Kentucky’s second Buc-ee’s is about to open. What it will (and won’t) have.
Kentucky is finally getting more Beaver Nuggets to gnaw on while travelers pass through.
The second location of Texas-based Buc-ee’s is opening at 4001 in Smiths Grove-Scottsville Road in Smiths Grove on June 24. Doors will open at 6 a.m. and there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon.
And, based on the near-daily calls I’ve been getting on this place, travelers are more than ready to get their mitts on those bags of Beaver Nuggets, a kind of candy-coated popcorn.
They are dying to check the 120 gas pumps out front and the massive bathrooms inside, not to mention the brisket, the fudge and the wall of jerky.
The new Buc-ee’s, which boasts “the world’s cleanest bathrooms, freshest food and friendliest beaver,” according to a news release, is about 15 miles outside of Bowling Green on I-65.
You can’t miss it: There’s a sign with a giant beaver wearing a red cap.
“We are so excited to celebrate the grand opening of our latest travel center on this beautiful stretch of I-65 between Nashville and Louisville,” said Stan Beard of Buc-ee’s in a news release. “Smiths Grove may be small, but the community has welcomed us with as much love and enthusiasm as our largest cities, so we’re excited to be here and watch this partnership grow.”
Where else to find Buc-ee’s in Kentucky
This is the second Buc-ee’s in Kentucky; one opened in Richmond on I-75 in April 2022. Both stores are about 53,500 square feet, nowhere near as big as 75,000-square-foot one that just opened in Texas, or the 80,000-square-foot one coming to Ocala, Fla., in 2025.
A third store Kentucky has been announced for Oak Grove along Interstate 24.
“I don’t know if anybody has heard, but a Buc-ee’s is coming to Oak Grove,” Jarvis said during a March 2022 fiscal court meeting, WKDZ reported. “145 gas pumps and 300 employees.”
At the time, Oak Grove tourism director Traci Cunningham said the location was expected to open in 2024.
What is special about Buc-ee’s travel centers?
Size aside, all Buc-ee’s are pretty much the same: A cross between a fishing tackle store, a nick-knack stall at a flea market and the kind of candy and fudge place where you can eat yourself sick. And it’s all open 24 hours.
There are a few things that Buc-ee’s doesn’t have:
▪ Seats. The stores sell tons of food but there’s no place to sit and eat any of it. So keep it moving back to your car.
▪ Hard alcohol. Buc-ee’s does sell beer and wine coolers, just nothing stronger.
▪ Semis. Although RVs and boat trailers appear to be allowed, big rigs are not.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 12:32 PM.
