Anna Across (North) America - Toronto

Anna and father David closed out the baseball season with a trip to Toronto.   The Rogers Centre -- best known as the SkyDome -- beckoned the father/daughter travelers who have never backed down from a road trip opportunity...and of course the Anna / Dr Pepper Can came along for the 900 mile roundtrip ride.   A major league baseball expansion team in 1977, the  Toronto Blue Jays won World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.  The Blue Jays have called the dome home since 1989.  It features a retractable roof and hotel rooms surrounding the scoreboard that overlook the field.

*******************

Kendall Graveman, a member of Mississippi State's College World Series squad in 2013, is a pitcher in the Blue Jays organization and was a September call up from the minor leagues to the big club.  On Sunday, Kendall pitched a scoreless inning in relief as Anna rang an MSU cowbell in support.    The presence of the Anna Can continues to be a force for those who recognize its powers.

At 1,815 feet, the CN Tower is the sixth tallest freestanding structure in the world.

Anna Across America - New Jersey (continued)

The well-travelled Anna / Dr Pepper Can visits the most expensive sports stadium ever built - the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.   Just outside New York City, the stadium is home to both the New York Football Giants of the NFC and the New York Jets of the AFC.  MetLife Stadium is the largest in the NFL with a capacity of more than 82,000.

The stadium, which opened in 2010, was built without public funding -- each team entering into a 50/50 partnership.  The venue has also  attracted large crowds for soccer, concerts, and even WWE Wrestlemania.

The cohabitation arrangement of the two teams is incorporated into the design of the stadium.  The stadium can be converted to the color scheme of the Jets (green) or Giants (red and blue) in a matter of hours using aluminum louvers in the stadium's outer skin and interior lighting.   Take a look at this stadium transformation below.

http://youtu.be/zzr5NP3MiaE

Earlier this year, Super Bowl XLVIII was held at MetLife Stadium.  The title game between Denver and Seattle featured the NFL's top offense (Broncos) against the top defense (Seahawks).    The game did not live up to its super-hyped billing as Seattle provided all the offense in a 43-8 rout.

The halftime show did not disappoint, however.    The largest TV audience in Super Bowl history (115 million viewers) saw Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform to the crowd which was incorporated into the show, becoming a stadium-size LED screen.  Enjoy the show.

http://youtu.be/C8OAq3eQU9w

The New York Football Giants headquarters and training facility is located in the Meadowlands complex, across the parking lot from MetLife Stadium.

The Giants were one of the original five teams that formed the National Football League in 1925.  The team holds eight NFL titles, third behind Green Bay with 13 and Chicago with nine.

One of the most beloved Giants in recent memory is Michael Strahan, the hard charging defensive end who set an NFL record of 22.5 sacks in a season and played his entire career here.  He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer.

Since his career ended in 2007, Strahan has shown his fun-loving side on FOX NFL Sunday and as a cohost with Kelly Ripa on Live! with Kelly and Michael.  But make no mistake, Strahan can flash a charming smile and take you down in a second as witnessed by this Dr Pepper commercial from a few  years ago.

http://youtu.be/U-J9NvAalco

A 45 minute drive away in Florham Park sits the New York Jets' training  facility.  The Atlantic Health Training Center features five full-length football field where the Jets prepare for the next loss.   But perhaps the appearance of the Anna / Dr Pepper Can will bring the Jets out of its decades-long doldrums.

Anna Across America - Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey is the latest stop for Anna & Dr Pepper.  Founded in 1666,  Newark - with the New York City skyline visible in the distance - is now a major center of commerce with more than 100,000 people commuting into the city's downtown each weekday.  It is the third largest insurance center in the country;  other major employers include sectors such as healthcare, government, import/export, and finance.

The visit to New Jersey means that Anna & Dr Pepper have been in 10 of the original 13 colonies/states (all but Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island).

The Generous Spirit of Dr Pepper

The generosity of Dr Pepper continues to help fulfill the dreams of college students nationwide.  Last week during the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dr Pepper and Ellen teamed up to surprise an LSU student and her mother.

http://youtu.be/Lf1-fDGmv40

AAA Exclusive - The Power Of The Anna / Dr Pepper Can

Baseball is a game filled with superstitions.  So no doubt that
Major League Baseball teams will have the Anna / Dr Pepper
Can on their invite list for next year.  Her visits have brought
good fortune to Washington and Baltimore, who have clinched
their respective divisions.  St. Louis is knocking on the door
for another division crown as well.  Another club, Kansas City,
is poised for a wild card berth.

Above,  Nationals Park in Washington D.C.

At right, Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore

Below, Busch Stadium in St. Louis

Anna On Location

Anna and Dr Pepper are teaming up again to promote this year's Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway!  Anna spent the day last week with a film crew and representatives from Dr Pepper and FoxSports in Starkville, Mississippi before, during and after Mississippi State's football game with the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

It was here in 2012 that Anna impressed Dr Pepper representatives with her extemperaneous video that ultimately won her a $7,500 scholarship, an all expense paid trip to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, and a photo shoot in St. Louis that put her picture on Dr  Pepper bottles and cans nationwide....not to mention a fan-supported blog with a worldwide following.  Accompanied by her mother Kathy and father David, Anna spent almost 12 hours with a film crew who are producing a video segment to promote this year's Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway.

Let's go behind the scenes with Anna as she returns to her alma mater to promote the scholarship program fueled by the "most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world..."

But First A Word From Our Sponsor...

http://youtu.be/1FnmC3fhFkM

Dr Pepper is the first official college football championship partner and a presenting sponsor of the National Championship trophy.   The exploits of Larry Culpepper, the Dr Pepper concession guy, will be an ongoing theme of Dr Pepper advertisements throughout this football season.

Anna -- resplendent in the colors of both Mississippi State and Dr Pepper -- takes a break during her morning interviews.

Anna and her father David spent an hour throwing the football before the film crew -- much like they did when Anna was younger.

Anna poses with the MSU mascot Bully as the pregame tailgating gets underway.

Anna and Dr Pepper / A Number One Ranked Combination

Anna attended the MSU - UAB football game along with her signature Dr Pepper can and one of college football's most unique noiseemakers -- a cowbell.

Anna's day before the camera continued after the game.  An accomplished half marathon runner, Anna stretches before embarking on one of her familiar running routes while the film crew records the moment.

Anna Across America - Philadelphia

The Anna / Dr Pepper Can has visited many historic sites during her 10-month tour across America.  But none can surpass the importance of Independence Hall.  For it was here that both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States were drafted, debated and ultimately signed.

This is the place where the country's forefathers - with names like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson among many others -- embarked on designing what would become a model of democracy for the rest of the world.

Completed in the early 1750s, the building first served as the state house for the province of Pennsylvania.  Its steeple contained the Liberty Bell, the most famously-flawed bell in the history of the world and an endearing symbol of American freedom.   The Liberty Bell is now displayed across the street in its own uber-secure building called the Liberty Center.

******************

In a nod to history, the city's NBA franchise is named the 76ers.    The most beloved player to ever wear a Philadelphia 76ers jersey is without a doubt Julius Erving, who played his entire NBA careers here in the 1970s and 1980s.    Better known as Dr. J, Erving was known for his spectacular dunks, flashydrives to the basket, and no-look passes during his all-star career.  The good doctor has excellent taste in soft drinks as well.  He lent his talents to the Dr Pepper commercial below.

http://youtu.be/45CtQxlvnhM

Since America's 1976 bicentennial celebration, the "LOVE Statue" in JFK Plaza has been a landmark  attraction in the City of Brotherly Love.

There's lots to love about Philadelphia...
http://youtu.be/CCOLfMHo9sU

City Hall with its 700 rooms is the largest municipal building in the United States.  When it was completed in 1901, City Hall was the tallest building in the world at 548 feet.

A 37-foot tall statue of William Penn, the city's founder, stands atop City Hall.

_____________________

Check out one of The Boss' best ballads -- The Streets of Philadelphia.  City Hall is in the opening shot of the Springsteen video.

http://youtu.be/4z2DtNW79sQ

Editor's Note:  The AAA blog welcomes our newest international viewers from Romania and Venezuela.  And a tip of the cap to regular followers from France, Germany and across the U.S.

Anna Across America - On The Natchez Trace

 In their numerous road trips across America, Anna and her father David have sought out restaurants unique to the area.  At the northern terminus of The Natchez Trace - an historic  444-mile parkway stretching from outside Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi - there awaits a southern dining experience among the best below the Mason-Dixon line.

The Loveless Cafe has been feeding the masses southern staples including its world renowed biscuits for more than 60 years.  For our blog viewers outside the South and our frequent international followers from Germany and Poland, southern comfort food usually involves varying degrees of lard in its preparation.  A Loveless Cafe motto is "Praise the Lard and Pass the Biscuits."  So indeed you will find it liberally used at The Loveless in its fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and its grease-tempered vegetable  dishes.  In the South, gravy is a beverage...at The Loveless Cafe red-eye gravy and sausage gravy is on tap.

The wait for a table at The Loveless Cafe can be up to two hours as Anna and David can attest from their recent visit.  But whether it's a hearty breakfast that is served all day or the menu's classic "meat and three" selections,  satisfied diners usually leave the cafe extolling the virtues of their meal.   The superlatives come frequently.  "The best breakfast I ever had" said Martha Stewart.   People magazine rated the country ham "best in America."  And NBC's Willard Scott once declared that The Loveless Cafe made the "world's greatest scratch biscuits."  Those biscuits have been featured on The Today Show, CBS' The Early Show, Food Network, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

http://youtu.be/p-nXXdkWEuI

Anna Across America - Mississippi River

Today, our tour finds us on the banks of one of America's greatest geographical landmarks -- the Mississippi River.  From its humble beginnings in northern Minnesota, the river becomes mighty as it meanders southward 2,350 miles through ten states toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River -- with its mighty and muddy characteristics and cultures that line its shores -- have inspired writers like Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and Herman Melville.

And then there is Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat that became a well known play and movie that takes place on the Mississippi River.   The production's central music piece Ol' Man River is awash with imagery and emotion as seen in the clip from the movie versions below:

1936 - http://youtu.be/yyJtGNk9iEU
1951 - http://youtu.be/pSzYRo9j7YM

Through the years, musicians from every genre have added their interpretation to the American classic including:

The Temptations -- http://youtu.be/0T7TgNdN8k8
A young Frank Sinatra -- http://youtu.be/xTnw_MmVptQ

The Anna/ Dr Pepper Can has crossed the Americas on planes, trains, automobiles, subways, cruise ships, busses...and now a ferry.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry transports vehicles between the state of Kentucky and the bootheel of Missouri.  It is one of only a handful of riverboat ferries in the United States.

Anna Across America - Metropolis, Illinois (Home of Superman)

Anna pays a visit to Metropolis, Illinois, the hometown of Superman.   Back in 1972, DC Comics bestowed the hometown distinction upon this Ohio River town and the Illinois legislature made it official a few months later.

In 1993, a colossal bronze statue of the "Man of Steel" was erected on the town square at a cost of more than $120,000.  A Superman museum (the aptly named Super Museum) nearby contains more than 20,000 items associated with the Super Hero.

For the past 36 years, Metropolis has hosted the Superman Celebration, drawing thousands of Super Fans from all over the world.  Dean Cain, who starred in the mid-1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a special guest at this year's celebration along with Valerie Perrine, who was the girlfriend of dastardly Lex Luthor in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980).