20 years ago I lived in Tarrant County, TX. There were 'wet' areas (Fort Worth, Keller, Southlake), 'dry' areas (most of the unincorporated county) and 'in between'. The latter areas required you to be sponsored by a staff member to join a list of persons who were allowed to purchase alcohol. Even if you were passing through you needed to get the waitress at Macaroni Grill to sign you up just to buy a glass of wine. Around the same time I discovered than just outside city limits of Little Rock, AR, you could buy a glass of wine at a restaurant, but at the bar next door you needed the barman to sign you up for a beer because the rules are different if they don't serve food. I think I still have my member's card somewhere.... don't know if the laws there have changed in the interim.

Going further back, in the 1980's in Alabama I encountered various 'Blue laws'. Alcohol sales were strictly banned on Sunday, but so were tools. I bought some groceries at a Walmart, including a can opener. The cashier rang up my food, but put the can opener to one side. 'Sunday' she said, 'you can buy that tin of baked beans, but you can't buy the tool to open it'.

In the 1990's in Florida, alcohol sales were banned on Sundays until 1pm. Unfortunately that meant that if you went to a Bucs game there was a mass stampede for the bar at kickoff. So they moved the blackout end time up to mid-day, then to 11 am, then all the way back to 7am I think. But given DeSantis' crusade again evil, there will likely be a total prohibition again someday soon.

I have not, and if it is up to me, I never will. It seems like at utterly ridiculous business, that comes across as a blend of a gas station with a theme park. Given that I rarely ever have to wait for a gas pump, maybe 1-2 times per year, and when I do it is only for a couple of minutes at most, the idea of there needing to be a gas station with 100+ pumps, IMO is just silly; also the idea that only Buccee's has clean toilets, and that a gas station is the best place to buy a meal.

And I am unlikely to stop there if for no other reason than I only buy BP or Exxon gas, for which I get a discount, and because both Ford and Honda dealers have confirmed over many years that my engines run remarkably cleanly, and that is likely due to my choice of gas. The fact that we almost never drive less than 10-15 miles (and usually further), allowing the engines to warm up and clean out water vapor and any residue from the rich mix at start up, almost certainly helps too.

Don't underestimate the power of clean toilets! My g/f will only allow me to stop at Love's truck stops when we travel long distances. It's not that Love's are the ONLY gas stations to have clean toilets, but it is one of the few places where you can be pretty much guaranteed to find clean toilets. We've stopped at enough 'random' places along the way over the decades that have disgusting toilets to make this an issue. I also often need to take a 10 to 20-minute nap when I'm on a 10-hour cross-country drive. Having a place with a large parking area, a half-decent shop for my g/f to wander around as I nap, the possibility of decent snacks, etc is all part of the draw. If I ever find myself driving in your neck of the woods, I will now add 'Bucees' to the list of places to stop! (as an aside, I'll also stop at any gas station that is known to have good soapy water and a decent squeegee, plus paper towels, so I can clean my windscreen).

Now, if it were up to me, I wouldn't care because as a man, toilets aren't quite the same big deal (though I too appreciate a clean toilet). But for women - having to sit on a disgusting seat in a dirty stall is just not something I would impose.

I stop at Love’s truck stop frequently when traveling. Very convenient for coffee and attached fast food joints.

I am absolutely not doubting the value and importance of a clean toilet, especially when traveling with Mrs P and Little Miss P. My only contention is that Bucee’s does not have a monopoly on clean toilets. And yes, Love's has a good reputation in that regard. Also places like QT, and several competing regional chains, have worked out that having a reputation for clean toilets ensures steady business.

We have used Pilot Truck Stops. Which seems the closest thing to a motorway service station.

We avoid Buc-ess on principal. When hurricane Rita was about to hit the Texas coast ( this was right after Katrina hit NewOrleans) we were under a mandatory evacuation. One of the Buc-ee gas stations near us covered their pumps and said they were out of gas. Early the next morning their pumps were ready for use again with a new higher priced delivery. There had been no delivery, he was price gouging.

Buc-ees owner Beaver Alpin was fined and he apologized!! He was a local lad and most of the people he gouged had either worked with him or been to school with him. All was forgiven and his mighty empire got larger and larger....but many locals didn't forget. Everyone needed gas to evacuate and he cheated them. And now he and the Texas Governor are best buddies


Just one reason to avoid them....but they do have clean toilets

This does point to one of the appeals of 'chains'. I've always been somewhat opposed to 'chain' operations, whether they be hotels, restaurants, gas stations, or whatever. In general, you get a better 'product' (meal, room, etc) for a lower price at an 'independent' operation, plus I always like to support the independent operators. But while chains tend to offer 'blandness', and 'uniformity', there are times when that is not a bad thing. We've recently started looking out for Marriott Courtyard hotels; they seem 'just right' for our price-range - not too expensive, but with a certain predictable quality. If we get a personal recommendation for a 'local' hotel, we'll go with that option but if we are just picking places at random from a website/directory, we'll tend to go with what we 'know' (or reasonably expect) will be good.

It's obviously true that (eg) Bucee's does not have a monopoly on clean toilets, but when you are traveling in 'unknown parts', the last thing you want to do it pull off the freeway, find parking, then visit the toilet only to find it is a disgusting mess. Too late to walk out and 'try the next one'. I don't know about you but once I get 'moving' on a long road-trip, I really hate stopping for any reason so I want a very high probability of 'success'!

The other place that we've found to have extremely clean toilets are those 'factory outlet' operations that one sometimes finds in the middle of nowhere, at least 'out west'. There's one at the 'Tejon' exit at the bottom of the 'Grapevine' (I5) north of LA, and there's another near Palm Springs called 'Cabazon'. These are 'must stop' places for us when we (used to) drive to/from Scottsdale all the time. They had super-clean toilets, and my g/f was more than happy to kill an hour or so shopping while I napped in the car.

We did a road trip just as Covid was settling down, and all the toilets in service/gas stations and the state run ones on the highways were always super clean. It's usually a case of hold your breath, do what you need to do, and run out, gasping for air, wash hands and apply a gallon of hand sanitiser. We usually just use the big service/gas stations for a gas fill up and a bathroom break. We usually take a big cooler with us with food, and re-supply when we come across a supermarket, or go to a local restaurant, not a chain, if it can be avoided.

We generally rely on big chain supermarkets for bathroom breaks. I’m pretty sure that supermarkets did not typically provide bathrooms in times past - now they almost all do, and they’re usually pretty good. Then, when on interstate highways, rest areas. Vermont is incredibly good in that regard. The rest area buildings are architectural gems, built in the style of traditional barns or other historical vernacular styles, free (good quality) coffee and tea, wood stoves, incredibly helpful volunteer staff, and museum-quality exhibitions on local history and industry etc. Then - the other end of the scale - New Hampshire rest areas. Massive State liquor stores, really good diner/sandwich shop, country music blaring out .. but I love both those states, even though they are at either end of the political spectrum & philosophy of running a state.

Woman told she can’t take her dog on the international flight. So she goes into the bathroom & drowns the dog, and proceeds to her flight. Cleaner later finds the drowned dog - still has the tag on its collar with the name and address of the owner. I was gonna say, “only in Florida,” but to be fair, the woman was from Louisiana.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...lorida-airport

Unbelievably cruel. Why on earth would a dog owner do that to their pet? I don't understand someone who would do that.

I tried putting myself in her place. Why didn’t she take off the tag etc, and abandon the dog somewhere in the terminal? Then presumably the dog would have a chance of being rehomed with someone nicer.

That's what a sensible, caring person would have done (although if the dog was microchipped it would have been traced to the owner). I am sure the dog would have had a good chance of being rehomed if she didn't want it.

Apparently didn't have the correct paperwork, needed a rabies certificate