The Buc-ee’s In Ocala Will Be Full Of Weird Things. Here’s 10 Of Our Favorites
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.
The Buc-ee's In Ocala Will Be Full Of Weird Things.
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.
Beaver Nuggets
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.
Sausage On A Stick
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.
A bucket of bacon fat
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.
A selection of 'pickled' items
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.
The Jerky Wall
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.
Fresh fudge
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.
BBQ
Yes, actual bbq at a gas station. It's right next to the fudge. Can you imagine the smells coming from this area?
Swimwear
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.
Kolaches
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?
Dr Pepper Icees
This is the drink of choice. It sounds insane, but there's also Dr. Pepper cotton candy in the store.