Southern History #4 Panorama Drive-In Traditional Cache

Before television, people would go to a drive-in theatre in the evenings. You drive in with your car and sit in the privacy of your own vehicle to watch a movie. Sound was brought to each car by a network of cables with speakers that were fitted on poles, so you could put the speaker inside your car. The speaker had a volume button and some even had a red button for service where you could alert a waiter from the cafeteria to come and take your order.

Alberton Panorama Drive-In was built in 1958. The screen was finally taken down and sold for scrap metal in 2003. In the past 20 years, a lot of drive-in theaters were closed but now even the evidence of their existence are disappearing fast. I had a look at the satellite pictures of the locations of sites and was really surprised to see how many already disappeared without a trace.

Panorama is now a flea market. The cafeteria and toilets are still in use and the projector room still exists. The humps are all still there and are used for visitors to the market. In a way the market is keeping the drive-in alive, or lets say, it keeps the memories alive.

The market is closed during the week and only opens on weekends. For that reason, I could not place the cache inside the grounds. I placed the cache on the boundary wall but it is not reachable from inside the market. The security was upgraded with electric fencing with homeless muggles living just outside the area. Please be on the look out for them and do not attempt to do from inside the flea market or after dark.

You will have to use the original exit road of the drive-in to get closer to the cache.