MISummerFun23 - MI Inventions - Ginger Ale Traditional Cache

Welcome to the second MI_SUMMER_FUN series. The 2023 season focuses on Michigan Inventions. Hopefully you enjoy our series. This year, we have 16 total caches; 15 traditional hides plus a bonus cache. To find the bonus cache, be sure to take note of the bonus information at each of the stops. Be sure to record the punctuation and capitalization correctly. At the end, plug everything into the phrase shown below and the bonus coordinates should be revealed!

This cache is in the Wittenbach Center. Trails are open daily from dawn to dusk. Please stay on the trail until you are near the cache - we want to respect the natural areas and we do not want anyone to end up in one of the swamps that are out here.

To many folks in our great state there is ginger ale and then there is Vernor's. Oh wait, does Vernor's have an apostrophe? The inventor of the drink was James Vernor and so it made sense to add the ('s) to the name of the drink when it was created in 1866. In 1959, the name was slightly changed to just Vernors. How was this unique drink created? According to company lore, James Vernor was experimenting with a stomach tonic made from vanilla, spices and ginger which he had placed in an oak barrel. He then enlisted in the 4th Michigan Calvary and went to fight in the Civil War. When he returned home four years later, he re-discovered his concoction, gave it a try, pronounced it great and opened a pharmacy with a soda counter where he sold his wonderful invention.

By 1896 he had sold his pharmacy and strictly went into bottling Vernor's which was sold throughout the Midwest. James passed way in 1927 but his son, also named James, expanded the company and welcomed thousands of visitors to the plant in Detroit where they could take a tour and sample the drink. The company flourished and then was purchased in 1966 by an investment group and then underwent various purchases. Currently it is owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple Company. Is Vernors still made in Michigan? Some will say yes because it still has ties to the state. Sadly though, it is mostly bottled in Texas but the flagship is a plant in Holland, Michigan. The drink though that became famous in Detroit, is no longer bottled there.