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.
