@the-gipper said:

Is/Was  Mel's Drive-In a real place?   (possibly under a different name?)

Mel's Drive-In is a chain in the Bay Area which began in 1947. (They were quite good at one time. Now I don't know). They have about 10 places still though I don't see any in Petaluma. When I was last in Petaluma a couple of years ago I recall a 50's style drive-in near the ice cream store mentioned above, but I don't know if that was the one they used in the movie.

@texasag1969 said:

"I'm walkin' here!"

My #1...

@texasag1969 said:

I had to laugh because "crusing" through the Petaluma streets with google maps I came across some place called Tall Toad Music Store 43 N. Petaluma Blvd. Toad was the short sidekick with the motorscooter in A.G.?

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2338681,-122.6401757,3a,75y,246.21h,92.56t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4sLJH-fM3o3w5hP_9P8i7w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4sLJH-fM3o3w5hP_9P8i7w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D28.149591%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Remember the scene where he  kind of crashes his motorscooter into the wall?  That was totally not planned, as  the actor (Charles Smith?)  who played Toad really, inadvertently lost control of his bike while the scene was being filmed.  George Lucas  liked it and kept it the movie as it came off as a genuine illustration of Toad's "dorkiness".    He did that with a few other scenes as well.    There was one where the Michele Phillips character was hit in the face with a water baloon thrown by some girls in another car.  It wasn't supposed to hit her, and she was supposed to express anger at having the baloon thrown at her (and missing)...but when it hit her, she burst out laughing,   and Lucas kept that in there instead what was in the script.   Another scene toward the end was when the  drag race was completed....and the John LeMat and Ron Howard characters went off together to talk about it, and LeMat was saying how he was really going to lose that race, and other dialogue.  That was completly impromptu.

I understand that Lucas did the same with a few scenes in Star Wars. 

@d-bone said:

Lala's Creamery 134 Petaluma Blvd N Petaluma, CA 94952

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/trips/16221018

https://www.sonomacounty.com/sonoma-events/petalumas-salute-american-graffiti

Is/Was  Mel's Drive-In a real place?   (possibly under a different name?)

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2338681,-122.6401757,3a,75y,246.21h,92.56t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4sLJH-fM3o3w5hP_9P8i7w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4sLJH-fM3o3w5hP_9P8i7w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D28.149591%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

@d-bone said:

My daughter graduated from Sonoma State in 2017, and the night of her ceremony we ended up at super cool ice cream parlor in downtown Petaluma. I was already on cloud nine as she is the 1st in my family to graduate with a BS/BA - heck, 1st ever to just go to college, and on top of that the city shut down the blvd (where the movie was filmed) to have a classic/muscle car parade roar up and down the strip while we ate out ice cream. I had goosebumps on top of goosebumps.

I still smile when I think back on that entire day. 

Great ice cream store. Right off the square. Been there a few times. Mucho congrats on your daughter's accomplishments.

@texasag1969 said:

Which Blvd is the main drag there where they filmed. You can go to street level with google maps like I have been doing with my grandson to show him different cites in the world where I have been. Fun to use that to take a "walk" with.

Lala's Creamery 134 Petaluma Blvd N Petaluma, CA 94952

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/trips/16221018

https://www.sonomacounty.com/sonoma-events/petalumas-salute-american-graffiti

@texasag1969 said:

Which Blvd is the main drag there where they filmed. You can go to street level with google maps like I have been doing with my grandson to show him different cites in the world where I have been. Fun to use that to take a "walk" with.

I was through Petaluma  a couple of years ago....didn't really see the "cruise strip" there.  

I had gone to Modesto once and cruised around there.....many years .before I realized they did not use Modesto to be Modesto.

@d-bone said:

My daughter graduated from Sonoma State in 2017, and the night of her ceremony we ended up at super cool ice cream parlor in downtown Petaluma. I was already on cloud nine as she is the 1st in my family to graduate with a BS/BA - heck, 1st ever to just go to college, and on top of that the city shut down the blvd (where the movie was filmed) to have a classic/muscle car parade roar up and down the strip while we ate out ice cream. I had goosebumps on top of goosebumps.

I still smile when I think back on that entire day. 

Which Blvd is the main drag there where they filmed. You can go to street level with google maps like I have been doing with my grandson to show him different cites in the world where I have been. Fun to use that to take a "walk" with.

I still smile when I think back on that entire day. 

@texasag1969 said:

Well you notice I did not document any of the socio things we did together down there. ? 

But he was good enough to make E-6 in Vietnam up from the ranks. That means a lot in my book.? 

EDIT: And at the bottom of the tombstone    Purple Heart

A stone can say a lot.....

@diehardbrownsfan said:

I come from a family of sociopaths, so I can relate.?

Well you notice I did not document any of the socio things we did together down there. ? 

But he was good enough to make E-6 in Vietnam up from the ranks. That means a lot in my book.? 

EDIT: And at the bottom of the tombstone    Purple Heart

@texasag1969 said:

Yeah a good friend I knew in Venezuela sold a really good horse to get a black & silver one in the mid-60s. He was a Vietnam vet but a bit of a sociopath. Ended up in prison 5 years and later shot to death by San Antonio Police. I never found out why, but I did find his gravesite in a National Cemetery which at least honors his service. RIP SSG Robert "Bobby" Estros. We had some fun times down at the beaches of Venezuela for sure. We were both born in the same hospital in Beaumont about two weeks apart. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3023090/robert-girard-estros

I come from a family of sociopaths, so I can relate.?

@diehardbrownsfan said:

My brothers friend had one, green and white.

Yeah a good friend I knew in Venezuela sold a really good horse to get a black & silver one in the mid-60s. He was a Vietnam vet but a bit of a sociopath. Ended up in prison 5 years and later shot to death by San Antonio Police. I never found out why, but I did find his gravesite in a National Cemetery which at least honors his service. RIP SSG Robert "Bobby" Estros. We had some fun times down at the beaches of Venezuela for sure. We were both born in the same hospital in Beaumont about two weeks apart. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3023090/robert-girard-estros

@mjp28 said:

And another 1957 classic draft and among the beginning members of the American muscle car class.......

My brothers friend had one, green and white.

@tour2ma said:

Suzanne Somers...

... somewhere she is still molesting a Thigh Master...

Well....see the link above.  At 73 still having Sex  twice a day.   So, apparently it is more than just they Thighmaster.   Perhaps the Thighmaster aids in that endeavour. 

@texasag1969 said:

And the blond in the T-bird was.......................................

Suzanne Somers...

... somewhere she is still molesting a Thigh Master...

@texasag1969 said:

And the blond in the T-bird was.......................................

Says that she still has sex  2 times a day. 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/suzanne-somers-has-sex-twice-daily-hormones-221844130.html

@d-bone said:

and was filmed in Petaluma CA. 

Which sat in for Modesto.

@texasag1969 said:

"Rock n Roll has been going downhill since Buddy Holly died."? 

The actual quote.

He may have been right about that.