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| Our first stop at Buc-ee's will not be our last! |
What would you call a highway rest stop that serves up pulled pork sandwiches, scones and kolaches as well as adorable logo merchandise and home decor in a football field-sized store that sparkles from entry to exit? Some may say it could only be a dream, but we know it is real and its name is Buc-ee's.
For the month of January, my husband, Chris, and I drove south, parking for two weeks in central Florida, but making many stops on the way down as well as on our return home to Michigan. We toured the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach and the "Little White House" in Warm Springs, Georgia (btw, all future blogs, so please, "stay tuned"!), leaving room for some unexpected adventures . That's where a bit of, as we at Barb's Tea Service like to call "serindipi-tea" came to us via social media from good friends, Tim and Joni, who were on their own southern road trip. En route home, we caught their latest post - a morning stop and selfie at "Buc-ee's" in northern Florida. We've followed their lead to fancy masquerade balls and grand theater, so we knew they were on to something special.
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| Serendipi-tea brought us to highway wonderland |
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| All signs point to Buc-ee's |
Shortly after our friends' enticing notification, good fortune and great timing came our way as we saw billboards popping up for a Buc-ee's just off I-75 in Richmond, Kentucky. It was destiny and we were not disappointed.
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| Fashionable friends never steer us wrong! |
A recent article in USA today (November, 2023 - also listed on Buc-ee's website), explains the Buc-ee's attraction. First, they have award-winning restrooms. And, yes, that's one of the reasons we made the stop. I can say from personal experience, the bathrooms really are divine - extremely clean and actually, kind of glamorous, with vanity-style sinks and lighted mirrors.
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| Our own Buc-ee's selfie! |
Then, there's the incredible variety of food: breakfast tacos, brisket sandwiches, packaged salads and a high end bakery that offers not only the aforementioned scones and kolaches (sweet and savory!), but, lemon bars, cinnamon rolls, muffins and cookies. And, from our small sampling, all were tasty and very satisfying.
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| Just a sample of Buc-ee's bakery. |
They also have a wide selection of fudge that looked scrumptious (we'll save a few things for our next visit).
If we had had more time, I would have loved to have browsed through their home decor section and perhaps, picked up one of the adorable plush Buc-ee's mini mascots or the cliche, but still desirable, T-shirt.
Another lure, although we had almost a full tank when we arrived in Richmond so didn't take advantage of, is their low gas prices and plentiful pumps.
We were curious as to Buc-ee's history, which is also on their website. Buc-ee's is the creation of Arch, "Beaver", Aplin III, who grew up in Texas and worked in his grandfather's general store. Two years after graduating from Texas A & M in 1980, he opened his first convenience store in his home state. Almost twenty years later, the first super-sized Buc-ee's opened and now there are forty-three scattered across Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.
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| Buc-ee's has the perfect blend of classic and sweet and savory. Just like a great afternoon tea! |
Although our first Buc-ee's experience has us longing to go back, it will take some planning. The closest location to Detroit is the Richmond, Kentucky location, which is over a five-hour drive. There are a number of new Buc-ee's in development, including Huber Heights, Ohio. While that would shorten our trek by two hours, it's noted that those in the "planning stage" will take several years to be completed.
So, like many good things in life, for the time being, for us, Buc-ee's will be an experience to seek and savor when we're visiting states well south of Michigan.
In the meantime, we'll enjoy a Buc-ee's tea time with our take-out sweets and savories.
For more Buc-ee's tea time, see Barb's Tea Service's most recent video on YouTube (and subscribe while you're there!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyBmpisudgs&t=8s
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