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The Haj unto Crossville
Feb. 27th, 2025 10:44 pmHaving arrived in Nashville a couple days early for Confinement, I took the opportunity to drive 90 miles east to Crossville, TN, which is the nearest Buc-ee's to Lebanon. I had been to a Buc-ee's previously, as the Red Menace* blew out its water pump in the parking lot of a Buc-ee's in Bayport, Texas while I was on my way to Las Vegas, but I had been more concerned with getting the RM off their lot and into the hands of a local Jeep dealer than scoping out what looked like a cross between a Love's Travel Stop and a Walmart, so I didn't go inside.
In the meantime, I had seen a lot of YouTube videos and memes about the famous store chain, and decided that if the opportunity arose I would go forth and check out The Buc-ee's in Crossville. Now, back home in Nevada, I am loath to drive 90 miles to anywhere, because frankly the options are Hawthorne (notable only for the Army depot and the McDonald's), Bishop California (absolutely haram), and Beatty, which has a great barbecue joint and the World's Largest Candy Store, but neither of those motivate me to get off my ass and drive for 90 miles through the desert and foothills. Here in Tennessee, though, the trees are starting to bud, the grass is green, and there are actually a few creeks and streams to look at along the way that have flowing water in them. So it was a much more pleasant drive, and the Toyota Corolla I'm renting for the long weekend is a nice set of wheels.
So I got there, was blessed to find a parking space right by the east entrance, and took a selfie with the beaver statue out front. Inside, OMG. There is an entire quarter of the store devoted to Buc-ee's swag (none of it in my size), the wall of jerky is indeed yuge and contains many flavors of jerky never before seen by Yr. Humble Blogger, and the selection of soda fountains puts any other truck stop/gas station to shame, even Sheetz. I did not make it to the coolers in the back, but they lined the entire west wall of the building and seemed to contain every refreshing fluid known to man. The barbeque station was large, had dozens of brisket, turkey, and pulled pork sandwiches hot and ready to go (I grabbed a pulled pork and a brisket sandwich and they were MAGICAL) and there were signs advising that the meats could be purchased by the pound. I don't know how I resisted the temptation. There were other parts of the store I didn't get to, where no doubt the deadly Buc-ee's Nuggets lurked, but I was beginning to get sensory overload so I headed to the cashier's station and barely remembered to snag a soft-sided camo cooler with the beaver logo, which I expect to put to much use this summer.
tl;dr: Buc-ee's is every bit as wild and crazy as the hype would have it. 5 stars, do recommend.
*The Red Menace was a '96 Jeep Cherokee Carlos gave me after the Toaster died from an oil leak. The A/C didn't work, but that was OK because by the time I got into the Southwest, it was a dry heat and there was Sonic. Wound up trading it in on the Hyundai Elantra that got totaled while I was Ubering in Vegas.
In the meantime, I had seen a lot of YouTube videos and memes about the famous store chain, and decided that if the opportunity arose I would go forth and check out The Buc-ee's in Crossville. Now, back home in Nevada, I am loath to drive 90 miles to anywhere, because frankly the options are Hawthorne (notable only for the Army depot and the McDonald's), Bishop California (absolutely haram), and Beatty, which has a great barbecue joint and the World's Largest Candy Store, but neither of those motivate me to get off my ass and drive for 90 miles through the desert and foothills. Here in Tennessee, though, the trees are starting to bud, the grass is green, and there are actually a few creeks and streams to look at along the way that have flowing water in them. So it was a much more pleasant drive, and the Toyota Corolla I'm renting for the long weekend is a nice set of wheels.
So I got there, was blessed to find a parking space right by the east entrance, and took a selfie with the beaver statue out front. Inside, OMG. There is an entire quarter of the store devoted to Buc-ee's swag (none of it in my size), the wall of jerky is indeed yuge and contains many flavors of jerky never before seen by Yr. Humble Blogger, and the selection of soda fountains puts any other truck stop/gas station to shame, even Sheetz. I did not make it to the coolers in the back, but they lined the entire west wall of the building and seemed to contain every refreshing fluid known to man. The barbeque station was large, had dozens of brisket, turkey, and pulled pork sandwiches hot and ready to go (I grabbed a pulled pork and a brisket sandwich and they were MAGICAL) and there were signs advising that the meats could be purchased by the pound. I don't know how I resisted the temptation. There were other parts of the store I didn't get to, where no doubt the deadly Buc-ee's Nuggets lurked, but I was beginning to get sensory overload so I headed to the cashier's station and barely remembered to snag a soft-sided camo cooler with the beaver logo, which I expect to put to much use this summer.
tl;dr: Buc-ee's is every bit as wild and crazy as the hype would have it. 5 stars, do recommend.
*The Red Menace was a '96 Jeep Cherokee Carlos gave me after the Toaster died from an oil leak. The A/C didn't work, but that was OK because by the time I got into the Southwest, it was a dry heat and there was Sonic. Wound up trading it in on the Hyundai Elantra that got totaled while I was Ubering in Vegas.
