Crowds, smiles greet Buc-ee’s first Virginia store opening

Some people seek out the biggest, baddest roller coasters. Some work overtime to afford front-row seats to Coldplay. Some spend their weekends ticking off visits to every winery in the state.

Then there are Buc-ee’s people.

“It’s like a cult,” says Crystal Limerick, a retired police captain from Augusta County’s Mount Sidney area. She got up at 3:30 a.m. to be among the first in line to enter the Mount Crawford Buc-ee’s, the first of the mega travel centers to open in Virginia, as it opened to the public for the first time at 6 a.m. Monday.

“I’ve heard so much about the brisket,” she says. “I love brisket. I thought, ‘What the heck, I’ll see what it’s about.’”

Some people camped in their cars Sunday afternoon. Angela Ward and her parents, Darlene and Charlie Ward, who traveled from Livingston, Alabama, for the opening, opted to spend the night in a hotel in Harrisonburg. They arrived at the new 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s just before 3 a.m. to get a coveted spot at the front of the line Monday.

For their effort, they received a free Rockingham County Buc-ee’s T-shirt. The one they were tossed wasn’t the right size, but they let them trade inside the store.

“I love that I will always find good food, clean restrooms, and a safe place for a break when stopping at Buc-ee’s,” Angela Ward said. “The staff is wonderfully kind and welcoming, and there’s always unique and fun items to find.”

This was the 48th Buc-ee’s the Ward family has visited. Since the mega-travel chain with the friendly beaver mascot began opening stores outside its home state of Texas in 2019, it now operates 53 stores across Texas and the South.

Monday afternoon, the Wards are driving to Brunswick, Georgia, for the opening of another new Buc-ee’s in that city. Then they’ll head to Daytona Beach and St. Augustine in Florida to visit two more stores before heading home. “By Wednesday, our count will be up to 51 different locations,” Angela Ward said.

Located at Exit 240 off Interstate 81, the Mount Crawford Buc-ee’s offers 120 fueling positions and is creating about 200 local jobs, according to the company and state officials. It is the first of at least three stores planned for Virginia, including one in New Kent County, expected to open in 2027 at Exit 211 off Interstate 64, and another in Stafford County, near Exit 140 off Interstate 95 that is still moving through zoning approvals.

Multiple people in line at Mount Crawford Monday were dressed in Buc-ee’s Beaver Union Suits, even though it was already 68 degrees in Rockingham County at 5:30 a.m. Only one Buc-ee’s fan came dressed as a banana, though. Owen Freed of Waynesboro selected that costume because it allows him to move his arms, unlike his inflatable T. rex and chicken costumes.

Freed, who works for Applebee’s,  grew to love Buc-ee’s while briefly living in Texas. He’s visited many other Buc-ee’s travel centers, but he said it feels special now to be able to visit one so close to home. “There’s never going to be a Buc-ee’s that’s more sentimental,” he said.

Freed brought along his girlfriend, Maria Leckey of Staunton. Her father doesn’t approve of Buc-ee’s.

“He thinks it’s the Death Star of gas stations,” Leckey says.

“It’s the Disneyland of gas stations,” Freed answered.

Like her dad, Leckey generally makes an effort to shop at locally owned stores, “but I also like to have a good time,” she says.

Lauren Olivola, of Pennsylvania, and Zach Nicely, from New York City, also got up early to experience the good Buc-ee’s vibes.

The pair were in Harrisonburg to attend the 57th International Horn Symposium, held June 24-28 at James Madison University, and hung around for a couple additional days to catch the Buc-ee’s opening. Instead of waiting in line, the pair entertained the crowd of Buc-ee’s fans in the pre-dawn darkness by playing tunes like Lowell E. Shaw’s “Bipperies for Two Horns” on their French horns. Despite the hour, the people in line applauded whenever the duo finished a number.

Both Olivola and Nicely have visited multiple Buc-ee’s. Today, Olivola hoped to be able to buy a 66-inch  light-up Buc-ee’s inflatable of the mega-convenience store’s beloved mascot. “No one else in my neighborhood has one,” she said.

Buc-ee’s beaver mascot is a nod to the childhood nickname of Buc-ee’s owner and founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, who started the chain in Texas in 1982.

Before the Mount Crawford location opened Monday, Buc-ee’s had a cowboy-hat-wearing hype man to get the crowd pumped up — Randy Pauley is the travel center chain’s official pitmaster. “You’re almost there,” he said as he fist-bumped each person in line. “Thank you for being here. It means the world to us.”

There were lots of cheers when the doors opened promptly at 6 a.m. Inside, the store was pure mayhem. A line quickly formed for folks wanting to get a selfie with the Buc-ee’s mascot. Another line formed for brisket (available sliced for $26.99 per pound). Those who weren’t there for snacks could pick up a variety of souvenirs and tchotchkes, from a dancing Buc-ee’s beaver ($24.98) to a T-shirt with Garfield dressed up as the Statue of Liberty ($17.99) or a Buc-ee’s shot glass nestled in a miniature cowboy boot ($14.99).

Pauley was all smiles as he looked at the crowd. “It’s a true blessing,” he said.

By the 10 a.m. grand opening ceremony, there wasn’t a spot to be had in Buc-ee’s ample parking lot. State police officers directed traffic, while desperate fans parked at the McDonald’s across the highway and attempted to hoof it in order to score some 13-ounce Beaver Nuggets for $4.98.

Not be outdone by their new neighbors across the street, McDonald’s had workers dressed in Hamburglar and Grimace costumes waving to drivers. No one appeared to be waiting in line for a selfie with them, however.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin didn’t have to sleep in his car to be among the first visitors at Buc-ee’s — he spoke during a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting event for the store, another nod to the outsized popularity and economic impact that Buc-ee’s is expected to make in the commonwealth.

Among the other officials who attended the ribbon cutting were Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller, Lt. Gov. (and 2025 GOP gubernatorial candidate) Winsome Earle-Sears and U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, R-Harrisonburg, as well as several General Assembly members and local officials from Rockingham County.

Youngkin said he met Alpin three years ago in Texas and told him to bring Buc-ee’s to Virginia.

“Here in beautiful Rockingham County: There’s no place better to have the first Buc-ee’s. … Come and see what 74,000 square feet looks like,” Youngkin said. “By the way, it’s big. It’s really big.”

Alpin, wearing a cowboy hat, spoke after the governor on Wednesday, adding, “For us to make it to Virginia is a real milestone and an exciting thing.”