Go Retro!
Lakelife Magazine
Story and Photos by Kali Justus
September 2009
Retro Cinema & Books is more than meets the eye. Only a funky trapezium-shaped sign distinguishes the nondescript brick storefront off Washington's public square from its downtown neighbors. Step inside the former antiques store and see how owner Dana Kibbey has transformed the historic building into a showstopper from another era.
Customers enter through the bookstore greeted by a life-size plastic statue of a 1950's showgirl, vintage movie posters and memorabilia and antique movie theater chairs. A selection of classic and rare books, DVDs and gifts mingle with new releases and bestsellers.
Venture further, to the back of the bookstore, where double doors surrounded by a neon light, velvet rope and geometric designs give access to the movie theater and wine bar. With its plush leather seating, an antique stained glass-and-hand-carved mahogany bar, fine wines and beers and hors d'oeuvres, the wine bar and movie theater evoke the swanky screen rooms of old Hollywood actors, producers and directors.
At showtime, visitors drift over to the intimate 60-seat movie theater -- with a beverage from the bar if desired -- featuring torch lamps, a concession stand, digital projector and Dolby 5.1 channel surround sound system. Flicks such as Westers, Marilyn Monroe favorites and new release ddocumentaries come from the owner's personal collection as well as major film distributors.
"We're not doing this to just show a movie," says Dana, who opened the cinema and bookstore in April 2008 after relocating to Washington from Stuart, Fla. "It's an experience." The unique venue has carved out a niche in a town where there hasn't been a movie theater in decades, developing a small local following and routinely drawing weekend visitors from Atlanta and South Carolina. "People are blown away," Dana says. "They have never seen anything like it."
That's because watching a movie at the Retro is not like going to a multiplex. It's a personal, family-run affair based on a lost art form. Along with being an owner and operator, Dana sells tickets, pours drinks, and dishes out snacks at movie screenings with the help of her husband, Rich, and mother, Brenda Cataldo, and sometimes Dana's 6-year-old daughter, Rickelle, makes an appearance.
As an added bonus to watching a movie, special events involve lectures with film stars or contributors, book-signings, theme dinners and wine tastings. Before each screening, Dana introduces the selected movie and gives pertinent background and trivia. The crowd is informed yet unpretentious. A hearty laugh during a funny scene is welcome, and no one rushes out of the theater when the end credits roll.
Dana splits her time between a home in Madison and the loft above the Retro. A Florida native, Dana has three adult daughters plus 6 year-old Rickelle and previously worked as a court reporter. In 2006, she left Florida in search of a slow-paced lifestyle and a new career that reflected her passions. "We drove all over Georgia looking for a neat little town and found Washington charming," Dana says. "...It's small. You get to know everyone, and you can walk everywhere."
A vasts movie memorabilia collection and love of history, film and books led Dana to open Retro cinema & Books. "We always joked about opening a museum," Dana says. Anyone who really digs the look can rent out the Retro for private parties, such as birthdays and reunions, and Dana offers the theater to local schools to use for showing educational films or as a reward for academic performance. InSeptember, Dana will start her inaugural Director's Club, where movie buffs join in the movie selection process over a gourmet meal and wine, and Georgia football games will be shown in the movie theater on Saturdays.
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One-tank trip: Washington, Ga.
By LORI JOHNSTON
For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The past is present in the east Georgia town of Washington.
The streets are lined with more than 100 antebellum homes, and the museums pay homage to former residents and historic events. Even the lone cinema plays movies from the past, whether just a few years old or award-winners from decades ago.
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Mercer Harris / AJC Special
Washington’s town square is home to an art gallery, shops, restaurants and a hotel. There’s also a combination bookstore, wine bar and cinema, where films of the past are the specialty. The next showing is ‘The Magnificent Seven.’
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Mercer Harris / AJC Special
The Robert Toombs House, home to the Confederacy’s first secretary of state, is among the more than 100 antebellum homes in Washington, Ga.
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Mercer Harris / AJC Special
A red-brick and white-columned home, built in 1869 in the Greek Revival style, is the centerpiece of Callaway Plantation. It’s open for tours.
But the town offers a diverse lineup of concerts, home tours, car shows and other events throughout the year that beckon visitors who want to make new memories, too. Coming up next is the Washington-Wilkes Spring Music Fest, April 24-26, featuring performances by vocalist Francine Reed, and regional choruses and bands. For information, visit www.washingtonwilkesarts.org.
Don’t miss
• Robert Toombs House. A gravel driveway runs alongside the white-columned home of Robert Toombs, the first secretary of state of the Confederacy, a U.S. congressman and a state legislator in the mid-19th century. A recent visit to the site near the town square found re-enactors in period gowns and suits directing guests through the home and museum, which is operated by the state. The tour allows visitors to peek into Toombs’ law office, the powder-blue dining room, the women’s and gentlemen’s parlors, and various bedrooms, which contain some of the family’s furniture and accessories. The second-floor balcony overlooks the shaded front lawn. There’s also a museum, a short film and a gift shop. $2.75-$4 admission. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. 216 E. Robert Toombs Ave. 706-678-2226;www.gastateparks.org/info/rtoombs.
• Washington Historical Museum. Explore relics from the Civil War, including Jefferson Davis’ camp chest, antiques and special exhibits throughout the year. $3 adults; $2 ages 6-12; free for children 5 and younger. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 12:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday. 308 E. Robert Toombs Ave. 706-678-2105; www.historyofwilkes.org.
• Strolling downtown. It’s an easy walk around the town square, where you’ll find an art gallery, some home decor and gift shops, a handful of restaurants and even a taxidermy shop. Look for historical plaques on some buildings, noting what businesses previously occupied them and other facts. Favorite stores include Art Gallery LaPlace (www.gallerylaplace.com), featuring paintings and pottery by Georgia artists, and Petal Pushers (www.petalpusherswashington.com),
selling antique furniture, crystal bowls and fine table linens.
• Retro Cinema & Books. Another must-stop on the square is this part bookstore/part wine bar/
part cinema. You’ll find it by spotting the “Gone With the Wind” mural on the side of the building. On the cinema side you’ll find a large screen and a few rows of comfy seating. Concessions available include hot dogs and candy, $2.50-$5. Films are screened on select Friday nights and Saturdays at noon. Next up is “The Magnificent Seven,” April 24-25. Bookstore 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; wine bar opens at 5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Movie admission $6.50 evenings; $5.50 matinees. 114 Spring St. 706-678-6900; www.retrocinema.net.
• Callaway Plantation. A red-brick and white-columned Greek Revival home from 1869 catches the attention of drivers along U.S. 78 about 5 miles from downtown Washington — and likely those landing in small planes at the airport across the street. The site, which was part of a 3,000-acre plantation, features three homes and other structures used by the Callaway family, including the original barn, a smokehouse, a log cabin and a pigeon house. The site has plenty of items that might have been used by the occupants, including a rocking butter churn in the brick warming kitchen connected to the manor house by a breezeway. $4 adults; $2 children 5-12; free for children younger than 5. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; by appointment on Sunday. 2160 Lexington Road. 706-678-7060;callaway.washingtongeorgia.net.
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
Washington is about 110 miles east of Atlanta, north of I-20.
WHERE TO STAY
The Fitzpatrick Hotel. Victorian hotel on the square, with 17 guest rooms, located in a renovated 1898 building on the National Register of Historic Places. Rates start at $114 a night. 16 W. Square, 706-678-5900, www.thefitzpatrickhotel.com
Holly Court Inn. One of six bed-and-breakfast establishments in the town; offers four guest rooms in a home built in 1839. Rates start at $110 a night. 301 S. Alexander Ave., 706-678-3982,www.hollycourtinn.com.
WHERE TO EAT
Washington Jockey Club. An upscale restaurant on the square that has impressive fried shrimp and serves the shrimp and cheese grits recipe by Joe Barnett, a local resident who beat celebrity chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network’s “Throwdown!” show and has been a winner for three years at the Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival on Jekyll Island. Entrees $9.95-$25.95. 5 E. Square, 706-678-1672.
Sophie’s. Ice cream, sandwiches, coffee and other snacks at a casual establishment next to the Fitzpatrick Hotel. Entrees $5.99-$6.99. 706-678-5921. www.ilovesophies.com Talk of the Town. Known for its gourmet sandwiches, the eatery shares space with a shop selling sundresses, bath and body items, home decor and furniture. Entrees $5.50-$6.95. 1 E. Square, 706-678-7661.
Wish you were here
Metro Spirit, Augusta, GA
www.metrospirit.com
Florida couple opens retro movie theater, bookstore and wine bar in Washington, Ga. Did no one think the Miller would be a perfect place for a similar venture?
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BY ERIC JOHNSON
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AUGUSTA, GA - Nothing against nearby Washington, Georgia, but we deserve Retro Cinema and Books more than they do. After all, Washington’s just a little town full of gift shops and restaurants and bed and breakfasts, while Augusta’s full of…
Well, OK. Maybe we don’t deserve it more than Washington does, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a bookstore with a little more selectivity than a Borders and a movie theater that favored “French Connection II” over “Saw V”?
When Richard and Dana Kibbey purchased the former antique store just off the square in Washington, they had no idea they’d end up running the coolest spot this side of Hollywood. All they knew was that they wanted to trade in the hustle and bustle of Florida for the slower pace of small-town Georgia, and moving above the old antique store in Washington seemed like the way to do it.
The more they looked at the building, however, the more they started to think that Richard’s dream of owning a movie theater might actually be a possibility.
“We pondered it and measured it every which way,” Dana says. “We went to some small theaters and finally decided that we thought it could work.”
So, last November they started renovating the building that would house their brand-new theater and, by April, it was up and running, with a bookstore and wine bar thrown into the mix.
The bookstore, which stylishly displays movie posters above wooden shelves stocked with books hand-selected by the couple, is patterned after a bookstore they saw while in Beverly Hills conducting interviews for Richard’s book on one of his favorite performers, Pat Boone.
Yes, that Pat Boone.
As for the movie memorabilia, which includes vintage theater chairs, stage lights and movie reels, they didn’t have to look any farther than Richard’s own collection, which is so vast they’d often considered opening a museum just so some of it could be on display.
There’s a lot of Pat Boone, of course, as well as Elvis and some Marilyn, but the icing on the cake is tucked away in the elegantly appointed wine bar: a monstrous poster of the Don Knotts classic “The Reluctant Astronaut.”
Nothing says retro like a Don Knotts in a spacesuit.
As cool as the rest of it is, though, the theater is the real draw, and while Dana admits they’re still trying to find their niche, they’re definitely scoring high marks for originality.
Not only are they currently showing old movies through their relationship with 20th Century Fox and MGM, they show Georgia football games, host wine tastings in conjunction with specially selected movies and plan to start a Saturday family matinee series in November.
Though they definitely appreciate the support they’ve received from their adopted town and even have special services like next-day delivery on book orders, the Kibbeys realize they’ve got the type of business that needs tourists to survive.
“It really is a destination business rather than a local business,” Dana says. “We have a nice, sophisticated following from the Augusta area. Fun, spirited people that understand this business and really appreciate it.”
If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll franchise.
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Washington, GA, Rediscovered
The Retro Cinema Rolls the Classics
Athens Flagpole
It’s the kind of town that you usually pass through on your way to a “bigger and better” destination: relics of classic Southern grace, hometown charms, drivers in pick-up trucks who throw up a hand in greeting along the road seem to accompany any sort of road trip through small-town Georgia.
My husband and I, having both lived in Athens for many years, had never been to Washington, GA, a town that we had heard about in passing, but never seemed to have the time to visit. With a free Tuesday afternoon on our hands, and nothing particularly intriguing happening in Athens, we decided to make the long-overdue trip. And if we found ourselves too bored, we could always travel a little longer to Atlanta and find something to occupy our evening.
However, we found that Washington has a distinct pull, convincing enough to forego that “bigger and better” destination. You will, undoubtedly, want to stay awhile. This was the case for Dana Kibbey and her husband, Richard. “We drove around Georgia for a year before we found a place. We fell in love with Washington,” she says as she bustles around the interior of what has become a vibrantly unique attraction, for visitors and locals.
The Kibbeys are the owners of Retro Cinema and Books, just around the corner from the main downtown square. Walking into the Retro forces an immediate grin - the high ceilings cascade down to walls draped in every sort of movie memorabilia imaginable, from Marilyn to Easy Rider. The front of the cinema’s house is the home to a fully functioning bookstore, offering the usual suspects in the form of history and entertainment sections, sports books to the latest bestsellers. One section, curled up in the corner of the store, is devoted to vintage works that would make the most avid collector drool all over the hardwood floors. The merchandise doesn’t end with books: DVDs, vintage postcards, vintage puzzles and posters pop up alongside the aisles, perfect for killing the time as patrons wait for the film to roll.
The heart of the Retro is the theater. Seats are limited, lending to a feel that’s more reminiscent of watching a movie at home with a group of friends rather than sharing an auditorium with 200 popcorn-chomping strangers. And there’s a reason it’s called the Retro: Kibbey says, “We select our movies carefully, looking for themes and genres that would appeal to this market, while at the same time standing as special movies in their own right. We do play classic Hollywood films from the ‘40s and ‘50s on ‘Retro Nite.’” They aim for the special charms and appeal of the classics, leaving the typical Hollywood blockbusters to the chain theaters. They’re also planning to expand a bit by hosting a special film festival in the fall of '08 that Kibbey reveals will also include “guest appearances by classic film stars to discuss their films and their books.” Housed in the rear corner of the cozy theater is a concession booth, complete with popcorn, cookies and Tab. But they offer a wider variety of sodas, if you’re not feeling quite that retro.
As though managing a book/video/music store and a cinema wasn’t enough, the Kibbeys have another trick up their sleeves. The wine bar at the Retro, tucked away beside the theater, is just as coated by memorabilia as the rest of the establishment. Elvis comes to life in the form of a life-size, hip-wiggling statue, beckoning patrons to the bar to sample a vast array of wines, many of which Kibbey says are “rare wines from vineyards featuring Hollywood actors and movie directors, including Francis Ford Coppolla, Fred MacMurray (My Three Sons)[and] Fess Parker (Davie Crockett).” Visitors can sip their drinks at the majestic bar, or in old movie theater seats, complete with a café table made from oversized film reels.
Kibbey says the inspiration behind their labor of love was her husband’s passion for American movies, a fascination that began in his childhood. She says that he “enjoyed the excitement of going to see his favorite movie stars in the ‘60s.” Richard expanded on his adoration by “working at a movie theater in the late ‘60s.” This, not surprisingly, led to the beginning of his movie memorabilia collection, which has been flawlessly used in the décor of the Retro.
The Retro is more than a movie house. It is more than a bookstore, and it is certainly more than a wine bar. The entire establishment, the atmosphere, even the bathrooms, are a work of art. It is obvious upon arrival that the Kibbeys have put every facet of their hearts, souls and minds into each minute detail - and you will certainly find quite a few of those. It’s difficult to explain, but my husband and I felt... GOOD there. Kibbey sums this feeling up perfectly: “going to the theater is a special event, like back in the old times.” She says that she and Richard have gone to great lengths to recapture the magic of old Hollywood: the glitz, the glamour, the excitement that existed when going to a movie was more than grumbling about overpriced tickets and worries over calorie intake from butter-slathered tubs of popcorn. “We want people to feel something that they’ve never experienced before.”
While the Kibbeys’ project is a welcome addition to the town, Washington is a warm place to be on its own, and it’s easy to see why the couple fell in love with their surroundings so easily. The square itself, surrounded by a combination of towering, antiqued buildings and small storefront windows, is simply... lovely. We strolled the tree-lined streets of the square, peeking inside the antique shops and admiring the grandeur of the historic Fitzpatrick Hotel. When trying to find the Retro, we stopped and asked a group of women sitting at one of the sidewalk tables for directions. There was much talk as every single one of them seemed eager to help us find our way, joined with the typical Southern lady banter that can’t help but tickle you pink: “Well, don’t listen to these crazy ladies. They’ll just get you lost!” On our way back to the car, we met one of those same women, and she made it a point to stop us to be certain that we had found what we were looking for.
To avoid my afternoon coffee headache, we stopped by Sophie’s Ice Cream Shop and Café and were once again thrown back to the past. With antique ice cream equipment covering the walls, alongside a much more modern cappuccino and espresso machine used to make my wonderful remedy, we were once again tempted to sit, take it easy, and look around at all of the visual treats that accompanied the pastries, made-to-order sandwiches and ice cream scoops.
As evening began to fall, we decided that it was time to make the trip back to Athens, a drive that we had discovered was just as easy-going as the destination itself. An older man cutting his grass waved to us as we left the town, so fitting of the character that we had found in Washington. We could almost hear him warmly say to us, “come back soon.”
We most definitely will.
Blair Rivkin
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SOUTHERN DISTINCTION - JULY 2008
Located in the charming town of Washington, GA, Retro Cinema & Books offers something for everyone - from books, to movies, and vintage wines. The setting inside the bookstore will transport you back to the fabled years of Hollywood - Vintage posters, movie props and other classic film memorabilia will recall the days when movies were more than just entertainment; they were a ticket to escape the daily grind and live glamour, danger, or the romantic. Retro Cinema is a proud affiliate of Emerging Pictures, the nation's preeminent distributor of director's cut and independent digital films, allowing the cinema to offer films that larger venues can't or won't show. After the movie, go "Backstage" to enjoy wine from the inspiring selection offered. As Austin Rhodes stated on his radio show, "Absolutely breathtaking. A slice of yesterday done with modern technology."
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