Buc-ee’s Continues Florida Expansion With Talks Of An Exciting New Location

From beaver nuggets to beef jerky, the love for Buc-ee's is real and the chain has plans to continue their Florida expansion with talks of an exciting new location.

Sadly for us here in Fort Myers, there's no Buc-ee's close by. The closest location to us is in Daytona Beach, with another in St. Augustine. There are plans for a location in Marion County, which is getting closer to us, but not close enough. But there are talks about yet another location, however, that's not nearby either. Great for road tripping though. There hasn't been any sort of official announcement, it looks like the site they're eyeing is in Fort Pierce on the Treasure Coast.

There was a pre-application meeting at the end of July, and while the name "Buc-ee's" wasn't specifically mentioned, Benjamin Balcer with the Planning and Development Services Department, told the TCPalm that "it was understood at the meeting what it was.” A conceptual drawing shows a 73,000 square foot retail space, 733 parking spots, 11 bus parking spots and 120 fueling gas pumps.

Buc-ee's is so much more than your average gas station or rest stop. From Beaver Nuggets and beef jerky to monster bags of gummy bears, there's plenty of snacks. If you're hungry for more, you can sink your teeth into juicy brisket sandwiches, smoked sausages and comfort foods like mac 'n' cheese and loaded baked potatoes. Deciding what to pick is the hard part. They also have thee most fun merch line. From cozy hoodies with the iconic beaver logo to things you never knew you needed like a beaver-shaped ice cube tray, there's no shortage of quirky souvenirs.

While I'm excited for a new Buc-ee's location in Florida, I'm still clinging to the hope that one day, ONE DAY, we'll get one here in SWFL.

A lot of us here in Florida aren't familiar with Buc-ee's gas stations. It's mainly a Texas thing, but there is one in Daytona Beach and another in St. Augustine. A new one is being built, one much closer to us. And there's more. The new Florida location of  Buc-ee's In Ocala will be the world's largest. 80,000 square feet, 120 fuel pumps, and 720 parking spaces.

I've never been to a Buc-ee's, but I'm hearing it's a big deal. So much so that the state of Florida has tossed in 4 million dollars to speed up work on a new I75 interchange to help with the flow of traffic. The Governor, who helped get the grant money in place for the interchange is quite the fan of the gas station “They make so much stuff. They have those beaver nuggets. They have all kind of barbecue that they make,” DeSantis said.

Beaver nuggets? Ok, I guess I'm interested. So I started looking into it further. Buc-ee's sells a lot of weird and unusual stuff. I mean, we were excited when Wawa came to town. This is a whole different level. But that's only where it begins.

We're still a long way away from the store opening, I haven't seen an exact date. But since this will be the largest store they've built you can almost guarantee it will include all these "interesting" items. Will we make the three hour drive from Fort Myers to Ocala just to go to a gas station? I'll admit, I have done sillier things. Here's some of the items we'll be looking for when the new store opens.

This seems to be the biggest item on the wish list. Beaver Nuggets. The original flavor is a corn puff with butter, sugar, and caramel. There's other flavors, too. Like sea salt and bold n' spicy. There's clearly something special about these and I'll need to find out what.

Is this really just a smoked sausage with a tortilla shell wrapped around it? You can see the grease soaking through, which probably means that it's amazing. I'm a big fan of any food on a stick. I'm putting this one on my "try" list as well.

No lie on this one. My Mom used to save back bacon grease and use it cooking other items. But why bother making bacon when you can buy a whole bucket of bacon grease? I wish I could zoom in enough to see the nutritional information label. Can you imagine? Ha.

Pickled garlic sounds like the kind of snack to keep people away. Also, pickled quail eggs get mentioned a lot. Candied Jalapenos? What is that? Looks like I don't need to wait, you can have these delivered.

Just check out some of these flavors: Bohemian Garlic, Korean Barbecue, Ghost Pepper, Peppered Beef, Cherry Maple, Lemon Pepper, etc. etc. etc. It's an entire wall of jerky.

Yes, there's a line to buy gas station fudge. And it looks amazing. We may have to get a hotel nearby when the Ocala store opens.

Yes, actual bbq at a gas station. It's right next to the fudge. Can you imagine the smells coming from this area?

I can see Buc-ee's is gonna fit in just fine in Florida. Swimwear. Even some for the little ones. I think my new plan is to buy a Buc-ee's swimsuit and head to the bathroom to change before I get bbq. I want the whole experience.

It's sausage and cheese baked in bread. Word is, the jalapeno-cheddar is the one. Do you add condiments to this or just go? 

This is the drink of choice. It sounds insane, but there's also Dr. Pepper cotton candy in the store.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DrPepper/comments/l025xi/dr_pepper_cotton_candy_at_bucees_in_ga_also_got_a/