Cutest and I love to travel. New places, new people, new food, new customs. For us it’s exploring the unknown that draws us out on the road.
Back in the ‘50s, parents loaded us up into station wagons, now known as SUVs, and down two lane roads we would go. One of the prize stopping spots was Stuckey’s. Their hospital white buildings topped with blue roofs were easy to spot. Along with their 4,000+ billboards.
Inside, all kinds of snacks, soda pop, and a restaurant awaited. Cutest, one of four children, says Stuckey’s ice cream or pecan bar were rare, rare treats. But their bathrooms were so clean you didn’t have to hold your nose while using the facilities. However, today few Stuckey’s survive - just 50 across the nation, down from 367 in the 70’s.
The latest and greatest to take their place: we think (we fear) it's BUC-EE’S!
BUC-EE’S are exploding throughout the country although most are in Texas with 37 of their 48 stores. You probably know that one is in the planning stages for the Legends in KCK.
How can you spot a BUC-EE’S? Easy. Their lovable, some say strange, giant beaver sign pokes it head above the tree line as you are zooming down the interstate. Reminding me of marshmallow man in Ghost Busters, this creature stares you down.
Outside it’s a service station on steroids, with pump after pump. Inside is a hybrid grocery store, gift shop, complete with Bucky t shirts and other clothing, drink canisters and bobble heads, fast food, and probably one of the widest arrays of beef jerky under one roof. And snacks. So many snacks.
Then there are their restrooms. Very large, no anxious waiting here, and clean. One or more attendants float around the area, checking to see if all stalls are clean and tidy, along with urinals and sinks. This is definitely not a place where you need to sheepishly ask the Gabby Hays-like character in the service station for the key, which was always attached to a 10” long grease stained hunk of plywood, to the bathroom way out back.
Our only complaint is that there are no places to sit down, inside or out, to munch on your food purchase – and the choices are plentiful including pretty good barbeque. It’s also a great place to analyze current U.S. culture – though no visible tattoos on employees are allowed. Neither are big transport trucks and thus their drivers.
So if you join tmuch of the nation on the byways of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina,Tennesee, Missouri, or Florida this summer, be prepared to come to terms with Bucky. I’ve only had one nightmare of him chasing me with a package of jerky in his paw. So far.
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