Had I known about the day, I might have made an effort to have a root beer float as well.
The last A&W I knew that was still operating was outside Middlebury Vermont on Route 7, and it was only open seasonally (as makes sense for a place with winters like Vermont and no indoor seating). Unfortunately, their floats were both small and expensive.
Reading your post immediately brought back a memory from my youth when Dad bought flats of pop (soda for the rest of you) from the vendor that filled the pop machine at the garage he managed. 16 oz. bottles, and A&W root beer was one.
There are 401 A&W Restaurants locations in the United States as of March 26, 2026. The state and territory with the most number of A&W Restaurants locations in the US is Wisconsin, with 51 locations, which is about 13% of all A&W Restaurants locations in the US.
I'm not one of the kids but, I understand both your feelings and theirs. Yes, I am one of those oddballs who never liked root beer, or its close cognates Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb. people have different tastes. :D
Those frosty, thick and heavy A&W mugs. Sometimes your lips would stick to the frosty mug like a tongue to a cold flagpole. Then you had no choice but to upend the mug and chug it all in one gulp. Oh! The horror of it. I miss it so.
My dad used to brew beer and root beer in the small utility closet in our quarters at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The beer was for him and his Squadron mates and the root beer was for us kids. Dad would cap the root beer in various soda bottles and let it age a little bit before letting us kids drink it. I remember some of those bottles cooking off in that utility closet and making a huge mess (for us kids to clean up...willingly). Homemade root beer and store-bought vanilla ice cream, what a fond memory.
Not a great root beer fan, but as so many of your posts it brings up memories of days when I had really nothing to do and no responsibilities. Listening to terrible rock on AM, that's all they had. Like I said memories.
At one time, root beer was the preeminent player in the soft drink market. That ended 100 years ago. There is a company in Washington state that still produces many otherwise lost root beer brands. I try to keep one of their twelve packs with six varieties in the basement when I need a change. There is much more variety in root beer flavors than in cola flavors.
Had I known about the day, I might have made an effort to have a root beer float as well.
The last A&W I knew that was still operating was outside Middlebury Vermont on Route 7, and it was only open seasonally (as makes sense for a place with winters like Vermont and no indoor seating). Unfortunately, their floats were both small and expensive.
I love root beer floats. When the A&W closed, Mom bought some of their mugs and made them at home. I still freeze a glass before making a float.
Reading your post immediately brought back a memory from my youth when Dad bought flats of pop (soda for the rest of you) from the vendor that filled the pop machine at the garage he managed. 16 oz. bottles, and A&W root beer was one.
What a great summer treat!
https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/A&W%20Restaurants-USA/
There are 401 A&W Restaurants locations in the United States as of March 26, 2026. The state and territory with the most number of A&W Restaurants locations in the US is Wisconsin, with 51 locations, which is about 13% of all A&W Restaurants locations in the US.
The closest one to me is about 2 hours away in Grand Prairie… sighh
I'm not one of the kids but, I understand both your feelings and theirs. Yes, I am one of those oddballs who never liked root beer, or its close cognates Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb. people have different tastes. :D
I think it is a good thing when some folks volunteer to be non-competitive in the search for superb thirst quenchers. Thank you, Sanford.
Those frosty, thick and heavy A&W mugs. Sometimes your lips would stick to the frosty mug like a tongue to a cold flagpole. Then you had no choice but to upend the mug and chug it all in one gulp. Oh! The horror of it. I miss it so.
My dad used to brew beer and root beer in the small utility closet in our quarters at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The beer was for him and his Squadron mates and the root beer was for us kids. Dad would cap the root beer in various soda bottles and let it age a little bit before letting us kids drink it. I remember some of those bottles cooking off in that utility closet and making a huge mess (for us kids to clean up...willingly). Homemade root beer and store-bought vanilla ice cream, what a fond memory.
Not a great root beer fan, but as so many of your posts it brings up memories of days when I had really nothing to do and no responsibilities. Listening to terrible rock on AM, that's all they had. Like I said memories.
At one time, root beer was the preeminent player in the soft drink market. That ended 100 years ago. There is a company in Washington state that still produces many otherwise lost root beer brands. I try to keep one of their twelve packs with six varieties in the basement when I need a change. There is much more variety in root beer flavors than in cola flavors.