U.S. Beach Volleyball Player Sara Hughes Becomes A Star, SEC Olympic Leaderboard & Tigers Kids In Cuffs
I'm back from vacation & need to get this off my chest: Buc-ees is overrated
At least the one in Richmond, Kentucky is overrated. Look, I'm probably not the first person to say Buc-ees is overrated, but I'm probably the first one to say it's overrated and great for America at the same time.
Screencaps readers know I'm big on the need for tourist traps in this country. We need more roadside attractions after at least two decades of destroying the soul of America by killing off tourist spots across the country in favor of chain crap that every exit has.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from Buc-ees, but what I got was a mass of humanity unlike anything I'd ever seen at a gas station. For Mrs. Screencaps, the line to get into the women's restroom looked like a line at an SEC football game.
The restrooms were not clean. There was urine on the floors. The urinals were a mess. The trash can was overflowing with paper towels. The sink counters weren't quartz. It was a basic restroom.
Meanwhile, the convenience store was a disaster. I don't care how great the brisket sandwich is, it's not worth the battle that ensued last week while we were headed south on I-75. It was a mess to get gas (yes, it was priced cheaper than anywhere else). It was a mess to back into a parking spot out front of the pumps. It was a mess to get back on the highway.
Oh, and the homemade Buc-ees chips my mother raves about had ZERO flavor.
Guys, am I in the minority here in thinking that Buc-ees is overrated?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Other observations across Kentucky, Tennessee and western North Carolina:
• From a coyote trying to chase down and slaughter a deer along I-26 in western North Carolina to a bunch of bears, baby wild turkeys, fawns, to a bear cub climbing on a tree limb and falling into tall grass, nature really delivered last week in the Smokies and the forests of N.C.
• I had no idea Asheville was so full of transients like the maniac woman downtown who was carrying a vintage green Easton bat and slamming it into a metal post in a rage as we sat there waiting for a light to change.
• Mrs. Screencaps loved the Biltmore estate, especially the gardens. I'm pretty sure that portion of the trip bought me at least one golf trip in the next 12 months. She gasped as we came down the stairs and into the formal garden. Then she about lost it in the conservatory. It was her Super Bowl.
• I would watch a Netflix series on the algorithm that decides where Dollar Generals get built across Tennessee and Kentucky. On our way home, Google Maps took us up 25E through Tazewell, Cumberland Gap, Pineville and a bunch of other tiny towns. Dollar General stores are placed on that route about every 10 miles and predominately placed on the northbound side of the four-lane highway.
• As someone who enjoys a good tourist trap, I enjoyed the couple of hours we spent in Gatlinburg. It was plenty. Pulling the kids into the parking lots in Pigeon Forge was even better. Easy in and easy out.
• No hole-in-ones on this trip.
• Guys, do you really enjoy the moonshine or is it some sort of new status symbol to have jars of moonshine in your basement bars? I can't believe how much modern moonshine was being bought in Gatlinburg.
• Screencaps Jr. beat me & Screencaps the III on the go-kart track three straight times, but he had to spin out some lady to beat us in the third race. If it was a NASCAR race, she would've had words with him in the pits.
• Screencaps the III had his best day of the summer on Thursday when he went mining for gems near Sylva, NC. On the way to the car, he was searching through the parking lot for gems in the gravel. What a stop it was at the Rockhound Ridge Gem Mine.
• I was impressed by the lower food costs compared to Ohio, especially at the one Mexican restaurant we went to in North Carolina. A $12 meal these days is unheard of, especially when Chipotle is more than that.
• Gas was 60-cents cheaper, too.
• No wonder so many of you have moved to these areas.
• However, I can see the overpopulation of this part of the country. We stopped at a Costco south of Knoxville & it was pure chaos at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. Shoulder to shoulder. I'll stick to my local Costco with easy in & out access.
• Trip grade: A
• Conclusion: This was the perfect trip for our boys at this point in their lives. Next summer, it's time for Yellowstone, but it's going to be hard for Mother Nature to give us a wildlife show like TN and NC produced over the last week.
Peacock and the Olympics
• Mike T. in Idaho writes:
Don’t know if you been watching the Olympics with vacation and all, but the Peacock has been on fire!
Multiple channels and something they call The Gold Zone! Like the NFL Red Zone only Olympics coverage!
Awesome whip around coverage of multiple events, awesome!
Kinsey:
I have Peacock, but it feels like all the Olympic coverage on the app is locked because I don't have the Gold Zone, which costs even more money. Am I doing something wrong?
There's no doubt the quad screen Olympic coverage on YouTubeTV has been incredible. I'm watching more Olympics coverage than ever before in my life, but I have to figure out what Peacock is really providing me via the app.
The current state of tipping in the United States
• George in Savannah, GA writes:
My wife's car battery died this weekend after she came home in an incredibly violent thunderstorm and she left her lights on as she ran into the house. She noticed it about four hours later, but by that time it was too late. We had a dead battery. Called AAA, which we pay for, and they came out and replaced the battery.
A great service, we've used them for years (not sponsored/no free ads). When the technician gave me the device to pay by credit card, the screen was set to select tip amounts. The lowest tip amount was 15% (on a $200.00 battery), ouch! When will the madness end?
Downsizing in 2024
• Jake in Oregon shares:
Hey Joe it's been awhile. Me and the Mrs decided to downsize the living situation and been busy buying, selling and moving. Downsized the house but ended up up sizing the yard. Will need to replace the electric mower with a bigger gas model - which brand mower does the group recommend??
Snuck away to my healing water for a day. Deschutes river in central oregon.
Loved the baseball updates.
Travel ball hardos
• Greg W. emails:
So, I'm waiting to get my haircut, and there's a guy in the waiting area doing a hit chart for each opposing player for the teams his kid's travel ball team plays this weekend. He's pulling up the location of the hit/groundout/flyout for each at bat from previous games on his phone, then charting them on paper - one sheet for each player. For a 12 year old team.
Dude, get a life. Twenty bucks says your kid drops out of playing baseball in high school.
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And with that, it's time to get rolling. New week, new me. That about does it for extended time off this year. In case you missed it, August starts this week and football season is about to hammer down.
It's time to get focused for the run to the Super Bowl. Let's go have a strong day of work and get back into the groove.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com