Eckerds? I'll have to change my beverage searching patterns now. I always thought the good stuff would be found in gas stations, convienence stores, mom and pops or maybe certain big grocers.
I never thought to check the drug chains.

As soon as I find a free weekend to drive up, I'll email you, and I will come up there. I used to go to a camp in the summer up in Spartanburg... the only drinks I'd get on the way were Sun Drop and Cheerwine. The only flavors of I could ever find were Strawberry, Peach, and Orange at various gas stations around Fair Play and Anderson. Who knew I was so close to something I wanted so badly (technically, it's off of the same road that I see almost daily... Hwy 29 also runs through my neck of the woods). Two and a half hours (give or take) isn't bad at all to get Blue Nehi. By the way, have you tried Stewart's Lemon Meringue or Ginger Beer? I haven't seen either in some time, so I assume that they have been discontinued.

I have all the Stewart's (check out my webpage! http://alpha.furman.edu/~wlarkins/stewarts.html ).Lemon Merengue was discontinued a few years ago, and is VERY hard to find, although I have about a little under a dozen left. Ginger Beer is still made and can be found fairly easily in certain areas, mainly Atlanta... the same holds true for Strawberries N' Cream. The Lemon Stewart's is quite an amazing drink. I think the only reason why they disc'ed it was because it was similar to Key Lime. Anyways, if you can find it somehow, its worth the search!

[ 01-10-2003, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: mickstafa ]

when you're on your way back home, stop by michigan (cuz we're on the way) and return your bottles [img]smile.gif[/img]

In college park Ga on the same road as airport (sorry not sure what cross street)there is a little bodega that has coke and pepsi in mexi size 11 or 11.7 ounce thick glass bottles I don't know where they got it but if you get a chance check stores along that strip.

thanks for the tips everyone. thanks for bringing up your trip report dr. pepperman, that was great!
well, i head out friday, hopefully i will make some good finds. years back on a similar trip i happened upon some classic 10 oz mello yello glass bottles at a NC general store. i have no idea where exactly it was or if they still carry them, but again i'll be looking for mello yello- in any form, and who knows what i will find. . .
about eckerd, i think they, more than other drug stores have unique soda selection at times (although i first found vanilla coke here at cvs before it hit the c-stores). for example, about a year ago, the eckerd here in philly had sundrop in glass bottles! you can't find sundrop anywhere around here, which is what made it all the more weird. it was around for a few months, but now it is gone.

Ooh, I know who sold that. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Superior Beverages out of Phoenixville, PA. They carry all the DPSU brands that Canada Dry doesn't, plus some indie brands. I know they had Cheerwine for a while as well.

Sammy was a good friend of mine. I used to see him quite often, but now that I don't work in their territory, I've lost touch with him.

BTW, he said Sundrop sold terribly for them. That's probably why you didn't see it after that.

Be sure to report back any sightings of Melon!

well, i think my trip was quite a success! i was able to come back with everything reasonable (and more) that i was hoping to find (including mello yello melon!) without having a whole lot of extra time to do real searching.
so let's see, a brief summary- if you have any specific questions about a more precise location where i found something, let me know and i may be able to help you out.
i started off getting cases of sundrop and mello yello at sadler's, emporia, va. then in fayetville, nc i got to try cherry lemon sundrop for the first time (20 oz. there, at a gas station). i was very impressed. i also found some 2L's of it on the way back, also in NC.
in lynchburg, sc i first spotted mello yello cherry. but it would also be other places, including orlando (my final destination).
in savannah i found cheerwine (not impressed, personally) and glass bottles of nehi grape. tried fanta strawberry there. enjoyed fountain mello yello at perkins.
in orlando itself i found fanta berry. it was really good!
then i stumbled upon a supermarket named goodies that had quite an amazing selection of everything. i loaded up there on some mello yello, mello yello cherry, fanta berry, and also got to try big peach. even found gatorade tropical for a friend (it is hard to find).
on the way back, the main highlight was finding mello yello melon. i pretty much didn't think it was going to happen. but i ran in a food lion in ridgeland, sc and came out grinning with 4 fridge packs.