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And this is looking directly down into the well. Although it hasn't been used for bottling in decades water still accumulates at the bottom.

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A little history on the building and how it became a museum.

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Now this is the weird part of the museum. The third floor is the "Free Enterprise Institute" named after a former CEO of the Dr. Pepper company, Foots Clements. The idea I think is that Dr. Pepper started as a small part-time business and grew into something big. Its goal is to teach young kids about the "free enterprise system." My gut tells me there's a political edge that I don't agree with, but I didn't see any real evidence of it here. (The museum and this institute are non-profits, not owned by the Dr. Pepper company.)

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Why is Dr. Pepper now Dr Pepper?

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There's long been a rumor of prune juice in Dr. Pepper. Here's the real story!

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One funny display is a huge, huge assortment of Dr. Pepper "clones" available. Here are two cans of "Dr. Topper" selected here for our friends, the Toppers. You can read about the Dr. Pepper clones at http://www.fakedrpepper.com/.

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Here's a large display of Dr. Pepper branded toys.

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Here's a blurry sign describing the Dr. Pepper company.

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What's a museum without a gift store? I thought this was a cute kid's outfit.

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This was a clock I really liked, but didn't need to spent the $99 for it. We did buy a Dr. Pepper history book, a Dr. Pepper apron, and one or two other little things. And of course we bought some real (cane sugar, not corn syrup) Dr. Pepper - three cases worth. (Stepping ahead a few stops - several cans exploded in the back of the truck due to the heat in Las Vegas! Luckily most made it home safely.)

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Outside the museum, an old soda delivery truck.

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In front of the museum, a "Downtown Waco" sign. Trust me, there isn't much else to see in downtown Waco - quiet as anything, no traffic to speak of.

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Here's Mitch in front of the museum.

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And Mitch in front of another entrance to the museum (the truck shown earlier is in the background).

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Ok, and now onto something very different. Waco is a legitimate little city but it's best known for one very tragic event, the Branch Davidian cult compound, government seige, and eventual fire that killed most cult members. Finding the site on the internet was very difficult but we were curious what was there. The site is about 30 minutes outside of Waco proper, in a very rural farmland area. For this photo we're stopped in the road trying to determine if this is the right place as there's no sign. It was the right place, and we did go inside.

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Near the entrance is this small building, a makeshift "visitors center" for those who come here.

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The center was locked when we arrived.

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We parked first at the visitor's center, and this is looking further in. The building in the distance is a church we'll see more of in a moment. The large compound stood in that same area, mostly to its left as we look here.

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As we drive further in, we see a burned out bus. This was the bus used by the members, and was burnt in the fire.

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The first memorial we saw wasn't of the fire here, but of the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh, the bomber, apparently performed his attack out of "retalliation" for what he believed the government did here in Waco. Apparently the few remaining Branch Davidians did not agree, and placed this here. We later learned the Davidians still own and run the site, and the few remaining in the area meet in the small church regularly. None of them live on the site.