Day 22
This was our travel day to Waco, Texas. Waco was only an hour and a half drive away, so we left early enough to try and have lunch at the Magnolia Table, the restaurant owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper fame. We figured with it being a Tuesday, how busy could the restaurant be. The answer would turn out to be an hour and a half wait. So we went to the little shop next door where you could buy Magnolia Farms water.
So you guessed it, we did not eat at Magnolia Table. Since the “Silos” were close by, we drove over to the Silos. The Silos are a shopping area and bakery owned and run by the Gaines. It is a large complex with an outdoor area that has food trucks around it so you can picnic and get food. Here are a few pictures.
The Gaines have quite the set up and are clearly doing very well, not only for themselves, but for many in the city of Waco. When we visited the Visitor Center, we learned because of the Gaines and their show (Fixer Upper), Waco is now known for the show instead of where David Koresh and the Branch Davidians fought it out with local and federal authorities. As a side note, Waco is also home to Baylor University.
Back to the Gaines and Waco. The Magnolia Farms empire employs more than 300 people, and there are numerous other people who now have jobs as tour guides, in hotels, and other tourist related jobs. It is an amazing phenomenon. And according to the person at the Waco Visitor’s Center, both Chip and Joanne can be seen at various places around town and they are very nice and down to earth people. Kudos to them and I hope that is true.
And now back to our vacation. That night, a really violent thunderstorm hit. Check out these videos.
From inside our room. we could hear the thunder rattle our hotel numerous times. Then we had a “tornado watch” for our area. Living in California, we had no idea what that meant, so we all looked it up on our phones. Here is what we learned. “A tornado watch is issued when weather conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms called a supercell that are capable of producing tornadoes. If severe weather actually does occur, a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning would then be issued.”
We were already experiencing a sever thunderstorm, so we really hoped that would not lead to a tornado. Luckily, it did not. However, at around 1 AM, the thunderstorm got so bad and loud, it woke us all up.
Day 23
After a less than restful night of sleep, we visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. This was the law enforcement Texas Ranger Hall of fame as opposed to the baseball team. The Hall of Fame had many interesting displays and was well worth the visit. Here are a few pictures.
This was one of my favorite displays. It was a handgun from the late 1800’s and you had to try and put it together. Handling handguns in Texas is obviously just a normal part of life. Can you imagine someone trying to have a display like that in Southern California?
While we were in Fort Worth, it was warm and humid, but very tolerable. Waco was much hotter and even more humid. It was a lot less tolerable. Here is a funny example.
After the Hall of Fame, we went to a frozen custard shop. Frozen custard is just like soft serve ice cream. Corrianne had a sundae, I had a shake and Cindy got a cone. Because of the heat and humidity, Cindy’s cone started to melt the second she received it. Within a few minutes, the cone was melting down all sides and reminded me of when a child doesn’t eat a cone fast enough and it starts to melt. The difference was Cindy was eating as fast as she could, but to no avail. The cone just continued to melt.
Afters our ice cream, we walked to a stand alone pet store next to the ice cream store. Now that was an experience. They had almost every kind of animal imaginable. If you remember, my mom and Cindy fed wild prairie dogs in South Dakota. Well, at this pet shop we got to pet a prairie dog. And that is not a euphemism for something else. When I say we pet the prairie dog, that is exactly what we did! The prairie dog came out of his cage, ran into the workers arms, laid on his back, and wanted his belly rubbed. So rub we did and he clearly loved it. And we got to hold lizards, pet a puppy, talk to two lemurs, and see a ton of different birds.
When we did our housing tour, we were able to quickly eliminate Waco as a possible living location. I do not want to demean the city or put it down so I’ll put it this way. “You are always 20 minutes from anywhere in town,” was the main perk almost every local we talked to said about living there.
So the question would be is Waco worth visiting? Yes. All of the Magnolia Farms stuff is worth seeing, there are several tourist activities worth doing, and of course Baylor University is worth visiting. Will we return to Waco? Probably not as a planned stop, but I would stop again if we were in the area.
Here is a picture of Baylor Stadium from the freeway.
Day 24
This was our travel day to San Antonio, with a stop in Austin for lunch and some sightseeing.
On the way to Austin, we had to stop at a rest stop/gas station/store called Buc-ee’s with a beaver as a mascot. This stop was well worth the time. Check it out.
Once we got into Austin, we stopped for lunch at La Barberque. Texas is famous for its BBQ, and this was no exception. Outstanding!
The giant bone in the middle of the table was a single beef rib. And it was delicious.
Next we visited Zilker Brewing where Corrianne and I tried some beers. They ranged from OK to pretty good.
Our last stop was at the Texas University bookstore. Here is the outside.
Once inside, I was unable to buy any merchandise because I am a USC fan and you just can’t buy any Texas Longhorn paraphernalia. Both of the girls made purchases, which is fine, I just couldn’t do it. I did take a picture of a tribute to Earl Campbell. USC fan or not, I’m a huge Earl Campbell fan and always will be.
And here are a few funny signs to let you know a cash register was closed.
And so ends the stop in Austin.
The next post will be about our stay in San Antonio.