‘Twas the Night Before Christmas…at the Movies?

My family and I love doing things differently around the holidays. Sometimes Christmas can become too much. That’s why we try and do offbeat things to celebrate the holiday season.

When we first moved out of Philadelphia, a new tradition started. We would go to the Pizza Stop every Christmas eve and order some delicious pizza and Stromboli. My mother loved the Chicken Francais, the delicious lemon chicken dish. We would eat meat lover pizza instead of a Christmas ham.

My sister and I eventually went to college and this made the Christmas season a little more hectic. The tradition of going to the Pizza Stop became the tradition of incorporating the movies into our plans. For a few years we would go to a movie on Christmas eve. Why? IT WAS EMPTY. We could see any movie we wanted and sit wherever we wanted.

Then a life changing moment occurred. A new movie theater that combined movies, drinking, and food opened. Our Christmas traditions would change forever.

We would go to the new Movie Tavern over Christmas and see such classics as Anchorman 2 and Daddy’s Home, all while enjoying some nice craft beers, mozzarella sticks, and deep fried wraps all from the comforts of our reclining chairs.

We would then head home and watch more classic movies like Jingle All The Way or Christmas Vacation. There was no fancy dinner parties or getting dressed up. It was a Franiak Family Christmas celebrated in sweatpants.