Every once in a while, we feel a twinge of nostalgia for our awkward youth; granted, it’s rare, but it does happen. High on those rose-colored feelings right now, we strongly want to spend at least one of these hot 2009 summer days enjoying a favorite “meal” from our childhood: Cheesedogs washed down with a creamy Orange Julius (or one of its sister beverages, such as the equally-delicious Strawberry Julius or Pina Colada Julius). The cheesedogs are easy enough to get our hands on, but we haven’t noticed an Orange Julius stand in, oh… about the last ten years or so, even when visiting its natural habitat (the mall).

Thankfully, as citizens of the information age, all we had to do was hit the WWW in search of the Julius’ whereabouts. We picked up some interesting facts along the way: Orange Julius as we know it (frothy) has been around since 1928, after being founded in 1926 as a plain orange juice stand. It’s so creamy because it includes both powdered milk and powdered egg whites. It’s been owned by Dairy Queen since the ‘90s, and many of its locations today are combination Dairy Queen – Orange Julius stands (the perfect place to grab some dessert after going to our other favorite fast food combination location). Speaking of locations, the online store finder tells us that the only one in Philly is at Franklin Mills (explaining why we haven’t seen an Orange Julius in so long). The next-closest locations are at Granite Run Mall in Media, Cherry Hill Mall, and Montgomery Mall in North Wales. This might call for a special trip. Just like it was all those years ago, sipping on an Orange Julius in a cavernous air-conditioned mall still might be the best way to conquer the summer heat and flip Mother Nature the bird.