My Trip to Pekin, IL for a Piece of Twisted Tea Memorabilia

So, Catherine and I had an interesting weekend to end the month of June... Thankfully, she is always down for an impromptu trip when her boyfriend gets a bright idea to purchase something not explicitly necessary but something that will make him over-the-moon happy.

It all started while grocery shopping in the middle of last month. I'm a huge fan of Twisted Tea. It's my "sessionable" beverage when I'm not feeling a 7&7 or some other whiskey cocktail. Most people say it's a drink exclusive to summer. It could be (and has been) subzero outside and I'll still drink it. It's been my go-to for years, and when I saw this unbelievable piece of memorabilia, I knew I needed it.

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The Initial Discovery:

So, what do I see at the grocery store but a roughly three-and-a-half foot tall Twisted Tea "Statue of Liber'Tea" statue that I just have to have! The bright yellow Statue of Liberty parody is holding a makeshift 24-ounce can of Twisted Tea in her right hand, and a 12-pack of Tea in her left with the words "AMERICA PARTIES WITH TEA" emblazoned on the statue's base.

Well, after the kind worker at the grocery store declined my cash offer, I had to take matters into my own hands. I scoured the internet for one I could purchase. There are two things that make a search for this type of memorabilia difficult:

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1. These promotional items rarely come up for sale. Often, they're sent back to the distributor that gifted them to the store. They're not technically made to be bought and sold.

2. This behemoth of a statue must weigh about 25 pounds, and being an awkward shape, shipping it is almost out of the question unless you have a few hundred dollars to spare. On that note, "local pickup" would be the only feasible option.

The Hunt for My Own Statue of Liber'Tea!:

I ended up finding one for sale on eBay in Pekin, IL, which is about two-and-a-half hours from Dubuque, located in central Illinois. I negotiated the price of $280, and a week later, Catherine and I hit the road to pick up the Statue of Liber'Tea!

Before we officially set course for Pekin, however, we decided to take in our pop cans to the local recycling center in Dubuque. Catherine thought it would be fun to cash in a great deal of our Twisted Tea cans and then use some of the cash to purchase the statue. I couldn't agree more, and it made a bit of a dent in the $280 price-tag.

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The Statue of Liber'Tea I Call My Own:

So, we ventured to Pekin, IL, and met the seller in the historic district of the community. For context: Pekin is just outside of Peoria, and the trip there involves going through a number of scenic towns like Galesburg and Knoxville. Despite living in Illinois for most of my life, this was a region of the state previously unexplored by me.

The statue somehow exceeded my expectations. It's in remarkably great shape, brightly colored, beautifully detailed, and makes for a wonderful living room display case. As soon as we got it home, I removed the bubble wrap in which it was encased and proudly set it up by our living room TV. I also made a fun edit out of the photo Catherine snapped of me posing with it!

I'm now the proud owner of the Twisted Tea "Statue of Liber'Tea" and I couldn't be happier about it!