Friday night, I took the kids for our first visit to The Corral Theatre in nearby Wimberley to see Shrek 2. The Corral is an outdoor theater with a single, big screen made from painted plywood, vintage carbon arc projectors, and actual, honest-to-goodness, reasonably-priced concessions. I’d read about the Theatre a while back, and had wanted to bring the kids out ever since, so was pretty excited to actually be making the trek at last.

We arrived without incident, and were instantly charmed with the place. Old, listing wood slat fences surround the place; seating consists of rows and rows of metal lawn chairs and bleachers that look as though they were rescued from a high school practice field; horses from the adjacent ranch stalk the periphery and peek in through knotholes, and the students who work there are courteous and friendly.

We had arrived an hour before showtime, which turned out to be a good thing, as by the time dusk fell, the place was packed. In addition to all the provided seating, many people brought their own chairs and blankets, and some enterprising high school students had brought about 20 boxes of pizza, which they were selling to the crowd for $2 per slice. The high schoolers sitting next to us on the bleachers kept slipping money to a grateful Liam, who would immediately go spend it on candy at the concession stand.

We had a great time at the theater, and look forward to a return visit soon. (For more about the place, see the Houston Chronicle’s article.)