MONETTA, S.C. — It’s not summer around our house without at least one trip to the Big MO.
Since around 2013, we’ve traveled to the tiny municipality of Monetta roughly halfway between Augusta and Columbia off Interstate 20 Exit 33 for our summer tradition that started when our son was at Augusta University and our youngest daughter was still at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School
The trip usually involved a picnic, a dog and several of my kids’ friends.
This most recent trip included my husband, a dog and one of my lifelong friends who had never been to the Big MO.
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I rarely see movies on opening night. Actually, I rarely see movies in the theater at all. I think I can count on one hand the number of films I’ve seen at a theater since the pandemic interrupted life.
But I’d been waiting to see “Top Gun: Maverick” for how many years? It was originally supposed to come out in July 2019, then was pushed several times due to the pandemic. We were at Regal on opening night.
It was by far the best movie I’ve seen this decade. I was a teenager in the 1980s and admittedly had a crush on Tom Cruise like so many of us did. “Maverick” hit all the buttons for nostalgia while advancing the plot 30-plus years.
When we left Regal that night, I told my husband I had to see it on the big screen at the Big MO, and he agreed.
This past weekend was the third weekend the blockbuster played at the Big MO.
The drive-in itself marked the 70th anniversary of its founding last year. Of course, it hasn’t been open all 70 years. It closed in 1986, but reopened Labor Day weekend 1999 after Richard and Lisa Boaz of Columbia purchased it.
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Richard Boaz is the voice over the public address system and the guy selling tickets at the gate.
Originally, the Big MO had one screen. There are three screens that show double features every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes, there’s a Thursday night screening for a big movie like “Jurassic World.”
The gates usually open about two hours before the films begin.
We were on Field No. 2 with “Jurassic World” on the main field.
We arrived, set up our chairs and I walked our dog around the fields before everything began. The night air was perfect. It always feels cooler in Monetta for some reason. That’s a good thing especially in the dead of summer.
Once Duckie met all his new friends and got tuckered out, we settled in for the movie until my husband wanted popcorn so I walked and waited in the line.
The concession stand is located on the main field under the giant peach. Inside the cinderblock building, patrons can buy hot dogs, pizza, nachos, pickles, sno cones, popcorn and funnel cakes. There’s an assortment of candy and soft drinks, too.
The small building has a couple of movie posters hanging on the wall including one of “The Wizard of Oz.”
Before the feature films begin, the vintage cartoons highlighting the concession stand are played and at the screen on the main field, the national anthem kicks off the movie.
Instead of speakers, you adjust your radio to a frequency. Each field has its own.
Fortunately for us, the people next to us brought a radio so we didn’t drain our car battery; however, if you do need a jump start to get home, for $1 someone from the Big Mo staff will lend a hand.
Watching the plane scenes on the big screen was much more fun than in the enclosed theater.
Usually, we stay for the second movie. My husband, who won’t start watching one film at 9 p.m. in our living room somehow thinks he needs to watch two films, the second of which doesn’t start until at least 11:30 p.m.
And I sleep through the second film. I am not ashamed to admit that. I go for the first movie anyway. This time, I had a work related event on Saturday night and couldn’t be up until 3 a.m. the morning of. This week, “The Lost City” was paired with “Maverick.”
While the staff of the Big Mo has an idea of what movies will be showing over the summer, Boaz usually doesn’t know what they will be on any given weekend until the Tuesday prior.
He did say that “Lightyear,” about the Buzz Lightyear character from “Toy Story” would be playing Father’s Day weekend.
To learn more about The Big MO, visit facebook.com/Monetta-Drive-In-Theatre-The-Big-MO-151018378269068.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
