I may be taking a trip to Bristol Tennessee soon. So naturally, I want to tap into the BevBoard knowledge base to see what kind of glass bottled soda I may find out there and where I might find it. My route should be Chicago to Indy to Cincinatti to Lexington KY to Knoxville TN to Bristol. I'm already planning a stop at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati along the way.

I have access to a lot of glass around Chicago (Sprecher's, Blumer's, Boylan's, Hank's, Faygo, Dr Pepper 12oz, RC, A&W, Frostie, Cool Mountain, Dad's RB, Stewart's, etc) so I'm looking for things I can't get here. Any suggestions?

Definitely Ale-8-1 in Lexington/Mt.Sterling/Winchester, KY. Also, Big Red, if you don't have it there...

You are also headed to Vault's test territory in Knoxville...

We have Big Red around here but I could only try it in a 2 liter and I'm not a fan. Does it exist in glass? I'd give it another try in glass. I'll also look for that Ale-8-1, sounds good.

Any suggestions on where to find these? I may not have a lot of time to search and I'm guessing the convienence stores and gas stations are about the only stops I'll be able to make unless someone can make a specific suggestion - like a local grocer with a good selection or something like that.

Around Lexington/Mt. Sterling/Winchester (I assume you will be going down I-75), it is almost impossible not to find Ale-8-1 in any store for about 50 miles north or 75 miles south of Lexington.

There is also an excellent Gold Star Chili at the London exit of I-75. If you haven't had Cincinnati style chili, you ought to try it. It's something almost no one feels lukewarm about---they either love it or hate it! There also are several Krystal's on your route, both in TN and in KY.

As for Big Red, I will defer to the other experts here, but I think you will find it in glass!

Krystal's is nothing to write home about, IMHO. Mrs. Winner's (if they are still around) has better chicken.

Dang, now you're making me remember stopping by that non-chain sandwich place in Georgia, where they have Fanta Red Cream that went soooo well with what I ordered.

And IF you find Fanta Red Cream ANYWHERE, let me know.

Big Red, A&W, Sunkist, 7up, RC in longnecks are in the Tri-Cities area of TN from All-American.

Dr. Enuf, Gordon's, TC's and Charlie O's are in glass from Tri-City Beverages in the same area.

Coke's 8oz glass products (Barq's, Sprite, Diet Coke, Coke, Dr. P) are in the Knoxville area.

Around Middlesboro KY I found Mello Yello and other Coke products in deli bottles about a year ago.

[ 06-24-2005, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Cheer-wined ]

Thanks to everyone so far for your insight.

Um... this may be a silly question, but is Cheerwine easy to find in glass?

I can not answer for Tennesee but if you can cross over into North Carolina Cheerwine in glass is plentiful. You might want to make some time to go to West Jefferson, NC home of West Jeferson Dr Pepper and their fine selection of soda in longnecks.

Originally posted by redcremesoda:
Thanks to everyone so far for your insight.

Um... this may be a silly question, but is Cheerwine easy to find in glass?

Everytime I go to Knoxville we stop at this Amoco station right before you hit the TN line from VA on 81 and right after you enter VA from TN and they always have RC and Cheerwine in bottles i think they are 99 cents. Check Food City in Bristol they are a mom and pop grocery store chain in far SW VA and TN they probably carry it too.

Unless they are hidden in some dark corner the Food City's I've been to in Va (Galax and Pulaski) did not have any longnecks.