Our Buc-ee's experience!

Our Buc-ee's experience!

We finally did it. We visited Buc-ees! Kelly and I were both off Friday and we thought 'we've heard about it, why not? Let's hit Bucees!'

We drove one hour and 40 minutes through torrential rains to Richmond, KY.

As we approached, it was like the scene from Field Dreams with the a long line of car headlights headed to the field.

Cars were backed up onto the highway waiting to pull into the long and winding path to Buc-ee's….it was Friday 1:30pm.

We walked in and it was immediate sensory overload…….there was so much going on....people moving rapidly, sights, sound...total chaos.

My best attempt at a description of what Bucees is would be Cracker Barrel meets Walmart meets Bass Pro Shop meets a gas station and convenience store. 

We were like tourists in a foreign country.

It felt like the place was spinning around me....like a movie scene. It was dizzying. It was overwhelming.

What do we do first? We panicked. Well, Kelly will say I panicked. I might have been hyperventilating. We started walking, haphazardly.

Then Bucee the mascot came walking out. A rush of kids ran to him for hugs and high fives. I may have fought the crowd to get a picture with Bucee.

In the center of the place is what I'll call BBQ Central. It's a large circular area. BBQ and other food is prepare by the staff it in the middle.

The meat comes out of the cooker and is tossed on a wooden center slab. Everyone on the crew yells: "Fresh Brisket on the Board!" A crew member takes a giant machete and starts chopping this gorgeous slab of brisket into smaller pieces.

Customers walked around the station, selecting their wrapped sandwiches from cafeteria style holders.

We got a chopped brisket sandwich, chicken sandwich and fresh kettle chips…

We walked out to the car and ate our lunch. The chop brisket was as thick as a good novel. It was heavenly.

After catching our breath and finally establishing a plan, we went back in….round two.....and worked left to right….around the store.

We saw hunting, fishing and outdoor stuff, coolers, 20 gallon drums. They had bathing suites and lawn chairs.

We saw kids stuff. Pajamas. A giant old style pickup truck filled w/ Bucees stuff beavers.

There was a wall of jerky that had to be 10-feet tall, with at least 75 different flavors.You can chose bags off the wall or walk up to a counter and buy the jerky by the pound. There was Korean BBQ, Cherry Maple, Teriyaki, Lemon Peppered, Hot and Spicy, Sweet and Spicy, Ghost Pepper, Bohemian Garlic....on and on and on. We got samples for the road.

Of course we had to try the restrooms, afterall, they are a staple of Buc-ees and billed as the cleanest in America. The restroom sparkled. It actually glistened. I kind of felt bad using the urinal.

There was candy, cinnamon rolls as big as a curling rock! There was fudge. They had pickled quail eggs….we passed.

There were Beaver Nuggets….Chad Brendel highly recommended them, so we tried them at the sample station. They are light and crispy corn puffs covered with toppings. We bought two bags: Dark Chocolate and Sea Salted Caramel.

There are home decorations…paintings, table settings, candles. There are T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, belts, belt buckles.

After about 90-minutes we'd seen and done enough to satisfy our curiosity. In addition to the food, I bought a Buc-ees coffee mug....the message on the inner portion of the mug says "Beaver Believer!" Kelly got a pig themed kitchen spatula.

The checkout cashiers are constantly waving and shouting to identify open counters. We told our cashier we were first-timers. I'm guessing she could tell. She smiled and said, "Oh, this is nothing, this crowd will be double in size later.

We pulled out and again marveled at the line of cars backed up onto the highway.

We'd done it. Yes, we are Buc-ee's believers. The hype is in fact real.