Portsmouth, VA - Fresh Limeade and Orangeade memory

There's another memory of Portsmouth, . . . about the drinks that used to be found at the corner of Airline Boulevard and High Street (I think) . . . . at Karp's Pharmacy. Unfortunately, these treats are no longer available. I heard Karp's was bought by a big chain pharmacy, and although you might find Orangina, you won't find fresh orangeade anymore.

My brother has a vivid memory of the ice they used at Karp's. It was to ice what slate is to rock -- in very thin smooth shards. It seemed quite different from the ice we crushed by hand; I don't know how they made it. Does that mean I forgot the recipe for ice? Hmm . . . I remember enough to make ice for gin & tonics. Speaking of gin & tonic, I wish I had one of those limeades now. I can only imagine how good one would be with a little gin added! (Maybe not . . . tonic is so good with gin.)

At Karp's, they made limeades, which were my personal favorite, and great big orangeades, both with fresh citrus. Karp's might have been the last place to make them fresh. And we acquired such an ice chewing addiction, but it could get pretty hot and muggy in Portsmouth, and probably still does. Really, . . . I try not to chew ice anymore.

They might have used simple syrup as a sweetener -- so-called because it's about as difficult as the recipe for ice: boil equal parts sugar and water, then let it cool.

The big question is, how many fruits did they use? They made each order fresh using the manual citrus squeezer (great technical term). I can still remember the lady pulling the arm of that down. I'm pretty sure at least one whole fruit went in to each cup. The orangeade cup was a LOT bigger than the limeade cup, and that's why I think so.

Here's one recipe that seems reasonable, but I have to try it to be sure:
2 tablespoons simple syrup (it seems a lot)
1 1/2 tablespoon juice of freshly squeezed limes -- maybe just squeeze one lime in there
ice and soda water to fill the glass

I'm wondering, though, if the orangeades had a touch of vanilla in them. I'm thinking maybe so! There was a touch of something, and although many recipes mention adding a little bit of lemon, I don't remember that as the taste.

I came across this website: Fountain Fruit Ade Recipes from Yesterday

They do have two recipes that use one whole citrus for each drink, but instead of using simple syrup, they use confectioner's sugar. This Outrageous Orangeade recipe mentions vanilla. We'll just have to do some taste testing to find out.

Please let me know what you remember, or if you have any photos of Karp's.