{"id":1616,"date":"2015-07-17T10:48:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T15:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2015-07-17T10:57:47","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T15:57:47","slug":"clean-restrooms-and-giant-beavers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/clean-restrooms-and-giant-beavers\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Restrooms and Giant Beavers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Let us pause to ponder the supersize mentality that has led to the proliferation of monster convenience stores, where gas pumps stretch far as the eye can see. The merchandise includes deer feeders, barbecue smokers, an extensive clothing line, an overwhelming array of road snacks, 80 soda dispensers \u2014 and America\u2019s cleanest bathrooms.<\/p>\n

That would be Buc-ees, a 60,000-square-foot emporium that just opened its 23rd<\/sup> Texas store in Terrell. We stopped there last Sunday on the way back from Frisco \u2014 along with what appeared to be several thousand other curious customers \u2014 to get gas and use those famed restroom facilities.<\/p>\n

The fame is genuine. The restrooms in the New Braunfels Buc-ee\u2019s in 2012 were voted America\u2019s best, beating out some five-star hotels and the Hollywood Bowl. I missed that election somewhere along the way. Owner Arch \u201cBeaver\u201d Alpin was quoted as saying maybe this would be New Braunfels\u2019 new claim to fame, \u201cthe Taj Ma-Stall\u201d of Texas.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t make stuff like this up.<\/p>\n

I know these are the nation\u2019s cleanest bathrooms because there is a sign right outside the men\u2019s room proclaiming such. Actually, one would be hard put to find a more fastidious facility, manned by around-the-clock attendants and with a hand sanitizer outside each of the 84 stalls. I have been in plenty of hospital bathrooms that were not as sanitary. And let us not even discuss restaurant and run-of-the-mill facilities.<\/p>\n

Co-owner Alpin, in a Wall Street Journal article, insisted Buc-ee\u2019s is not a truck stop. In fact, 18-wheelers are banned because they cause traffic problems, he said. So unlike other mega facilities, which by size pale in comparison, Buc-ee\u2019s does not rely on road-weary truck drivers in need of a shower and a hot meal to survive. It relies on the rest of us eager to sample the utterly over-the-top ambiance of Buc-ees, where a bronze statue of a beaver stands guard outside the entrance.<\/p>\n

Since the Terrell store just opened, a giant blowup of Buc-ee swayed in the summer breeze to draw patrons. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and daughter kept calling it a chipmunk for unknown reasons. With its paddle tale and huge buck teeth, there is little doubt this is a beaver. Chipmunks are midget squirrels. There is a big difference.<\/p>\n

We waited a bit self-consciously so I could take a cellphone photo of my BMC in front of the gargantuan Buc-ee, which would not be out of place in the Macy\u2019s Day Parade. In the spirit of tourists anywhere, she points to his head in the photo, eyes invisible because I had to tilt the phone so far up to capture his head. I guess Buc-ee is a male. I\u2019m not sure how one tells when it comes to beavers.<\/p>\n

For size comparison, a new Buc-ee\u2019s is about 50 percent larger than the Walmart Neighborhood Markets that have sprung up around here, but they are only a third the size of a full-blown Supercenter. Still, when one considers Buc-ee\u2019s is simply a travel stop, the sheer size does boggle the mind.<\/p>\n

Buc-ee\u2019s uses an extensive billboard marketing program, which is how I first became aware of the chain while driving to San Antonio a few years ago. Starting many miles out, the cartoon beaver wearing a red cap beckons with billboards that say, for example, \u201cOnly 262 miles to Buc-ee\u2019s. You can hold it.\u201d A few hours later: \u201cEat Here. Get Gas. Buc-ee\u2019s. 59 miles.\u201d And \u201cIt\u2019s Potty Time. 9 miles.\u201d We had to stop.<\/p>\n

One can buy pretty much anything with the Buc-ee\u2019s logo on it, from pickled jalape\u00f1os to 17 fudge flavors, to Beaver Nuggets (whatever those are), T-shirts, caps, key chains, stuffed animals and bumper stickers. There is little dispute that Alpin and his partner are geniuses at tapping into the Texas mystique of everything being bigger and better in Texas.<\/p>\n

I do not have much interest in all the stuff<\/em> that Buc-ee\u2019s offers and will not be wearing a Buc-ee\u2019s \u201cSaving the World From Ordinary\u201d T-shirt. But those immaculate bathrooms are hard to resist.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Follow him on Twitter: @garyborders<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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