Two Travelers and a Rodent

My husband and I have spent over a year becoming lazy, good-for-nothing couch potatoes. But, this didn’t happen just because we’re lazy and a couple of good-for-nothings …

Now, I don’t intend to be a downer, but after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, my husband endured six months of grueling chemo followed by major surgery called a Whipple procedure. It was difficult, and his recovery continues. All that to say, yeah, we’ve spent a good amount of time lying around … mostly on the couch watching sports.

But, God is GOOD! My husband is making significant progress and feeling better all the time. Which brings us to one Saturday in February …

This particular Saturday, my husband and I found ourselves with no football games to watch, no SuperCross race to watch, and no Disc Golf tournament to watch. While we would rather play a round of disc golf, wind and cold temperatures prevented that outing.

So what do two couch bums do when that old mojo starts revving up and you can’t spend one more Saturday doing nothing but watch YouTube?

ROAD TRIP!!

Well, Yee-Haw! We live in the South and there are plenty of places to take off to for an afternoon road trip. But, like trying to figure out where we’re going to eat after church on Sunday, we had a problem.

“So, where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. You got any ideas?”
“I’m fine with whatever you want to do.”
“Well, I want to do whatever you want to do.”

You get to picture.

It turns out YouTube can play a big part in decision making. Those YouTube “creators” came through. We went to …

Buc-ee’s!

I mean, come on, just look at that big, friendly, metal beaver. Who wouldn’t want to go for a visit? And with all those “influencers” telling us about the exceptional food and the enormous selection of goodies they offer … we hit the road.

Buc-ee’s in Calhoun, GA is only about an hour and forty-five minutes from us. But living outside Atlanta, I would never bet the farm on the ETA on google maps. Atlanta traffic is real y’all.

But as they say in Florida, “arrive alive”—at least they used to have that on signs at the state line—we arrived alive to the craziest crowd of folks you can imagine. Who knew a gas station with a beaver for a mascot could draw such a crowd? Well, Buc-ee’s draws such a crowd.

This place had people, food, clothes, nicknacks, and people—oh, I said people already. I’m just saying,
Buc-ee’s was not hurting for business. The task overwhelmed us. My logical, engineer husband decided we’d take it in sections, which was no simple task. But once we put our plan into motion, we made progress.

Buc-ee’s names everything after Buc-ee the beaver. You’ve got your Beaver Nuggets, Beaver Chips, Buc-ee’s Fudge … you name it. Buc-ee’s makes everything imaginable and slaps a beaver on it.

Beef Jerky, bakery items (including sweet and savory Kolaches), nuts in every form and fashion. Jars of pickled (insert whatever you want) and chances are they have it.

We filled up our buggy and my hubby was ready to eat. This Buc-ee’s didn’t have a dining area, so we got a couple of their world renowned—ok, maybe not world renowned—brisket sandwiches, checked out and went to our car to eat.

One word … DELICIOUS! STUPENDOUS! UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME! Ok, that’s more than one word, but those sandwiches were great. At a gas station!! Buc-ee’s makes their brisket right there, and you know when it’s fresh because they yell out, “Brisket on the board!”, or something like that.

In full transparency, we took a bunch of sandwiches home for later. They were that good. I can say the same for the sausage, turkey and pulled pork. That’s coming from experience here, folks.

We left Buc-ee’s happy we made the drive, with a car full of Buc-ee’s goodies. Below is a peek at our tasty morsels. In truth, this is not a complete snapshot of our haul, as we consumed some items before taking the picture.

Oh, and what they say about the restrooms is true. They are clean and you get a private stall. You don’t even have to peek under the door to see if there’re feet. Dials right on the door let you know if that stall is vacant or occupied. Although there was a large crowd, I didn’t have to wait. What!?! Truth!

What a day! It was great to get out of the house, even for only a few hours.

So, you may ask yourself, “I wonder what they put into their Buc-ee’s buggy first?”

Of course it was Beaver Nuggets! Hello!

Have you visited a Buc-ee’s near you or while you were traveling? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Cozy Intrigue will travel to a few more places around the South. Where are we going next? That’s a mystery, so stay tuned for our next Down South Adventure. Better yet, subscribe with your email address and the fun will come straight to you.