24 HOURS AT THE WORLD’S LARGEST GAS STATION (Buc-ee’s)

We are about to spend the next 24 hours living at the world's largest gas station. We're going to be eating all three meals here and seeing what the BUC EE's hype is all about.

We're Karen Nate. After spending four years traveling the world full time and documenting our journey to 100 countries, 2020 brought us back to the US where we bought a converted sprinter van that we're using as our tiny home on wheels to explore all states. While celebrating my birthday in a castle just north of Austin.

We realized we were just a short drive away from the world's largest gas station. So we moved out of the castle and made the two hour drive to New Braunfels.

If you've ever taken a road trip through Texas, there's a good chance that you've seen this cartoon beaver on a sign or two. He's the mascot for Buc EE's, which is a chain of gas station convenience stores located across the state. But these aren't your typical gas stations. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Buc EE's truly is Texas size. This comparison might offend some Texans, but I'm picturing if Walmart and a gas station had a baby, you'd get BUC EE's. And out of all 36 BUC EE's located across the state, the one that we're driving to now is the biggest. But it's not just the biggest Buc EE's. It is the largest gas station convenience store in the entire world.

Wow.

It looked big on the Internet, but it looks bigger in real life.

Golly, look at all of these gas pumps.

Ow. Sorry, I hit my ankle. Bow.

Perfect. This place has 120 gas pumps and the convenience store is 67,000 square feet. Plus there are over a thousand parking places. But it's not just the size that makes BUC EE's special. Apparently the food is pretty good too. They have everything from Buc ee's branded candy to barbecue sandwiches. Buc ee's has a bit of a cult following here in Texas. Seems like everyone we know who has been to Texas lives in Texas, or has lived in Texas, loves Buc EE's and told us we had to come here. So I'm excited to see what the hype's all about.

So in order to get the full Buc ee's experience, we have decided to live here in the parking lot. For the next 24 hours. We're going to be eating all three meals here. And in between, trying some of their Famous snacks.

All right, first impressions. I'm already blown away by how many ice freezers there are. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 25, 34. But that's not all. 35, 42, 56, 62, 63, 64 freezers.

Here we go.

It's huge.

It's massive. And there are 1 million beaver faces.

Oh, I love these chocolate peanut clusters. We don't have enough room in the van for all this stuff. There are at least 20 different colors and sizes of Buc EE's coolers.

Bucky's is stylish. That's incredible.

Oh, my gosh. He even has a paper tail.

Oh, my gosh.

We can put this in the van.

Why do we need that for the van?

If you're not out of bed by the time that this is done, I'm leaving without you.

I hated it. Now I love it.

I feel like I'm at Target. We have clothes, candles, lotions, picture. Friends. I'm hungry. Let's get some lunch.

They're warm.

All homemade fudge.

Can I get a piece of this? Dark chocolate caramel sea salt. Anything else? That'll be it. Thank you so much.

Our first Becky's purchase. Oh, sweet. Help.

I had a quarter for every time I did that. Thank you.

Okay, we're being honest. I don't think I've ever bought hot food at a gas station before.

Just never.

Never really trusted it. But Buc EE's, we actually watched them pull the brisket out of the oven, put it on a chopping block, chop it up, and then put it on the sandwich. Brisket on the block, Bris brisket on the board. Do you do that every time? I love that. Smells amazing. Wow. My first gas station meal.

Mmm. That is good. Tender, juicy. Some of the best barbecue sauce I've ever tasted. I am super impressed. I think we're gonna gain 10 pounds in the next 24 hours.

Wow.

Also, we got a bag of beaver chips. Apparently, they make these fresh every day.

Mmm. So crunchy. Salty. I just love how you can see, like, they literally sliced a potato and fried it. Delicious. And for dessert, we got some homemade fudge.

What?

Dark chocolate caramel sea salt. Homemade fudge from a gas station.

Oh, my gosh. It's so good. You even get, like, the crunch of the sea salt. I'm very picky about my chocolate. This is one of the best I've ever had.

Buc Ees, Buc Ees, we really have the perfect setup to taste test our way through BUC EE's today. One interesting thing is with all of their food options, they don't have any indoor seating, so it's all grab and go. We're surrounded by people eating in their car right now, but I don't think anybody else has a kitchen table in the back. Van Life.

Van Life.

Well, that went by way too fast.

We were a little overwhelmed by all of Buc EE's food options, so we consulted the Internet to figure out what we couldn't miss before we leave. And we found this interview with the food director of all of the BUC EE's, and he had his top 10 recommendations, which we wrote on the back of this fudge bag. This is our new goal for the next 24 hours to eat all 10 of these things before we leave. Thankfully, we've already marked off three, and I'm sure we're going to add a few more things to the list.

Back when we were traveling internationally, it kind of became a thing for us to do bathroom tours, but I don't think I've ever done one in a public bathroom, so this might be a little awkward.

Apparently, Buc EE's won an award for the best bathrooms at some point. I'm pretty impressed. It's huge, very clean, and so many stalls. I do enjoy when this is included. And hand sanitizer in the bathroom.

There were 25 urinals in the men's bathroom.

Too many to choose from.

Mesquite Peppered beef jerky, Ghost pepper, Teriyaki beef, Bohemian recipe. Garlic beef. They count. Cherry maple beef jerk, Lemon pepper.

Going with the garlic.

These aren't on the list, but I really want to try them.

They smell so good.

Oh, they're still warm.

Buc EE's even makes its own flavored soda.

This might not seem that abnormal if you're from the U.S. but I remember the first time we came back to the US after being abroad for a long time and just realizing how excessive it is to be able to buy an extra large sugary drink for 79 cents. What's even crazier is majority of the time, there's free refills. We're in price, embracing it. Today I'm an extra large coat. 79 cents.

W. This is so heavy. This is so much.

All right, let's check out.

We're from. Where to?

We're from Nashville. We're trying to go to all 50 states in our van.

Appreciate it. Have a good day.

Everyone's so nice at Bucky's. Or maybe it's just Texas in general.

All right.

Snack time.

Too many beaver bags. All right, round two is snacks. These beaver nuggets are probably the thing that I've heard most about. I think these are, like, the one thing that you can't come to BUC EE's without trying is the original beaver nuggets.

This is some strong smelling beef jackets.

That does not smell like it needs to mix with beaver nuggets.

I have never had garlic beef jerky before.

Oh, this smells like cereal. So if you can only imagine the smells going on in this van right now.

Oh, really good.

That is not what I was expecting.

Really?

You would hate this. It's way too sweet for you.

Nate loves sweet things, and I do not, which is why I'm eating the garlic beef jerky.

It's like a mix between kettle corn and Captain Crunch. If you poured this in a bowl of milk and ate it with a spoon, that would be so good.

Like, it just kind of disappears.

The outside is super crunchy, and then it fades into nothingness on the inside. All right, these are the roasted nuts. They were actually making these in the store. Those were the best. Yeah, these are addictive. Wow, there's a lot of sugar.

Too much?

Oh, definitely not. It might be my favorite thing in BUC EE's so far.

Really?

Yeah. Better than the fudge.

Wow.

I'm gonna make myself sick. Okay, so those were the three things that were on our list. These were just two extra things we.

Thought looked fun, not just looked fun. I think this is what I was most excited to try at BUC EE's. They kind of smell like fish food.

I had really high.

It wasn't a good smell when I opened it for sure. So my grandmother makes these spicy saltine crackers, and I thought that I found a package version of those.

They are my favorite thing that Mamaw makes, and I thought that that's what we were gonna get. But they don't smell the same.

Oh, it tastes a lot better than they smell.

They taste like the spicy Cheez it mix. Not minimalist crackers, but still pretty good.

Let's rank the snacks. I'm gonna say pecans, beef jerky, beaver nuggets, okra, sizzling saltine crackers. Just because they don't compare to my grandmother's.

It's not you, it's us. I need one more piece of jerky.

Oh, don't breathe.

So, like, three weeks ago, before I even knew we were coming here to film this video, I was listening to a podcast about a guy who was reselling Buc ee snacks. At a premium on his website. So he had started an entire business just reselling buc ee snacks to Texans who didn't live in Texas anymore.

Did he say what his best seller was?

Probably quail eggs.

Spicy pickled eggs. Oh, even quail eggs. Is that a thing?

Let's do this. Dog guardians love buggies.

All right, we're on a little pre dinner walk around. Buc EE's trying to burn some extra calories. And I have another fun fact to share with you, and that's that There are no 18 wheelers allowed of Buc EE's, which I find interesting because any other big gas station that I've ever been to has been a truck stop. Yet this is the biggest, and they're not allowed.

Well, four to 399. We're number 470.

470. 470.

Yeah. That's you right there.

Actually changed clothes so they wouldn't start recognizing us.

All right, we've now been here for eight hours, and it is time for dinner.

I am surprisingly hungry for dinner. Believe it or not. We did not hold back. Oh, wow. This is a small fry. Is it bigger than my face?

They're good. The next two things on our list are probably not what I personally would have chosen, but that's what the food director decided to get. We are having a Reuben sandwich.

Wow.

A juicy Reuben sandwich on a pretzel bun. Wow. Oh, we got jalapenos on there. I think there's some cheese.

Whatever they do to pastrami to make the ends of it crunchy like that, I really like. If I had to choose between the brisket we had for lunch and the ribbon we're having for dinner, I get the brisket, which surprises me to say because all my favorite toppings are on the Reuben. But it was so good. It was so good.

All right, the last thing on our list for tonight is Buc ee's banana pudding. My uncle owns a barbecue restaurant. He makes really good banana pudding. I'm keeping my expectations in check for this. Wow.

Let me take a second bite before I pass judgment. It's good. If my uncle's banana pudding is a 10. This is an 8. I think the ratio of whipped cream to pudding is slightly off.

So the plan was to sleep in the Buc ee's parking lot because they're open 24 hours a day. But we talked to one of the employees, and he told us there was no overnight parking. The parking lot was checked by police. So we've come to old Faithful.

Good old Walmart.

Voila.

All right, so this technically isn't 24 hours at BUC EE's, but we'll be back first thing in the morning for breakfast, tacos and whatever the sausage things are.

And coffee.

And coffee.

Morning.

I can't do it.

I can't wear the hood inside.

It's so cute.

This is the most self conscious I've ever been in my entire life.

$One.07 to fill up this entire mug.

Should be enough.

Pico?

Yeah.

I love them. Thanks.

Thank you so much.

Oh, Kara really wanted me to do that. My discomfort made a lot of people smile this morning.

Oh, take our picture, Bucky. And Bucky.

I really can't believe I talked him into it either.

It's the tail that gets me.

Stop looking at my tail. All right, time to eat some breakfast.

There you go.

Thank you.

All right, last two things on the list. Oh, this looks good.

Wow.

Bacon, egg and cheese breakfast taco with.

Added potatoes and pico de cayo.

Is it as good as it looks?

I can barely hold this with one hand.

Really good.

I just love the tacos are a thing for breakfast. How's the coffee?

Pretty gas stationy coffee. But it's hot.

There's plenty of it.

I told you it was hot.

I don't remember that. It is hot. I won't be able to taste this next thing.

All right, the last thing on the list. Sausage kolaches. Sausage kolaches. My assumption is there is sausage and pepper jack cheese inside of this dinner roll.

Oh, okay. I think we had this in Ukraine.

Is that what that guy came and.

Ate with the hammer?

Mm.

Do you want it? Uh huh. Okay.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Goodbye.

Goodbye. What just happened? It's basically a hot dog with a closed up bun. You wanna try this?

Better than it looks.

All right, Favorite food at Buc EE's.

I'm gonna go with the chopped brisket sandwich and the fudge.

I think the candy nuts are my favorite.

Really?

Yeah.

We did it. The BUC EE's. Top 10 in all three males.

I get the hype. If we pass another one, I'm stopping. Especially now that we have this big mug.

Cheers.

This is what our life has come to. I'm not that sad about it. In like middle school especially, we had these at school. We would go through and put every single soda in one cup and call it a suicide. Those American kids. Is it your favorite thing ever?

I thought it was gonna be like a salty sweet deal.

But the first ingredient is brown sugar. Maybe don't read the rest of the ingredients. Just enjoy. Enjoy an ignorant bliss.

I have my shoes on now when I get out of the bed.

Oh, why would you put your shoes on in the bed?

Well, I didn't put them on in the bed.

Oh, wow. It's one of the first times we've gotten to try out our couch.

Not bad.