Working in Houston as often as I do, I thought it would be fun to take a couple of days off while I’m there, grab my friend Kelly and take a quick trip to Waco to see what all the Magnolia fuss is about. I wanted to go during the week because I’d heard weekends are crazy busy and I also wanted to go after the kids went back to school, so we went on a Monday morning in late September and came back on Tuesday afternoon. Come along as I share our experiences on a quick trip to Waco.
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Because I travel so much, I am a points junkie. I used some Marriott points and we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Waco for free! It was a great location, across the street from a beautiful steel bridge on Washington and University. One block down is the Waco Suspension Bridge and River Walk. Being a big fan of bridges, I was loving it! The Waco Suspension Bridge was built in 1868 and both bridges span the Brazos River. We took a little evening stroll to check them out…but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Monday morning…
The drive to Waco from Houston is less than 3 hours. We got to Waco at about 10:30 in the morning and went straight to the hotel. They gave us a room and we dropped our stuff off. We told the guy behind the desk at the Marriott that we wanted to go to the Silos and he suggested we take the trolley. The trolley is free and there is a trolley stop a block away from the hotel. What we didn’t know is that it was going to be 97 degrees and 70% humidity. That one block was quite uncomfortable!
Our trolley took us on a little loop around downtown and to the silos. There was a trolley map at the hotel to show us all the stops. It was a great way to see some of the downtown area of Waco, except…
…the trolley wasn’t air-conditioned so it was a little unpleasant. Ugh!
The Magnolia Market
Our trolley dropped us right in front of the Magnolia Market at the Silos and Silos Baking Co. The property is smaller than it appears on TV but they pack alot of things on that block! To the left there is the Magnolia Market. For it being a Monday at about 11:30 in the morning, it was still pretty busy. It is a beautiful store with just what you would expect for sale. Many “Magnolia” branded items throughout the store like totes, mugs, plates, planters, candles and more plus alot of non-Magnolia items. They had a really great selection of farmhouse inspired decor and gift items. On the downside, the store is pretty pricey. I had my eyes on a really cute burlap tote but I wasn’t willing to pay $58 for a tote. That’s just me…
There is a downstairs area that isn’t air-conditioned. It’s mostly apparel, totes and mugs. It was a little too warm to stay downstairs very long. I asked the ladies behind the counter if they get to trade off with the workers upstairs in the air-conditioned portion of the store and she said yes. I was happy to hear that.
Downstairs also has an area called Chip’s corner where you’ll find more masculine items for sale.
The Silos and Grounds
Behind the Magnolia Market is the outdoor area. It is very family friendly with places to lounge and play.
And how cute are these outdoor bean bag chairs!
I found some at Home Depot. I love them!
Food Trucks
Behind the play area is a row of food trucks. Such a great idea! Snacks, sandwiches, beverages…a really nice variety.
They were even selling their own bottled water outside at a covered table. I don’t know if that’s a daily occurence or if it was because it was so hot that day, but the bottle was really cool!
We stopped at Chuck’s Gourmet Popcorn and got some popcorn for later. We got the “Homestyle” flavor which was just a buttered popcorn. I am a huge fan of Garrett Popcorn in Chicago and I really wanted to love this popcorn…but I didn’t. There could be extenuating circumstances, but I was disappointed. It was bland with very little salt, and perhaps because it was an exceptionally humid day, it was a little chewy. In fairness to the company, my opinion is not the popular one! Most everywhere you go online, it says the popcorn is fantastic! That’s why I’m thinking maybe it was just the circumstances and I would definitely give it another try.
Brilliantly, they added a Silo Baking Company food truck for those times when the storefront’s line is around the block! It was in what looked like an old Airstream. Adorable!
Silo Baking Company
And speaking of the Silo Baking Company, that was our next stop. Before we did we had to pass back by the silos again and they really are mesmerizing to look at… If you passed them on a farm you might not give them a second look, but in this environment they have an incredible presence.
I remember seeing the episode of Fixer Upper where they were designing the bakery. It looked so big on TV! It is not. They have someone man the door and they only let so many people in at a time…thus the line around the block. We were very fortunate in that there wasn’t a very long line. We waited about one minute on the stoop outside and then it was our turn to go in.
It’s really very pretty in there. It’s homey and charming and of course…a touch of farmhouse.
The prices aren’t bad at all. Around $2.50-3.50 for a cookie or cupcake. I bought a carrot cake cupcake and a chocolate chip cookie and they did not disappoint.
Magnolia Table
We decided instead of the food trucks, we were going to just go Magnolia crazy and head to Magnolia Table for lunch. It’s not on the property. It’s about 9 miles away, off the highway. It has a fun, old fashioned looking sign out front…
It was about 1:30 on a Monday and there was still an hour wait! It was kind of funny. It reminded me of an amusement park. First you have to line up in a queue outside in a shaded area that has roped lines and that’s where you sign in. Then you are ushered to a really nice, covered outdoor area where you wait for your table. Next to that, in an unshaded area, there’s a little stand where you can get cold drinks and sit at tables. As I’ve mentioned, it was really hot so we were not going to sit outside of the shaded area!
There is someone at the door to the restaurant that is there for the purpose of only letting people in whose table is ready so we couldn’t go inside to the air-conditioning until it was our turn. But I completely understand when you get that many people you have to limit the patrons inside so it wasn’t a big deal and they made it as comfortable as possible outside.
We were people-watching outside in our covered area when our pager finally went off and it was time to eat! The restaurant is really cute! Bright, cheerful…farmehouse-y…
This great sign is right by the bathrooms and alot of people have their picture taken by it…so it kind of clogs the flow (no pun intended).
The menu…
There isn’t a huge menu but I think it has something for everyone. You can get breakfast all day, or lunch items. It’s only open until 3pm so it’s not a place you’ll find dinner items.
I opted for the chicken salad sandwich and Kelly got the salad with chicken…but then I saw “house made tater tots” and had to get a side of those as well. The chicken salad was very good but I didn’t care for the tater tots. Well I didn’t dislike them, really. They were just not anything special and the sandwich was filling so we didn’t eat more than a taste of them. But look how they’re served! I coveted that little cast iron skillet!
I even found some little ones on Amazon that I ordered. I have no idea when I’ll use them, but they would be so cute for side dishes and desserts!
This was Kelly’s salad. It was really good.
We finished our lunch and walked around a little, snapping a few pics and trying not to bother other diners. 🙂
In a separate entrance of the building there is a store where you can purchase “Magnolia” souvenir items as well as pre-packaged food to go. As with everything else, it was very tastefully decorated.
It was time to move on!
The Little Shop on Bosque
When we were done exploring the to-go shop, we left the restaurant and headed to the next Magnolia destination on my list…the Little Shop on Bosque (pronounced Bosk-ee). My favorite thing about the picture below is the very bored men sitting on a bench in front of the store, presumably waiting for their significant others inside. The Little Shop on Bosque is the original home of Magnolia Market, but don’t expect it to have the same items as the “new” Magnolia Market at the silos. It now houses slightly damaged, overstocked and last chance items. I’m glad I checked it out, but there’s nothing I’d go back for.
Lots and lots of the same items inside…but that’s kind of the concept of the store (overstock) so it’s much of what you might expect.
We were all Magnolia’d out for the day, so we left The Little Shop on Bosque and headed downtown to Spice Village in River Square Center. I’d done a little homework ahead of time and this place ended up on my list of things to do in Waco. It’s a big, second story warehouse of rented spaces where you’ll find anything from decor to gifts to clothing. It’s set up very well and we had alot of fun going through each booth. Great stuff and most of the booths had really reasonable prices.
Time for a Break
After Spice Village we headed to the heart of downtown where there is a line of shops that we saw when we were on the trolly. Here’s the problem… 90% of the shops are closed on Monday and downtown was kind of a ghost town! With nowhere else to go, we stopped into a little corner pub called The Backyard Saloon. 🙂 It was a traditional Texas pub, complete with swinging doors! The lady behind the bar was really nice and we met some folks who work with Chip and Joanna. They had lovely things to say about Chip… They said Joanna is nice but demanding, but in my opinion you don’t build an empire like hers if you’re a pushover!
While we were at the Backyard Saloon they mentioned they have a sister location that’s a restaurant so when we were done at the pub we went over to the Backyard Grill for dinner. We were looking for casual and we found it! The food was as expected. Casual, inexpensive and just okay.
When we got back to the room we decided to take a little walk around the bridges by the hotel and then it was time to crash!
A Fixer Upper Tour
The next morning we thought it might be fun to go drive around and check out some of the houses featured on Fixer Upper. I found a great website appropriately called www.fixeruppermap.com/ . Kelly was the navigator and we started out on our trek around the Waco area. The map was broken into seasons of the show and I think we just randomly picked “Season 3”. Some of the houses were really lovely while others were disappointingly neglected. All the beautiful landscape I’m assuming they planted during the show was overgrown and completely ruined the curb appeal. Who knows what those look like on the inside now. But these are a couple of my favorites during out drive…
We drove around for a couple of hours and then it was time to say goodbye to Waco.
Old Bryan Marketplace
I thought it would be nice to go back to Houston a different route than we came and I had never been to the College Station/Bryan area so I did a little homework and found us what looked to be a cool place to stop for a late lunch. Boy was it! There’s a place in downtown Bryan called the Old Bryan Marketplace. It’s an old, historic building built in 1908 that they gutted and turned into a fabulous and gorgeously decorated home decor/gift store!
The selection was wonderful. They had alot of unique items and some brands I recognized.
Maddens
Inside the store is the entrance to a charming looking restaurant called Madden’s. It was a hidden gem, as it is decorated as just an extension to the store. I did a quick search for the restaurant reviews and saw all positives so we gave it a try. Once we were seated I just couldn’t stop looking at the decor. The designer is brilliant! Old windows, shutters, brick walls…it just made me happy sitting there.
Kelly got a really good tomato bisque soup. I got a roasted corn chicken tortilla soup. Mine was good but I liked Kelly’s soup better.
After lunch and a stroll through the marketplace it was time to get back to reality and head back to Houston and work.
I loved our little two-day adventure and I’m so glad we went. I can’t say I’m in any big hurry to go back to Waco but I would go again. I’m very happy I went to all the Magnolia places…and there are new ones on the horizon I might need to check out! There is a Magnolia Hotel coming soon and a Magnolia Press Coffee Co that opened soon after we left.
So if you’re thinking you might want to grab a friend and make a quick trip to Waco to check out all things Magnolia, I highly recommend it.
And if you’re looking for another quick trip, check out my day in Salt Lake City!
Happy tinkering,
Susan
