Documenting - American Wasteland - Americana
In Big Lake, MN along Hwy 10 sits a building that was once a busy drive-in restaurant. The images in this blog are from 2014, I will have to drive up that way in the summer of 2021 to see what if anything is left.
Drive-In restaurants were once a staple of American life. Load the family in the car and go get some burgers, fries, and maybe a shake. Real food, not this quick, drive-thru food we now consume. The family would sit and chat as they waited for their food.
The tray was delivered and hung on the window for the driver to pass around the car. Maybe you wanted to head inside and eat at the table, they had telephones at the table to put your order into the kitchen. The “car-hop” would bring it to your table. Yum!
It was a way of life that has given way to the fast-food culture, the same restaurants in every town, at every stop along your trip. I can’t find the history of this restaurant, the style of the building leaves me wondering if it was an A and W at one time. The sign that was still standing said it was the Big Lake Lakeside Drive-in. The place had seen better days, it looked like it had been a long time since the car-hops brought food to your car. I did not see any sign of menu boards or anything that would say they still had in the car dining when they closed.
As you can see from the pictures, it looks like they had plans to still be in business. Files, food wrappers, and other items littered the pile that now rotted in the rain outback of the deserted restaurant. People had broken the windows and started to spray-paint the inside of the restaurant when I was there. In the picture of the sign, you can still see the stand for the old drive-up payphone. Does anyone remember those?
I find places like this all along the backroads of our country, normally I don’t find this much stuff related to the business. It does look like perhaps a storm hit the place. I am always aware of the area I am walking. I don’t enter abandoned buildings when I am traveling alone. I stay mindful of my personal safety in places like this from damaged items and other unknowns.
Keep an eye on the blog, Instagram, Facebook, and maybe TikTok, if I can figure it out, for more travel images and adventures.
