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If you follow along on my instagram you will already know that I recently took a trip to Texas. My husband is currently in training with the military there this year so I planned a trip out to visit him. Lucky for me he is stationed not to far from Fixer Uppers home town of Waco Tx! I have been wanting to go visit for awhile but never thought I would be in the area to make it happen. Here was my chance!! I landed in San Antonio and spent a few days there, drove through and saw Austin, and then finally we arrived in Waco!
The first thing that stood out to me driving to our hotel was the iconic ALICO sign that they show regularly on the show. That was the fan girl moment in me that was like 'We are here!!!" I was sooooooo excited to see what it was all about.
We checked into the hotel (with a beautiful river view) on Sunday and set out to explore a bit. We new the silos would be closed but decided to at least drive by them because I am impatient and wanted to see them! They happened to be right around the corner and down the street from the hotel which was super convenient. Down town Waco was pretty easy to navigate and it was much more industrial then I expected. Look! There they are! Yep definitely fan girling big time.
Since I can't go in yet we decided to hunt down the old store just to say we had seen it. It was probably 10 minutes or so from the silos on a main street. Also not to hard to find. I wondered if they had finally taken down the Magnolia sign and turned it into something else but nope! It looked exactly the same! I wonder if they leave it for weirdos like me.
After that it was time to find the coffee shop I had heard all about. They were featured on the show and got great reviews! Seriously guys, it was just as cute in person! I am not a coffee drinker but the Chai Tea was delicious.
We also walked around the park and river next the hotel. There are several bridges which are also seen on the show so that was fun.
The next day we finally headed to the Silos! We decided to get there right when they opened hoping it wouldn't be as crowded. Wishful thinking huh? Just before 10am we head to the Silos! Apparently it doesn't really matter what time you get there, it is pretty much always crowded. We headed through the gates to finally see what the silos were all about!
The silos themselves were pretty cool and one of the main things you see of course. They are a bit hard to miss! Excuse the blurry photo below but it was hard getting a selfie on our camera!
They had plenty of places to sit down and relax, eat, and my favorite was the swings! How fun right!?
The garden area was beautiful. I wish the garden shop had been open, the inside looks like it will be so cute! Every angle on the grounds was just lovely.
Oh and did you know they have goats on the property!? It's so Chip and Joanna right?
We finally headed in to fight the crowds inside the store.
It was a bit difficult to snap this photo below since it was right inside the door but we were able to get a quick one! Welcome indeed. The store was pretty big with a top level and another section that was down half a flight of stairs. As crowded as it was it was a lot of fun combing through the store.
I wasn't able to get very good pictures inside but here are a few from the top level. It is such a cute store! I grabbed a few small things that I would be able to take on the plane. Here is a selfie we took waiting in line at the check out.
I took a few photos of the soon to be bakery in the front. Again another thing I wish was open already! We peaked in the windows and this is another spot that is going to be SO adorable when its done. They really have done a great job with the grounds.
Overall I really enjoyed the experience. They have done such a great job with everything and adding fun things to do for families. We just missed the barn raising by less then a week sadly because we might have actually seen the Gaines if we had been there then! Oh well, it was a fun time either way.
After the silos we wanted to hunt down the Magnolia House of course. We stopped at a few thrift stores along the way. One word of advice is if you want to antique around town go Thursday-Saturday because almost all the places we wanted to go to see are closed the rest of the week so that was sad. Anyways, off to the Magnolia House!
It was just as cute in person and I really wide we could have gone inside but the cost to stay there was just to much for just the two of us. Instead we just had to admire the outside. On a side note, the locals probably think the rest of the country is a little crazy with all our stopping and taking pictures of the random places around town that have to do with Fixer Upper!
We also checked out Harp Design Co. and walked around the little shop for a bit. It also happens to be immediately next door to the house they redid for the Harp family so that was fun to see.
We ended the day at Heritage Creamery, a super cute ice-cream shop right next door to Common Grounds and owned I believe by the same couple. They have interesting ice-cream choices which was fun and the interior of the shop was done beautifully!
We had a great time visiting Waco and The Silos minus the heat. It was so much fun seeing everything in person and hunting down all these fun land marks. It was definitely an experience! Thank you for the good times and the memories Waco! Not sure we will ever make it back but it was a fun trip!
