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We were in Waco, Texas for one very specific reason. Not because it was once the home of a peaceful, farming Native American tribe called Huecos (pronounced “Wacos”). Their village was located near fresh, cold springs not far from the Brazos River. They were forced out of the area in the 1830s by Cherokee Indians who were themselves forced to move west by white settlers in the east.

Not because close to 5 million cattle were driven on the Chisholm Trail which ran through town making Waco a rowdy frontier town full of saloons, gaming houses and places of ill repute. By 1870 Waco had earned the name “Six-shooter Junction.”

We weren’t in town to see the 1870 suspension bridge designed by John Augustus Roebling which was a prototype for his later, more famous, Brooklyn Bridge.

Nor were we in town to visit Baylor University, which is the largest Baptist university in the world and has been in Waco since it relocated from Independence, Texas in 1886.

Nor were we there to see the Brazos River which runs through the north side of town.

We weren’t there to unravel the story of the 1993 fatal standoff that the FBI and BATF had with the Branch Davidians in a compound about 10 miles to the east of Waco.

We didn’t stop in Waco because it is the birthplace of Steve Martin, a comedian we both enjoy (The Jerk could be one of my all-time favorite movies).

Nor because LaDainian Tomlinson (you might have heard of him, he plays for the San Diego Chargers, and likes to run with footballs) grew up there.

We weren’t in town to join the media circus that headquarters there because President Bush’s nearly 1,600 acre Prairie Chapel Ranch is about 20 miles west. (Did you know it was once a turkey and hog farm, and that his house utilizes sustainable and environmentally sound technologies?)

Any of these things would have been a good reason to stop and explore Waco. But, we were in town to visit the Dr Pepper Museum because Waco is where the tasty beverage was created. In 1885 a pharmacist, Dr. Charles Alderton, who worked at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store mixed 23 flavors together and created the soda. Alderton said he mixed all those flavors because he wanted to create a drink that “tasted like a drug store smelled.” The drink was first known as a Waco because that was the only place you could buy it. Customers would order it by saying, “Shoot me a Waco.” Probably a play on the town’s frontier days nickname “Six-shooter Junction.”

The Museum is housed in the original Dr Pepper bottling plant that used water from its own artesian well (could’ve been one of the springs that the Huecos once used). Although not officially associated anymore with Dr Pepper, the museum does have a relationship with Cadbury Schweppes, the company that controls most of its distribution. We enjoyed touring the three floors of exhibits and Dr Pepper memorabilia. The museum discusses sodas in general but focuses, of course, on the “peppery beverage.”

One exhibit explains why there’s no period after Dr, mostly it was a font (“typography” says Lance) issue but they also wanted to distance the drink from the medical profession. Another blames a Bob Hope speech with starting the “Prune Juice Myth.” The museum states that although they do not know the exact recipe or all the ingredients in the soda (a closely guarded secret) they have it on high authority that prunes are not involved.

As you walk through the history of the drink you get to the section on World War II and you realize (again) how much that impacted everyday life in America. Sugar was used in the making of explosives and therefore was rationed. Sodas are mainly flavored sugar water so they were subject to rationing unless they could be proven to be a necessary food source.

So, the men of Dr Pepper provided the government with medical health studies that showed the average person’s energy slumped at 10am, 2pm and 4pm. The slump, they argued, could be rectified by drinking a Dr Pepper. Amazingly, the government agreed and sodas were allowed to continue using sugar.

Imagine if they had been denied. Would any of the soda companies have survived? Would we even have cola wars? An interesting side note is that the sodas became prohibitively expensive since sugar was in such demand. One soda, Seven-Up, benefited during this time because it used less sugar so it was cheaper which made it more popular.

The museum has an extensive gift shop with all things Dr Pepper including, and I kid you not, a Dr Pepper cookbook. No, we did not buy it but see below for the Dr Pepper Candied Sweet Potatoes recipe. Might be a new Thanksgiving favorite!

The best part of the museum was the old-fashioned soda fountain. Although tempted by the “Hot Dr Pepper” advertised I opted for a “Frosty Pepper” (a Dr Pepper float). Lance sipped an original recipe over ice. The original recipe is still made from sugar by the Dublin, Texas bottling plant and not from high fructose corn syrup that all the other bottlers use. To be honest, neither of us could tell the difference. The only thing that would have made it more original is if it used the artesian well water, but that well was long ago filled in.

Overall, it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours and we even learned a few things. Do you know why they are called soda pops? Because the old bottle tops were either a cork that you pulled out or a marble that you pushed in, either way the gas in the bottle caused the top to ‘pop’ when opened, hence the name.

By noon, we were on our way to the far northeastern corner of Texas for our last week in the Lone Star State.

Photos: View our photos from the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas.

Notes: We visited the Dr Pepper in Waco, Texas on 03/19/2007.