Friday, October 7, 2016

Waco Texas and Magnolia Market...home of HGTV's Chip and Joanna Gaines

Well our seafood quest ended as we moved further inland through TX. We stopped at the Cagle Campground in the Sam Houston National Forest for one night. Got a geocache there and a beautiful shaded site. Wish we could have stayed longer, beautiful area but we had a new mission. We wanted to stop in Waco Texas and see the Silos that HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines bought and reconditioned into a home store, bakery and family oriented oasis in downtown Waco. If you've seen the show "Fixer Upper" you know how funny and fun this couple is and how they help folks take a rundown house and make it into a dream home. They take great pride in doing quality work and contributing to the upgrading of communities one home at a time. Of course they weren't at the Silos but the staff there was extremely friendly and helpful just like they are.

Cagle Campground

National Forest all around

Great sites to park

We were able to score a site at a local State Park in Waco near Waco Lake. We had a reservation at the Midway Campground which made it easy to get to the downtown Waco area. Thought I had a photo of the campsite but photos of Magnolia Market and The Silos are better.

Iconic building in Waco

The entrance

The Silos

We found a parking space about two blocks from the Silo area. Of course the weather was very hot which actually turned out to be in our favor since it seemed to limit the number of visitors. We walked right up to the store and the grounds. Lots of merchandise for sale inside and very well decorated as you would expect.




If you've watched the show you know why Glenda is holding up this shirt.
Enlarge the photos for best viewing and reading.

We strolled around the store and picked up a couple of items. I got a hat with Magnolia Seed and Supply on it. Glenda got a nice bag to carry things in with Magnolia Market in big letter on it.

Outside they have food trucks in the back lot as a service to visitors and helping the local vendors.



We enjoyed our visit and made sure to stop at the bakery for some delicious cupcakes and I got a fantastic cinnamon roll for breakfast the next day.



Chip and Joanna have done a wonderful job of putting together an attraction for the Waco community. They even made a play area with artificial turf to play on and  big bean bag chairs to sit on as children and adults played. Unfortunately not too many folks were playing due to the heat and humidity.

Got my hat at Chips Corner

Outside gardens 

A photo without a bunch of folks out front

I highly recommend a visit to the Silos and Magnolia Market for those who follow the show. We're glad we made the effort to travel that way.

We finished off our visit with a lunch at a local Mexican Restaurant called Rufi's Cocina. A little hole in the wall place near downtown...got very good reviews and we certainly enjoyed our meal. In fact it was very authentic and bland. The waiter told us that real Mexican food is not typically spicy. That's what Americans have done to the traditional food. Some like it hot and some not. Haha 

Busy place off the beaten path

Don't tell Glenda I put this on the blog. She really doesn't like me putting photos of her on my blog however....
I think she looks beautiful.

Well that's our visit to Waco. Wonderful time. Worth our effort but time to move on.

Not much to blog about as we moved through TX and NM over the next few days. A few overnighters. Our next mission was to meet our friends Steve and Debbie in Durango, CO.

We stayed in Sweetwater, TX, Roswell, NM and Bernalillo, NM as we continued to Durango. I'll post a little on our Roswell stop next time prior to our visit in Durango. Thanks for following along.

8 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful picture of Glenda, but then, she is very photogenic! Looks like a fun place to check out. If we are in that area of Texas next spring, we'll stop it!

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    1. If you like the show you'll enjoy going there. Yes she is. 😎

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  2. We saw the Fixer Upper show where Chip bought the Silos but since we went Fulltime haven't been able to get the channel. We'll keep it in mind for future travels. We'll be heading to Arizona this winter.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. You might want to check into satellite tv. It's worth the trip. Let us know where in AZ you are this winter. Would enjoy meeting up. Thank you

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  3. I enjoy watching Fixer Upper, great couple with a great love of what they do and each other. I'll have to keep Waco in mind when we get to that area. I think TX could take a whole summer to explore. Great picture of Glenda, she's a beautiful lady whom we're glad to call a friend. Authentic Mexican isn't hot, just has some great flavors, our best Mexican meals have come from those kind of places. For a different twist you'll have to check out Chino Bandido's this winter while in AZ, quite the twist on Mexican.

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    1. That's what we like me about them too. Interesting place. We enjoy all kinds of Mexican food and we've seen a Chino Bandido before but the opportunity to go wasn't there. We'll try again this winter. Glad to see you're back in the lower 48 and had an awesome trip to AK.

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  4. While we had cable in Prescott and some rainy days, I enjoyed a marathon of watching Fixer Upper. Even Al got into watching the show. I'm sure Magnolia will/is providing tourism to the local community.
    We're settled back into our winter location in Phoenix. Give us a shout out it you'd like to get together. Perhaps a meet up at Chino Bandido? (first time I've heard of this place).

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    1. We're back in Gold Canyon, AZ now too for the winter. Getting a lot of work done on the truck and rig....Washing, waxing, etc. Takes time to get set up as you know. I know you would enjoy going to Waco and Magnolia Market. Once we get everything together I'll give you a shout. Thanks.

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