How to Have a Now and Then Movie Summer
Bike Rides, Cemeteries, and Swimming Holes
The movie Now and Then came at the perfect time for my generation. I was 10 years old, and my girlfriends and I couldn’t stop renting it from the local video store. From ages 10 to 18, it seemed as though the essence of Now and Then followed us through our formative years: biking around our small town, going to the lakes in the summer, turning 16 and playing the soundtrack while driving backcountry roads, and eventually smoking our first cigarette on a bluff outside of town, overlooking Bald Knob Cross.
Now, as an adult, this “wind in my hair” mentality has translated into one of my favorite summer activities: making local places feel like I’m on vacation. I’m not necessarily talking about a “staycation,” but more about adopting the mindset: How can we make this feel like a treat without having to spend thousands of dollars?
Here’s how to have a Now and Then summer without breaking the bank.
Swimming Holes
Swimmingholes.org came into my life in the summer of 2007. Living in Nashville, TN at the time, the summers were hot (!) and humid (!). This is how I found Cummins Falls, which is now a State Park. At that time, it was private property that you had to sneak onto and use a rope to scale down to the waterfall.
Grab your best friends, pack a picnic, and go lounge in some water this summer… for free! Just don’t reenact this scene from the movie.
Dress the Part
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll remember the floral shirts, jean shorts, and button-ups. Here are some clothes inspired by Teeny, Roberta, Chrissy, and Sam!
Spin The Soundtrack
Here’s a playlist for our Now and Then summer, based on the soundtrack and other hits from movies like Mermaids, Dirty Dancing, and more.
Eat Outside!
My number one way to feel like I’m on vacation is to have a meal outside. Want to bump up the “this feels special” atmosphere? Light some taper candles and the night is made.
Dust Off the Bikes
My sister-in-law recently got her whole family into biking around the Twin Cities. It’s inspiring me to dust off our bikes that have been sitting in the garage and bop around town.
Visit a Cemetery
I love walking around cemeteries. They’re so full of art and interesting architecture and if you’re in Los Angeles, there’s a website dedicated to “graves of the stars” with Google map locations.
Speaking of graves, Rosie Grant of Ghostly Archive has spent the past four years making the recipes found on people’s gravestones and bringing them to their graves.
Host a S’mores Night
If you have access to a campfire setup, hosting a s’mores night with various ingredients would be such a fun thing to do. Recently, on a camping trip to Northern California, my husband Dan came up with a new recipe that was top-notch.
Dan’s Superior S’mores Recipe:
1 Roasted Marshmallow
1 Reese's Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dipped Animal Crackers
There we have it. Some ideas to get our Now and Then summer kicked off. Cheers to finding delights within our own backyards this summer!
Love,
Beth
this makes me really happy, this movie is soooo nostalgic for me, and even though I hate summer, it makes me want to do all the summer things in a way that doesn't feel like an obligation but more like an invitation — to a secret club that meets at the lake at midnight to go for a moon-lit swim.
Oh you know @Brittany Chatburn would love this