Back to the Future in the Civic Center Parking Lot

One night a few weeks ago, I left the law school library close to midnight. Walking up Pensacola Street toward the multi-decked garage where my car was located, I passed by the large and now totally empty Leon County Civic Center parking lot. It had rained that night, a warm soaking rain that made the orange glow of the street lamps reflect off the asphalt.

A lone car zoomed up from behind me on Pensacola, and then cut in front of me to zip into the Civic Center parking lot. I recognized it as an old model Toyota Celica.

To my fascination, the driver turned his wheels sharply and slid his car across the lot, nearly going up on two wheels. The driver began doing all sorts of sliding stunts at a high rate of speed. I stopped walking and leaned up against a railing to watch the show. He put his car in reverse, floored the gas pedal, then whipped the car around to speed forward. More than once, I thought the car was going to flip over.

The nighttime stunts in this large, empty lot reminded me immediately of a couple of scenes from Back to the Future, one of the great movies of the 80s and one of the best time travel movies ever made. In one scene from the film, Marty McFly has to get a DeLorean up to 88 mph in an empty mall parking lot to jump back in time and escape terrorists. At the end of the movie, there is another scene where Marty travels back to that same moment and is actually able to watch himself from a distance as the DeLorean races through the mall parking lot.

I felt a little like I was in a movie, leaning up against a railing and watching this car speeding and skidding across the lot. The driver continued his tricks for about two or three minutes before zooming out of the lot and away down Pensacola Street...

While this story has little to do with law school (and not to condone what was probably illegal activity), it was unique to come out of the law library after many hours of study and be entertained by a real life scene reminiscent of one of my favorite childhood movies.

I tried to find a movie clip on the Internet of the two scenes from Back to the Future that I am talking about. Nothing was very good, though. Instead, I found an enthralling clip on YouTube that a guy almost as nerdy as me about the movie has posted. He retraces in his own car the route that the DeLorean took through the actual Twin Pines Mall parking lot- only it is the daytime, cars are everywhere, and he is driving much, much slower. Check it out. Or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51c-lRPokj8

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn