[typically southern beverages]

Of course if you drank Donald Duck Orange...

Ah yes....orange drink arnge drank.

Good lord. I have such strong memories of often visiting people in Florida, surrounded by cheap fresh squeezed orange juice, opening their fridges and seeing...

Donald Duck Orange Juice.

The drink mentioned was not juice rather a soda like Nehi or Orange Crush. They also made grape which was popular, strawberry which wasn't. Others too.

[typically southern beverages]

In fact weren't nearly all the "soft drinks" invented and nurtured in the south?

Coke\Pepsi\RC\Double etc. for colas

DrP\Cherwine\Nehi etc

Of course if you drank Donald Duck Orange or Grape in the big (10 oz) bottle you were surely southern.

Then again, I liked the old brown bottle Orange Crush too - and I think it was from Cali far nia.

["Mid-Calorie" Sodas: C2, Pepsi Edge, etc.]

Got to try C2 this weekend. Has a distinct "Diet" aftertaste, at least to me. Not as bad a Diet Coke though. Have to try Edge now, I guess. In my opinion lime and lemon are the tastes which do best as diet drinks, wonder what Mist Edge or Sprite2 would be like?

[Why so down on Old Town?]

Olde towne used to mean the area of King Street (and adjacent) east of Washington. Today who knows what it means! When I lived in Alexandria west of Shirley Highway the folks down there refused to believe we really lived in the city.

[The Japanese school lunch]

Can you imagine serving pork as the only choice 16 times out of 21 in a US metropolitan area!

I can hear the Jewish and Muslim parents at the school board meeting now.

About the cost, is there a subsidy for low income - or don't they exist in Japan?

[Tomato Sandwiches]

Fry up extra bacon, pick tomatoes from garden, grab bread and Mayo (or Miricle

Whip) and get in the car. On the way to the lake, stop at country store for a few slices of rat cheese off the big wheel. When you get to the lake you can have the best sandwich known to man (or woman, or even dog)! It sure worked for my family.

["Mid-Calorie" Sodas: C2, Pepsi Edge, etc.]

Wonder if they plan caffiene free version?

[Restaurant Names]

In Montreal we used to eat at the restaurant named in english Mother Tucker's or not so suggestively in french Chez la Mer Tucker. Was OK roast beef kind of place in a large old mansion. Had one of the biggest salad bars with good variety around.

I understand they have closed.

[Washington DC Area Grocery Stores]

The old, locally managed, family, Giant was so good virtually nobody would enter the market. The current, managed from Europe via Boston, corporate, Giant is slipping badly. Can you say expanded McGruders - more and larger Safeways - Shopper's - Ukrops - Weiss - Harris Teeter - Wegmans - not to mention the specialty (sort of) places like Super H or Whole (Fresh Fields) Foods or Balducci (Sutton Place). The market is bigger, there are more competitiors, but a slipping Giant (with Safeway trailing) is still the big dog.

Remember Coop, Grand Union, A&P (Super Fresh), and lots of others who couldn't make it in WDC region.

Does anyone besides me find Harris Teeter overpriced and little, if any, better than Giant/Safeway for most items? Wegman's must have something going for it judging by the crowds, but one store far away doesn't interest me much.

[The chain restaurant topic]

Pret is owned 33% by Mc Donalds. According to the Pret website.

[Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet]

"But those charges, and I am not a lawyer, appear to have been served in civil court.

Why did no one press criminal charges against this guy?"

Could it have anything to do with money? Civil courts award it and settlements can be reached. Only he and his accussers really know what happened, but payment of a settlement is interesting (especially when you are ruined anyway).

[Takeout Fried Chicken]

Roy's still exists. In the area where Marriott never sold, the turpike etc. and NYC and north there are quite a few. In Roy's home territory (Washington DC etc.) a few brave franchisees have held out through Hardees and McDonalds. For a previous poster, yes even in NVA. One franchisee has three in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County (Kingstowne, route 1, and Woodlawn). The family who had the franchise in Frederick MD and vicinity has several open, including two in Leesburg VA. They say they will expand further in NVA and MD. McD's must not be too happy, but they can't do anything about it. They were desperite to get the Roy's locations closed. They even paid some of the franchisees large amounts for their land and stores (especially those that were involved in beating Hardee's attempt to convert them). In Springfield VA they razed the Roy's and built a new McD's on the site. Less than a block away was an existing Mc's, if it was a franchise, and it probably was, that guy must have been fuming. After about a year the older Mc's has now been closed and soon will be a Vietnamese restaurant. Ah the joys of franchising!

[Discontinued Products]

There was (is?) a flat cookie with raisin filling, crisp and thin. Each pack had two or three layers and each layer was scribed into two or three pieces. What were they called and are they still around? I seem to recall Nabisco, but don't really know.