Memorable Goonie Moments

Last week myself and my wife decided that we would take the kids to the local drive-in theater to see Ghostbusters! My wife had a night off from work and we were ready to go...except the weather did not want to cooperate. It rained like crazy and we missed the opportunity to go. Upon checking the movie lineup the next week, we discovered The Karate Kid and The Goonies were playing! We had to go! The Goonies is one of my favorite, if not my favorite movie of all time.

You see, our family was planning on taking a trip to Astoria, Oregon this summer so we could see some of the sites from The Goonies in person. These would include Haystack Rock, Clatsop County Jail, the Walsh house, the Oregon Film Museum & Cannon Beach to name a few. Of course those plans were cancelled due to COVID-19, so getting to see The Goonies on the big screen for the first time in my life was a small but fantastic consolation.

It really brought back great memories for me and watching my kids laugh and enjoy the movie truly made me appreciate this film on another level. I can still remember seeing the commercial for this movie on TV when it was released in theaters all the way back in the golden age of 1985. I was five years old and saw these kids on an adventure that seemed like nothing I had ever witnessed before. The images of them sliding down the water slides was burned into my head. 

My family rarely went to the movies at that time. There were 7 of us, so my parents probably had to take out a short term loan to take us. Therefore I never was able to view The Goonies on the big screen. It wasn't until 1986 when The Goonies was released on VHS that I would finally see it! My neighbor's grandma got him a copy and we watched it at his house. To this day, I swear the part with the octopus was included on this video!

Anyway after seeing this movie, I was immediately in love with it! Data was my favorite character and I even tried to create my own gadgets just like him. I use the word "gadgets" loosely because they included taking a piece of screen from a screen door and attaching it to the front of my bike as a bug catcher and putting a piece of twine that was used to wrap our Christmas tree up for transit up my sleeve so if anyone tried to kidnap me, I could eject it and tie up the would be bad guys. Not the most inventive, but still this movie captured my imagination in ways no other movie had before. The only thing that really stunk was that the movie I loved so much never had a toy line come out, but we did have The Goonies II video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System!

Finally, I was able to take on the roll of The Goonies in an attempt to defeat the Fratelli family and save...A MERMAID! Yup, you take the lead as Mikey and you need to save your Goonie pals from the clutches of Jake, Francis and Ma Fratelli by using weapons like yo-yos, slingshots and boomerangs before finally releasing the mermaid Annie from her watery prison! 

This actually wasn't that bad of a game. Was it great, no. But it was entertaining and fulfilled my cravings for more Goonies for a little while. It would be many years before we saw the next big Goonies merchandise release.

It was 2007 when Mezco Toys released a line of The Goonies action figures. Sadly to say these came out at a time that I did not have the disposable income available to use on toys. Now if you check ebay you can't find a single carded or loose figure for under $50 each! 

Luckily in 2014 Funko released a line of The Goonies ReAction figures. I really love these figures, because I feel that this is what we should have gotten back in the 80s if a line of toys was created. They just have the look and feel of a line created during my childhood. Our local Barnes & Noble had them on sale for around $8 each and I bought one of every character and they are fantastic! That takes us back to present day. I will always cherish these memories and am thankful for everyone who worked on this movie and brought it into my life. Maybe next year myself and my family can finally embark on our own Goonie adventure. Until then, at least we have Cyndi Lauper's song "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" to rock out to! ENJOY and always remember "Goonies Never Say Die"!

Taking the Fam to the Drive-In!

Every summer the wife and I take the kids to the Amusement Park Drive In theater to catch a flick. We usually only do this once a year, so the kids get really excited about it and have to pick the movie they want to see the most. This year they all decided on Toy Story 4! So away we went. The prices were reasonable at $7 per adult and $5 per kid.

We got there around 9 pm and that gave us enough time to get the back of the van set up with pillows, cushions and sleeping bags. We also went to grab snacks at the concession stand which is always a treat in itself!

The snack barn is literally a barn that has been converted to meet our movie time snacking needs and bathroom trips. I love the old school trash cans with the lions heads on the top. You know a place is classy if they have these!

Inside was pretty nice. They must have done some renovations recently, because I don't remember it being so clean. The prices were reasonable and the crew behind the counter was friendly and helpful. We ended up getting a few extra large popcorns for us to share and a Dr. Pepper for the wife.

The Snack Barn also had some cool looking old school ride machines like this Bozo The Clown School Bus...

and this AMAZING Kermit Muppet Babies car. Neither of them were working, but that didn't stop the kids from climbing in, having some laughs and taking some pictures. I really wish these were working. It's not often now that you find these machines outside of grocery stores or other retail outlets and I want my kids to be able to enjoy them to the fullest before they get too old like I used to.

Another cool but strange sight was this wall of old TVs and a rocking horse that lined the area where the bathrooms were. Odd definitely, awesome...absolutely!!!

This place is called The Amusement Park Drive In because of the rides that are housed on the lot. They have a spinning ride and a roller coaster. In all the years we have been coming here I don't think I have seen them running once. It must be a money thing or maybe an insurance thing? Still gives the place a nice ambiance though!

The movie finally started around 10:15 pm and ran until almost midnight. The kids really enjoyed Toy Story 4, but I had mixed feelings about it. Toy Story 3 did such a great job with wrapping up the series that I felt this one was a little unnecessary. It was good, but not great in my opinion. In defense though it had some high expectations to live up to based off the original trilogy. We had a great night at the drive in and I know we will be back again for more family fun!