Dear Readers,

Here is a question for the guys: When was the last time you took your best girl to the movies?

‘Fess up. Was it to see Sean Connery as James Bond? Or was it to see or John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever,” or Bogie in “The Maltese Falcon?”

I know it probably has been a while. We all have a lot of things to do in the summer season. From fireworks to fancy parties to front porch cookouts, it doesn’t take much time for your summer time calendar to fill up.

With the advent of big screen TV sets, it is tempting to kick back in the evening, dial up a Netflix movie or a rerun of “NCIS,” and just veg out in your jammies.

But there is something special about asking your best girl out on a date. No matter what her age is, I have found women like to be asked out on a date.  And I like to do the asking.

Last Saturday, when the heat index hit the moon, I asked my best girl to go to the movies. Actually, we went to two shows.

First, we went to a multiplex in Rockland where they had comfy chairs and fresh popcorn. The movie, “Heat,” was a fine bawdy romp. The cool theater was great, too.

Later, we went down to the Harbor Theatre in Boothbay’s small mall and watched “The Lone Ranger.”

Just like the big time theater, the seats were comfy, the popcorn was fresh, the local version was cool and the movie was fun. It was a screen version of an old time radio drama, for Pete’s sake, not Ibsen or Chekhov, but it was a fine “shoot-em-up.”

The difference in the two theaters was some 60 miles on the road. Driving up to Rockland or Brunswick is not a long trip, but after a long day, it is not much fun to drive home hoping you will not encounter a skunk, a deer, or worse, a moose.

The best thing about both venues was a chance to be together. Although we were in a pretty good-sized crowd, sitting in the cool, dark theater, it felt like we were alone.

So, as the season goes on, why not make it a point to ask your best girl to go to movies at the Harbor Theatre.  Go over and over, as summertime always provides a good selection of hot Hollywood flicks.

If you do so, you will not only help a local guy keep his theater going, and that is a big plus, but you will not have to drive 60 miles to go there and back. As a bonus, the popcorn is fresh popped and not zapped in a microwave.

Best of all, it will give you a chance to sit alone in a dark theater and wrap your arm around the shoulder of your best girl.

Could you ask for a better evening?