The Arkansas Razorback at a fast food lunch stop on our way to Louisiana.
We spent a couple of hours in Monroe, Louisiana, visiting the Biedenharn Coke Museum, home, garden and Bible Museum. In the 1890s, Joseph Biedenharn developed a new concept of marketing Coca-Cola, a popular fountain drink, in bottles...a difficult task that required mixing the syrup with the carbonated water at precise temperatures. Judy, the cute fountain jerk with a great southern drawl, told us the history and showed us the progression of the bottles. The first bottles were large like wine bottles and had corks that fell into the bottles when opened. "Mr. Joe" wanted a distinctive bottle (3rd from left) and modeled it after a dress style at the time (check out the old photograph). It had to be redesigned slightly to a slimmer shape due to pressure or something. Judy also told us that the Coke Santa was the first Santa to be dressed in a red and white suit (was more like St. Nicholas in a brown, flowing robe before that.) We watched a movie about the history and saw lots of memorabilia. We loved this museum!
Here is one of the first bottling machines...one bottle at a time by hand.
Nowadays these small plastic tubes are shipped all over the world. They are heated up and blown into a mold.
We were given nickels to put into the old fashioned coke machines for a glass bottle of Coke.
Old crates of Coke.
Old Coke signs.
Old Coke delivery truck.
Next to the museum was the Joseph Biedenharn home, big and beautiful, furnished in an eclectic style and lived in for many years by his daughter Emy-Lou who became an international opera singer. She collected bibles and religious icons and created a Bible Museum which was interesting to see. It contained an original 1611 King James Bible and a page from the 1454-55 Gutenberg Bible. The walled English garden was also beautiful. Here is a water fountain. (She collected angels.)
A garden bench
A garden statue.
Our 2 favorite geocaches on the trip were both found in Monroe, LA. This one was called "Von Muffler"...a metal sculpture in front of a muffler store. He held an ammo box in plain sight!
And this one was called "Wilson"...exactly like "Never again, Wilson" in The Castaway...in front of a FedEx store of course.
Next it was on to Vicksburg, Mississippi. We got our first look at the Mississippi River and drove across the bridge in the background.
A bend in the Old Man River.
Kudzu...a vine that plagues many areas of the south...drapes the landscape in green.
The murals of Vicksburg depicted the history of the area.
There were 32 of these murals that stretched on for 2 or 3 blocks! This first one was different...but most were single scenes like the the jazz/blues player. After checking out the old historic part of town we went out for award-winning fried catfish complete with hush puppies, cornbread and coleslaw.
The Arkansas Razorback at a fast food lunch stop on our way to Louisiana.
We spent a couple of hours in Monroe, Louisiana, visiting the Biedenharn Coke Museum, home, garden and Bible Museum. In the 1890s, Joseph Biedenharn developed a new concept of marketing Coca-Cola, a popular fountain drink, in bottles...a difficult task that required mixing the syrup with the carbonated water at precise temperatures. Judy, the cute fountain jerk with a great southern drawl, told us the history and showed us the progression of the bottles. The first bottles were large like wine bottles and had corks that fell into the bottles when opened. "Mr. Joe" wanted a distinctive bottle (3rd from left) and modeled it after a dress style at the time (check out the old photograph). It had to be redesigned slightly to a slimmer shape due to pressure or something. Judy also told us that the Coke Santa was the first Santa to be dressed in a red and white suit (was more like St. Nicholas in a brown, flowing robe before that.) We watched a movie about the history and saw lots of memorabilia. We loved this museum!
Here is one of the first bottling machines...one bottle at a time by hand.
Nowadays these small plastic tubes are shipped all over the world. They are heated up and blown into a mold.
We were given nickels to put into the old fashioned coke machines for a glass bottle of Coke.
Old crates of Coke.
Old Coke signs.
Old Coke delivery truck.
Next to the museum was the Joseph Biedenharn home, big and beautiful, furnished in an eclectic style and lived in for many years by his daughter Emy-Lou who became an international opera singer. She collected bibles and religious icons and created a Bible Museum which was interesting to see. It contained an original 1611 King James Bible and a page from the 1454-55 Gutenberg Bible. The walled English garden was also beautiful. Here is a water fountain. (She collected angels.)
A garden bench
A garden statue.
Our 2 favorite geocaches on the trip were both found in Monroe, LA. This one was called "Von Muffler"...a metal sculpture in front of a muffler store. He held an ammo box in plain sight! 
And this one was called "Wilson"...exactly like "Never again, Wilson" in The Castaway...in front of a FedEx store of course.
Next it was on to Vicksburg, Mississippi. We got our first look at the Mississippi River and drove across the bridge in the background.
A bend in the Old Man River.
Kudzu...a vine that plagues many areas of the south...drapes the landscape in green.
The murals of Vicksburg depicted the history of the area.
There were 32 of these murals that stretched on for 2 or 3 blocks! This first one was different...but most were single scenes like the the jazz/blues player. After checking out the old historic part of town we went out for award-winning fried catfish complete with hush puppies, cornbread and coleslaw.
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