Eddie’s World is the biggest tourist trap I can think of.
Their soda fountain literally had less selection than an off-brand gas station, like 6 different soda’s? And half the square footage was dedicated to selling children’s toys and quilts. And the bathrooms are like every crappy gas station bathroom you can imagine.
Patience, Grasshopper, the rest-stop rodent is coming your way; it’s just a matter of time.
High pay for starting retail but they say it’s tough work.
https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/17haols/yo_i_can_manage_a_car_wash_for_125k/
Never been to one, but it sounds like Buc-ee’s should combine well with EV charging, since it does take a bit longer than filling a tank of gas, and often warrants taking a snack or bathroom break.
And apparently, this isn’t a particularly novel idea:
Hopefully they’ll continue to build out this sort of combined charging/service plaza thing.
I know that some of the truck stop operators (like Pilot, Love’s, etc) are adding EV chargers to encourage people (i.e., not truck drivers) to stop at their locations to recharge.
I still haven’t visited a Buc-ee’s but photos like this help paint a picture.
https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1c4ciaz/the_number_of_ice_coolers_at_bucees/
I managed to hit the one in Luling during my eclipse trip, which appears to be on the small side these days but was still impressively large. They were in the process of building an even larger one next door.
I liked the selection of beef jerky. The Beaver Nuggets were also pretty decent. They have a sort of puffy kidney-bean shape and so I dubbed them “crunchy fetus” for the remainder of the trip.
My wife and I stopped at one in Kentucky (I think) on a recent trip back to Michigan from South Carolina. Her parents rave about them, so she wanted to check it out. I hated it, way too overwhelming. Felt like a Black Friday event. The parking lot alone felt like you needed crossing guards and traffic cops. The Bohemian garlic jerky was tasty, but not worth going back for, imo
I didn’t see a single one in Texas (maybe I didn’t know what to look for), but I saw a billboard near Tucson that said (more or less) 957 miles to a Buc-ees. Since pretty much everything west of the Mississippi is within 957 miles of Tucson, and they didn’t give a direction, I have no idea where this “nearest” Buc-ees is.
Good news. There will be one in Goodyear, AZ soon. Just 130 miles away.
Well, The Big Muddy at Baton Rouge is around 1400 miles from Tuscon, so your nearest (so far) would be San Antonio or Forth Worth, both around 900 or so miles from Tuscon.
There are plans to build one in Ohio, 19 miles south of my house (link).
The comments in the reddit thread get into some interesting questions of ice logistics like is it made onsite or delivered, are the outdoor freezers a good idea, etc.
We passed this on the way back from the Eclipse.
And, then made a shopping stop at Prada Marfa.
Doesn’t cowboy gear make the meat unpleasantly chewy? And it sounds like that makes for lots of employee turnover.
Talk about dystopian.
Do they allow couples or does that count as bringing in outside food?
I forgot to add-the sign was visible from the northbound lane of (the) I10. The sign needed “turn around and go” in front of the 957 miles. I was trying to figure I10 to I17 to I40 to…Amarillo? Denver? OKC?
San Antone makes sense, if we weren’t going the wrong way.
Though I have to say, listing a gas station at 957 miles is a bit silly. Pulling my trailer I got less than 200 miles per tank. I’d need to stop at least four more times before Buc-ees. It had better be QUITE the destination, I tell you whut.
Probably Luling, actually, which is maybe 50-60 miles east of San Antonio along I-10. It’s the site of their first major travel center and usually the one they reference on the out of state billboards.
The vagueness is part of the plan. For whatever reason, they’ve had those billboards up for decades, even before they expanded out of state.
If you do happen to visit that one, the kolaches are pretty good (and better than you’d get at any other big service station). Likewise the BBQ sandwiches. Not as good as the random hole in the wall locals will direct you to but much, much easier to find and still much better than average.
I’m reminded of “South of the Border,” which had signs as far away as Maine.
I used to see them when I was a kid, growing up in the DC area.
And Wall Drug