Kentucky’s first Buc-ee’s opens [VIDEO]
I will admit it. When I travel and I have to stop for the petrol/toilet/snack trifecta, I become a happy man when I see a Love’s or a Pilot.
BUC-EE’S HAS ARRIVED IN KENTUCKY
But I don’t think my mood in these cases holds a CANDLE compared to what people think of the Texas-based Buc-ee Travel Center. And the first (of three planned) Kentucky locations is now open in Richmond. The excitement is seriously palpable. The place was packed for the grand opening on Tuesday.
Last summer, we learned that a Buc-ee was coming to Smiths Grove, Kentucky, just off Interstate 65 just north of Bowling Green. It generated tons of excitement and it’s still a few years away. Then recently it was announced that there would be a third in Oak Grove, near Fort Campbell and the Tennessee border. Next thing you know, I see people planning a road trip when IT opens up.
THE BUC-EE’S EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE
They’ll probably have no problem planning a getaway around this new store in Richmond. It should apparently come as no surprise that THIS reaction can be expected, based on what we’re seeing on social media.
A TOUR OF THE NEW RICHMOND BUC-EE’S
I have never visited a Buc-ee, despite having driven through Texas several times. Here’s a time-lapse tour of the new store in Richmond.
Wow. Depending on where you pause this video out of context, you’d think they’re looking at a clothing store, a grocery store, or, yes, a roadside travel hub. I guess I can say I’ve never seen anything like it.
BUC-EE’S EXCITEMENT REMINDS ME OF STUCKEY’S EXCITEMENT
I can understand this excitement. When we were kids, my whole family LOVED finding a Stuckey on our travels. It didn’t matter that the chain’s pecan logs were always stale. It didn’t matter that the food was just good and nothing to write home about. Looking back, I don’t know why we looked forward to Stuckey’s, but we did. It was perhaps the first “travel center” of its kind. Could be. At the time, there were very few; if you wanted gas it was a gas station, for the most part, and a Lance or Tom’s machine for snacks.
But now Buc-ee’s has absorbed all the excitement of the play.
I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that Stuckey rhymes with Buc-ee.
[SOURCE: LEX18-Lexington]