The beaver rises…
4 minute read
April 9, 2025, 2:07 PM
Recently, I was placing photos for the upcoming photo set about the trip to Charleston that I made in October, which I briefly discussed in a Journal entry from late November. On the last day of that trip, I sent my drone up over the Buc-ee’s location in Florence, South Carolina, and got some aerial photos of the place where we have dropped far too much money on beaver-themed items on various trips. Then I realized something later, while I was operating the train: I had never shared the photos that I had taken of the Buc-ee’s that was going up in Mount Crawford, Virginia, which is about 30-40 minutes from where my parents live, when we went down for a quick overnight trip in February. I ran a photo of the former Texaco sign that’s located across the street (and I remember when that place was still a Texaco), but I never did anything with the Buc-ee’s shots. I admit that I’m somewhat excited about this Buc-ee’s location, because I will go by it with some regularity, unlike Crossville, Sevierville, or Florence. We will be able to hit up this Buc-ee’s just about any time that we want, plus see my parents in the process.
So here is the Buc-ee’s in Mount Crawford, photographed in the late afternoon on February 13:
View facing southwest. It appears that the store will be oriented with the food to the left and the clothing and other gifts to the right.
View facing approximately southeast. The back of the building will face Interstate 81.
View facing approximately east-northeast.
View facing approximately north. It would appear that this Buc-ee’s will have all of its fuel pumps in a single row, under three canopies.
View facing northwest.
View facing approximately west.
View facing approximately west-southwest. Friedens Church Road (SR 682) runs along the northern edge of the property.
Overhead view of the Buc-ee’s building. The clear space towards the bottom of the photo is where the Buc-ee’s beaver logo will eventually be painted. Comparing overhead views with the one that I got of the Florence, South Carolina location, the Mount Crawford location will be slightly smaller than Florence, with the reduction in space’s being on the souvenir/gift shop side of the store.
Lower view, facing approximately south, showing the store’s side entrance.
The southernmost of the three gas canopies. I suspect that the facades of the canopies are still very much incomplete, as I’ve never seen a Buc-ee’s with vertical stripes on the gas canopy like that. I suspect that this will be stuccoed over when everything is complete.
The main entrance of the Buc-ee’s store.
These photos also made me wonder a few things. It made me wonder if the smaller size of this location has more to do with the size and shape of the property that they were able to acquire, rather than anticipated volumes. I also wonder which orientation of the store (side entrance on right vs. side entrance on left) is what the company considers the default and which one is the reverse. I know that for Walmart, grocery on left is considered the default orientation, and grocery on right is considered the reverse. Wonder which way it is for Buc-ee’s. I also wonder how much this will affect traffic on Friedens Church Road, which is still a little country road at its heart. We shall see, I suppose.
Meanwhile, this Buc-ee’s is expected to open some time in June. I look forward to visiting once it opens.
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