I went for one movie and came home smelling like popcorn, holding a borrowed radio I almost forgot to return, and planning my next Thursday. Florida still has a drive-in where one cheap ticket covers two brand-new releases on a screen the size of a building.
The lot fills with pickup trucks, minivans, lawn chairs, and even a few dogs in the back seat. Bring a blanket, grab a spot early, and leave room for pizza.
Two Glowing Screens off New Tampa Highway
From the road, it looks like a wide stretch of pavement with a couple of oversized white walls standing guard. Then the sun drops, the projectors flicker on, and those walls turn into two enormous windows onto the newest movies in town.
Welcome to the Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre, a vintage outdoor cinema in Lakeland that runs first-run films on two separate screens. It sits between Tampa and Orlando, a short hop off I-4, which makes it an easy evening drive from either side of Central Florida…