,” West said. “I think that was the coolest one. I got to leave my feet and make a play on it.”
Up next
The Bruins will open a five-game stretch of nonconference games when they host Hawaii on Tuesday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
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Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
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