Sacramento drive-in theater re-opens with tighter rules. (Bring your own popcorn and burritos)

The line starts forming two hours before showtime.

First, there were two cars and then six cars until more than 30 cars lined up behind the entrance to Sacramento’s West Wind Drive-in movie theater. The sun, almost ready to resign for the day, hung low over the gravel parking lot. A breeze blew gentle and cool. Cars raced down nearby Highway 50.

Melton Larkey, a regular, camped out in his red Chevy Silverado — one of the first in line as usual. The same movies have been on repeat for weeks because studios are holding back releasing new films on the big screen.

Larkey, 74, keeps coming back anyway.

“I figured this is just some fresh air and we’re separated by far enough,” Larkey said. “You need an alternative to sitting home all the time.”

These days, he has more company as the drive-in theater, a pastime from another era has suddenly become more popular in the era of COVID-19 and social distancing. It’s one of the few ”non-essential” businesses that could fall in a gray area and is being allowed to remain open.

The company closed the theater after Sacramento County and then Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered residents to stay at home, but reopened this week. It’s one of 15 operating in California, according to the United Drive-in Theatre Owners Association.

Multiple attempts to reach the owner of West Wind were unsuccessful and several emails received no response. Only the Sacramento and Glendale locations remain open, according to the San Rafael-based company’s website.

County public health officials said operating the theater is permitted as long as people are at least six feet apart and there is no face-to-face interaction. So the concession stand, where drive-ins typically make most of their money, is closed.

Larkey, who lives in Sacramento, came prepared with a half-eaten burrito. He came to watch one of the night’s double features — an animated movie from Disney and another featuring voice-over by Will Smith.

“It’s not something you want to see every day but it’s entertaining,” Melton said of the movie, “Spies in Disguise.”

Goal: Getting out of the house

The rising threat of the coronavirus has closed many restaurants and all schools, and it has shut down most forms of entertainment. Parks remain one of the few places people can go although that option is fading away as cities limit activity to trails.

“There’s not much you can do right now,” said Mariah Mondragon, 26, who came to the drive-in with her niece. “It’s nice because we’re able to do something and get out of the house but we’re still confined to our cars.”

Mondragon said she is not as concerned about the risks at a drive-in.

“If we’re taking the necessary precautions we’ll be fine. I think people are overreacting a little bit,” Mondragon said of people hoarding toilet paper and other essentials. “It just worries me if it does get worse what are people going to do?”

Cases of COVID-19 are expected to rise in the coming weeks. Projections suggest California could see deaths peak toward the end of April, according to the estimates by the University of Washington. As a result, government leaders are urging residents to refrain from any unnecessary travel.

But small windows of amusement remain open for those willing to chance it.

Larkey is certainly one of them. He did not wear a mask or any other protective gear even though his heart functions at 37 percent after a valve replacement.

“I hate being closed inside more than I need to,” he said. “This is the safest way to get out because you’re not really exposing yourself that much.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.