If you're taking a road trip this summer and your itinerary takes you through Texas, Georgia or North Carolina, consider taking a little side trip down the memory lane of the beverage industry and learn how three world famous beverages were invented just before the turn of the 20th century.

Besides being able to take a break from the car ride and stretch your legs, you'll also be able to pick up soft drink factoids that will make a great pop quiz for the next part of your road trip.

The Dr Pepper Museum is in Waco, Texas.  It was there that a young pharmacist, Charles Alderton, at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store created the soft drink in 1885. Soda fountain patrons back then knew it as a "Waco."  Visitors will see blasts from the past including a soda drink machine that takes "nickels only," and early advertisements, slogans and jingles. At the museum, which is a private nonprofit organization, get the story behind the famous "10, 2 and 4," learn why the period was dropped in Dr Pepper and discover who created the "Be a Pepper" jingle.

In downtown Atlanta, check out the World of Coca-Cola at Pemberton Place, next to the aquarium. A pharmacist named John S. Pemberton invented the soft drink in 1886.  The World of Coca-Cola features some 1200 artifacts from around the world and has interactive exhibits including a 4-D movie and a gallery dedicated to Coke and pop culture. You can sip more than 60 different beverages and see a bottling line in action.  And, "For the Love of Coca-Cola," an exhibit of artworks by 12 artists, is currently on display.

Further north is The Pepsi Store in New Bern, N.C.   At the Birthplace of Pepsi-Cola Store, owned by the Minges Bottling Group in North Carolina, you can learn how Caleb David Bradham, who owned the Bradham Drug Company, invented the soft drink in 1893.  His soda fountain blend was then known as "Brad’s Drink."  He later renamed it "Pepsi-Cola" after two of the soft drinks' ingredients: pepsin and cola.  At the birthplace of Pepsi, you can sample a fountain Pepsi and recall the "Hits the Spot" jingle.