A red painted building sits behind overgrown bushes. A large sign out front reads "Gene Valla's Blue Gum Luncheon-Dinners." A neon martini glass tops the large sign.

Photo Essay: Americana Through the Eyes of a 16 Year Old

January 26, 2022, 8 Comments

Recently Patrick and I went did a massive clean out and reorganization of our garage. Part of it involved me sifting through boxes of photos. Yes, real, glossy, shot on film type of photos. Growing up in the infancy of digital photography means my early memories were captured on film, and I learned the ropes…

A green neon sign reads "Wool Growers Restaurant Cocktails" and features a sheet by a fence.

Neon Sheep! A Giant Shoe! And More! Exploring Bakersfield’s Americana Gems

May 19, 2021, 4 Comments

As mentioned in my last post, Bakersfield has a lot of vintage neon still out in the wild, plus a few pretty amazing backlit plastic signs, which was one of the reasons we wanted to visit. And boy did we find some great signs, plus we stumbled upon some abandoned locations as well. “John’s” 14441…

Cover Girl

July 12, 2014, 6 Comments

A few weeks ago while at the 99W Drive-In Patrick and I were chatting with Brian, the owner and operator of the 99W. He made mention that a man from Ruralite magazine would be attending working on a piece about drive-ins. As the evening progressed, Patrick and I made our way back to our car, played…

“I Ain’t Nobody, Dork.”

June 21, 2014, 8 Comments

Last night Patrick and I went to the 99W drive-in (yet again! Seriously, it’s the best part of having a car!) to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 and, the biggest reason, American Graffiti. I was super excited that we were first in line too, so we were for sure able to snag my…

Saturday Night at the Drive In

June 8, 2014, 5 Comments

Yesterday was a friend’s birthday, and we went to the drive-in to celebrate. One of the great things about celebrating the birthday at the 99W drive-in is that you can tell those working at the snack bar and before the movie they will announce everyone’s birthday and what ensues is an orchestra of “Birthday Beeps” –…

99W goes Digital

May 17, 2014, 9 Comments

Last summer drive-ins across America faced a crisis: switch to digital or go dark. Thirty-five millimeter film met the cutting room for the final time at the end of 2013, and many drive-ins had not been able to make the costly switch to digital, but a savor showed up in the form of Honda. Honda, under…

A Return to the 99W

July 31, 2011, Leave a Comment on A Return to the 99W

Saturday night, I made a long awaited return to the 99W Drive-In, in Newberg. The 99W had been a wonderful treat during high school, and was long missed in my four years away at college. In our first year back in the Portland area, Patrick and I didn’t make it to the 99W due to…

Atomic Redhead

Highway 99

Photo Essay: Americana Through the Eyes of a 16 Year Old

Neon Sheep! A Giant Shoe! And More! Exploring Bakersfield’s Americana Gems

Cover Girl

“I Ain’t Nobody, Dork.”

Saturday Night at the Drive In

99W goes Digital

A Return to the 99W