Off to Myrtle Beach

 I am back from a two-week vacation with Jane and Jan. We drove to North Myrtle Beach, SC. The only thing I took pictures of on the two-day drive down was the most enormous truck stop I have ever seen, Buc-ee’s in Sevierville, TN.

We were greeted by a mural along the entry drive.

Mural by the entry drive

This is the main entrance which was adjacent to…

Main entrance

The most gas pumps I have ever seen in one place. The billboard by the highway said there were 100. I didn’t count but believe it may be literally true.

100 gas pumps?

Buc-ee’s offers an eclectic assortment of goods for sale including, but not limited to, enormous smokers. These babies cost $1298 (each). Note that the first one in line has a counterweight on the lid. I’d have to buy that one because the lid was too heavy for me to lift. The question in my mind is what casual tourist passing by would have room to bring a monstrous smoker home? Odd thing for a truck stop, I thought.

The smoking section (ha ha)

The main store was huge. Half was food, including their allegedly famous BBQ sandwiches. The other side was Buc-ee-themed you-name-it. For example, here I am by a Buc-ee antique truck (not for sale) filled with Buc-ee stuffed animals, Buc-ee key chains (basket in front of the tire), and Buc-ee T-shirts. There were Buc-ee travel mugs in a variety of sizes and colors, baseball caps, nightshirts, sweatshirts, and on and on.

Buc-ees and me

I took this picture to try to capture the magnitude of the store. I didn’t realize I’d included Jan (front) and Jane (pushing the cart).

Jan, Jane, and merchandise as far as the eye can see

Let’s take a look at that pink cowboy hat left of center. It not only has a rhinestone hat band but rhinestones covering the underside of the brim, which can be seen on the hat rack to the left. As much as I was tempted, $50 is too much to spend on a joke.

Fancy hats

As it was 10:00 in the morning, we did not buy a BBQ sandwich. Many of the patrons, however, were loading their baskets with them. Perhaps another time. We left empty-handed, but we’d had at least part of the Buc-ee’s experience.