Roadtrippin’ to Buc-ee’s: Benton, Arkansas Edition

Our road trip adventures continued as we packed up and headed out for the newest Buc-ee’s grand opening, and this time, our destination: Benton, Arkansas. It's always extra exciting and high energy when a new state gets their first Buc-ee's and this time, it's Arkansas's turn! 
If I'm being honest, I'm genuinely surprised Arkansas is just now getting a Buc-ee's. Given how perfectly Southern the culture is here, it feels like a Buc-ee’s should have been here ages ago. It's funny to think that states like Colorado, Arizona, and Ohio beat them to it!
But I don't make the expansion map rules! I'll just keep gladly showing up wherever they build next.

The August heat and humidity here in the South are absolutely brutal—we’re talking 100-degree days every day— not the time of year I'd recommend a visit to under normal conditions. However, the landscape more than makes up for it! Arkansas is covered in beautiful rolling hills and massive, gorgeous trees in every direction. I fell in love with the Northwest part of Arkansas when I drove through a few years back and wasn't sure what to expect here in central Arkansas but it's just as nice! I think Arkansas as a whole is very underrated!

This trip is extra special because it is a dedicated one-on-one getaway for our 13-year-old daughter to spend some quality time with just mom and dad. To set the mood for the drive, we picked our snacks for this trip: peppered jerky and strawberry sour gummies and our daughter picked out the audiobook Unplugged by Gordon Korman. In a completely unplanned, fun coincidence, the book is set right here in the "remote wilds of Arkansas," complete with hot springs!

Here is a look at our itinerary as we explored The Natural State leading up to the big grand opening.

Basecamp: Benton, Arkansas

We set up our headquarters at the Fairfield Marriott right in Benton. It’s incredibly convenient—very close to the new Buc-ee’s site, plus surrounded by restaurants, a movie theater, and a Walmart for any forgotten road trip essentials. In the evenings, we took our board games and card games down to the hotel breakfast nook to play and unwind together.

Day 1: The Drive and a Very Transparent Detour

We started our drive from Dallas and made a pit stop in Sulphur Springs, Texas, specifically to check out the famous glass bathrooms. Built in 2012, these are actually the first public restrooms in the United States made entirely of two-way mirrors. They sit right in the middle of Celebration Plaza downtown.

It is a completely bizarre experience to use the restroom while being able to clearly see the cars, people, and buildings outside. Even though your brain knows logically nobody can see in, it still plays games with your mind.
But honestly, the upside was that it’s a brilliant setup for moms with young kids—you can easily keep an eye on them playing at the park while you use the restroom. Who knew! 
Besides the novel bathrooms, Sulphur Springs is a cute little town with a charming Main Street full of boutique shops and restaurants. Here is our view looking at our reflections from outside the bathroom.

Day 2: Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs is unlike any other national park we’ve visited because it’s situated right in the heart of the city. We spent the whole day soaking up the history (and the water!):

• The Bathhouse Row Experience: We went all-in and got the full traditional bath experience at the Buckstaff Bathhouse—which has been operating continuously since 1912! It felt like a once in a lifetime experience simply because I don't know anywhere else in the USA that you can get a bathhouse treatment like this one in 2026. It felt like walking into another era completely. 
  While there used to be a whole street lined with bustling bathhouses, there are only 2 currently in operation as bathhouses.
  They've found other ways to use the buildings though. The old Fordyce Bathhouse has been turned into a museum that walks you through the history of the bathhouses and the reasons behind the excitement and popularity that drew so many people to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Another has been made into a boutique hotel and another into a brewery, which we did eat at! 
                                       
  

• Lunch at Superior Bathhouse Brewery: Repurposed from a bathhouse is this Superior Bathhouse Brewery. You have to stop here. It is the only brewery located inside a U.S. National Park, and the only brewery in the world that uses natural 143-degree thermal spring water to craft its beverages! The root beer floats are an absolute highlight—their house-made root beer uses the thermal water and real honey.
                               
  

• The Spring Water Station: We watched locals filling up dozens of jugs at the free spring water filling stations. They swear by it, and after tasting it, we see why—it tastes so much better than tap water in this area and beats paying for it at the store.

• Mountain Tower: We paid for the experience to ride 216 feet up the Hot Springs Mountain Tower for incredible 360-degree views of the Ouachita Mountains from way up high. There’s also a great museum at the top detailing the history of the area, including its claim to fame as the boyhood home of Bill Clinton.

Day 3: Exploring Little Rock

We spent our third day venturing into Little Rock for a mix of history, shopping, and fun: 

• Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site: We walked through the museum and, since it was the weekend and school wasn't in session, we were able to walk the front grounds of the actual high school. It is an incredibly important civil rights landmark—the site of the 1957 integration by the Little Rock Nine. The high school itself is deemed one of the most beautiful schools in the country and it was true. Such beautiful architecture and it even has a reflecting pond in the front. 
  
  
  

• The Big Dam Bridge: We found this massive pedestrian bridge and walked it from end to end. Spanning the Arkansas River and Murray Lock and Dam, it is a staggering 4,226 feet long, making it the longest pedestrian and bicycle-intended bridge in North America! It was nice to walk across without any cars nearby although again....so hot outside!
                           
  

• Shopping: We found a few great shopping stores at Park Plaza Center to knock out some back-to-school clothes shopping for our daughter.

• Heights Taco and Tamale: This restaurant came highly recommended and lunch was a massive hit. The steak taco was so good that we had to order a second one right at the end of the meal!

• Loblolly Creamery: Ice cream was a must in this heat. All three of us ordered the "Arkansas Mud" flavor because it was just that delicious—it's a rich milk chocolate ice cream loaded with house-made marshmallow fluff and chunks of scratch-made brownies. And while you are there don't forget to look up at the ceiling art. All the details were so fun! 
  
                               

• The Break Room: We ended the night with a totally new-to-us activity. The Break Room is essentially a rage room where we paid to break objects in a controlled space. We booked the "big room" so all three of us could go in together. They supplied us with gear like coveralls, protective gloves, headgear and weapons (baseball bats, sledgehammer, crowbar...you get the idea) and then we spent 30 minutes completely destroying anything we could find in the room. Glass bottles, plates, bowls, old TVs, and appliances—we smashed it all. It was surprisingly fun and exerting!
  

Day 4: Grand Opening Day 
                            

                                           

• Bucee's Benton Grand Opening: In true Buc-ee fan fashion - we got to Buc-ee's as soon as they opened - there is nothing like opening day energy and we didn't want to miss any of it! We woke up at 4:29 am so we could get in line for the 6 am opening and the whole experience did not disappoint! The crowds were managed well, the employees were 5 stars and we had a great time! Buc-ee's fans are the best fans -- so many great people we met while waiting! 
  We got our hands on all the Arkansas specific merch so if you aren't making it to Arkansas soon you can find the 5 new shirt designs, tumbler, mug, and anything else Arkansas we could find here! 
                             
               
  
  
• Waffle House: After seeing them all over in the south we finally treated ourselves to the Waffle House and it was delicious. I'm just left wondering, why doesn't everyone put pecans in waffles and serve grits on the side? 
                     
  
  

One thing we ran out of time for but that is top of our list for next time is the Crater of Diamonds State Park which is the only diamond-producing site in the world open to the public where you can keep what you find!

All in all, Arkansas was a great trip! We loved driving through the trees, learning some history, experiencing some local gems and getting to be part of another Buc-ee's grand opening. We'd be happy to come back to this neck of the woods again no problem! 

It's our tradition to collect magnets on our travels, here are the magnets we bought to commemorate this trip:
Hot Springs magnet
Buc-ee's magnet