$40 Date: Drive-in!

Today MandySue from "In the South it's a Religion," another great Memphis blog, is guest posting about affordable and fun dates in Memphis as part of her series on $40 dates! I'm posting on her blog about cute and practical travel bags - go check it out!

Hi Y’all! I’m MandySue and I blog over at In the South it’s a Religion. Mostly I blog about fashion and occasionally rant on a current social topic but lately my favorite thing to blog about is how to date for $40 or less, which is what I’m going to share with you today.

A few weekends ago I had the great idea of going to the drive-in movie theater. I love watching movies and I love that you don’t have to “sneak” in your own snacks with this type of venue. Plus, did you know it’s now $10.50 to see a regular movie these days? That’s insane! Oh, and I love picnic food, and even more so I love using my picnic cooler, and since I spent way more on it than anyone should ever spend on an insulated tote I’m eager to get as much use out of it as possible. Point is, I had plenty of reasons to go.

The Summer Avenue Drive-In is a really a great gem in Memphis. There was talk a few years ago of shutting it down but I’m so glad it survived. Tickets are $7.50 per person and are for a double feature, if you watch multiple screens and are a bit of a night owl you could actually make this a triple feature - that’s cheaper than the discount move theater, and these are first run movies.

Before we headed to the theater we loaded up on goodies at The FreshMarket, yum! The Fresh Market is my favorite place in town for prepared food. On our menu was:

Chicken salad croissants

Spinach dip

Cheese slices

Crackers

Sparkling cider

I had brought cups from home that matches my cooler and linen napkins, because I’m fancy like that. I didn’t bring plates but regretted this decision. I strongly recommend bringing plates or a hard surface to eat on. If you have those lap desk things that would be super handy.

For the double feature you’re supposed to watch the movies on the same screen but it’s easy enough to just reposition your car. We started off with the Muppet movie. Ok, lame choice but it has good actors so it looked promising. Wrong, so wrong, please avoid this movie. Our 2^nd movie was 300 which was cool if you’re into those types of movies. Right now they are doing a Captain America double feature; you need to go for that. After 300 ended there was a midnight movie coming on but we decided to head home. In between the movies is a 15 minute break which is nice, gives you time to use the restroom and visit the concession stand. Although I enjoyed our picnic food the prices were quite reasonable, it’s actually the more affordable option vs fancy groceries.

I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few cars on the night we went, which was a Saturday. When the weather’s nice I’ve heard people will bring chairs and “tailgate” rather than stay in their car. Personally I get very nervous about the car battery dying but most people turned their cars off and had no problem starting them up when it was time to go home. I would bring a pair of jumper cables just in case. I went one time and did have to give a jump to another couple. Or you could just bring a battery operated radio.

Another great thing about the venue is since you’re in your car you can dress super comfy. The bf and I have been dating 10 months so I’m over looking cute for every date. I wore flip flops, yoga pants and a comfy top when we went. I saw a few people with the back of their SUVs pointed towards the screen, I bet they folded down the seats and had blankets and pillows. You can also actually talk to you date since no one else can hear you, which you know is nice to do on a date sometimes. So yeah, I’m a huge fan of the drive-in.

Cost for this date:

Picnic food $25

2 Tickets $15

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$40

I hope you’ll have the opportunity to check it out soon. For other $40 date ideas please visit my $40 date page, I post a $40 date at least once a week. Happy Dating Y’all!