San Antonio, Texas August 26- 27, 2010
The drive from Santa Fe to Stephenville (quick overnight) was supposed to take 9.5 hours which is a long day. Throw in (actually, throw out) a lost hour as we crossed into the Central Time zone. We had an interesting book to listen to, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and it helped make the time go by. The speed limits are really high, 70 on a twisting two lane road, 75 on an interstate. We made a few stops along the way to break it up but there is very little of interest along the way.
Wednesday, we visited the Dr. Pepper bottling plant and museum in Dublin, Texas. This stop is reserved for fanatics. They only bottle refillable bottles and you have to have your own fleet of bottles. They do not sell or ship these vintage bottles. if you want the real thing, you need to find your vintage Dr. pepper bottles at a flea market or online. They would never put Dublin Dr. Pepper in a non Dr. Pepper bottle (don't even think of asking) and you have to drop them off yourself and pick them up yourself. Of course, if you want to save a trip, you can trade your empties for a filled case some other fanatic dropped off. if you time it right you can come on the one day a month the bottling line is running and I guess they will wash and fill your bottles while you watch. They will sell you a case of non-refillable 8 ounce bottles (filled) but they are really bottled in Waco, which is really where Dr. Pepper was first concocted. Waco also fills the "Dublin" cans I have shipped to Florida.
The tour was very interesting. They knocked fifty cents off my tour ticket because I'm over fifty five. The most amazing thing was that our tour guide asked a number of questions and Laurie was the only person (of 3 on the tour) to get the first three questions right. She demanded a free Dr. Pepper as a reward and they complied. I got the fourth question right (What does 10, 2, 4 mean on a Dr. Pepper can or bottle?) but earned no reward. The company that makes the bottle washer (that had never washed a bottle of mine) is Miller-Hydro
This bottle washer is the newest piece of equipment in the plant. 1950's vintage. The bottles come out and are inspected to make sure they are clean and there is no schmutz left inside. If so, they go through again. The non-refillable bottles would explode if you put them in there.
Vintage bottles, some filled, some empties. They do bottle other flavors like Orange Yecch. The other flavors are NOT in Dr. Pepper bottles. They are not as particular about the cases and Coke seems to be missing some.
This is a bottle fresh off the line before it is mixed (Gently. There is a machine in the line to mix.). Syrup is on the bottom, carbonation on the top. The '70s logo has a bell bottom flare at the bottom.
Quality control is paramount. Fanatics do not want all syrup, not enough syrup, too full, etc. They want is just right after they've gone to all that trouble hauling in their bottles. Some football star has a big fleet of bottles.
The pins on the map do not represent our stops on this trip, but the hometowns of other fanatical visitors. I proudly stuck a pin in Mirasol. There were other pins in Jupiter and Ft.Lauderdale so I am not alone. That's a photo of me in Antarctica with a Dublin Dr. Pepper on the wall. Next time you're in Dublin stop by to see if I am still up there.Photography was forbidden in the Museum. You could take all the photos you wanted in the bottling plant. They have almost all kinds of Dr. Pepper memorabilia in their collection. We learned how the logo changed over time. They had samples of look-alike fake Peppers. They have a priceless original "Pretty Peggy Pepper" poster, one of only two in the world. If there is a fire, the Dublin Firefighters are instructed to knock you over to get that poster out. What they don't have in their collection is a Dr. Pepper golf bag! Maybe I'll send them a picture of mine. Ha!
As you can tell, we had a fun visit and stocked up on memorabilia they happened to be selling. The last stop was at the soda fountain for a Pepper-to-go. I was expecting a 7-11 type machine filling my cup. But no! They have an actual Soda Jerk pumping syrup into your cup then filling it with carbonation and a scoop of ice at the end. It just doesn't get any fresher than that. Of course, it is in a styrofoam cup and not a vintage bottle but if you close your eyes . . .
Next stop was the LBJ Library in Austin. He used to be the President so everybody hated him. He was responsible for tons of great legislation on Civil Rights, and other social programs, including the Food Stamps program which my sister Ellen Joyce administered before her bone-jarring transition to a Costume Manufacturer. Unfortunately for him, he inherited the Vietnam war which was somewhat unpopular. Wisely, Johnson declined to run for a second term so he could devote his full attention to presidential business instead of campaigning. There was a letter on exhibit from Barry Goldwater scolding Johnson for accepting the nomination for Vice President under a lesser candidate, John F. Kennedy. Be careful what you put in writing. As my mother advised me, (more or less) "Don't put it in writing unless you're OK with it on the front page of the newspaper." Goldwater's mother should have given him the same advice. There was also a 6 page hand written letter from Jackie Kennedy to Johnson days after her husband was assassinated. She was thanking him for all he did for her and her husband.
The technology was funny. Three TV's are on the wall just to my right.Plenty more cool stuff on display including a Moon rock.
The library is free to all including parking because LBJ felt citizens should not have to pay to learn about their history. Staff was so efficient that they practically shooed us out with a broom at closing time. Even the gift shop had us out the door by 5:01. Shooo. Scat. Scram. Beat it. Thanks for coming.
Austin traffic was nasty so we stopped for dinner at a nearby PF Chang whlie the rush hour subsided.
Now in (and leaving) San Antonio.
To be continued . . .
We'll be home in 6 days!
Regards,
Steve & Laurie
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