12/12-14/18
DAY 1:
This Christmas, my Mom surprised me with a trip to Waco, Texas! We have long watched Fixer Upper religiously, oohing and ahhing at every transformation Chip and Joanna made happen in their tiny Texas town. We both have subscriptions to the Magnolia magazine, cheered when their merchandise hit Target shelves, and have long dreamed of actually seeing their empire in Waco. Finally, this Christmas we got to go! My mom presented me with a shirt that read “Take me to the Silos” on Thanksgiving, and I went to work immediately making an itinerary that would allow us to take in everything Waco had to offer.
We flew into Austin on a Tuesday afternoon and quickly rented a little Ford Fiesta to make the quick drive to Waco. On the way, we made a stop in McGregor, Texas, just outside of Waco. McGregor is home to the Magnolia House (323 S Madison Ave), Chip and Joanna’s bed and breakfast that currently rents out for around $900 a night! We stopped by to see it, and take a quick picture. Then we stopped in a nearby cupcake shop called “Cuppie Cakes” that was decorated so colorfully, with soft couches to sit on while we munched on our cupcakes. (402 W 3rd St.) Then we headed just a little further down the road to “Cedar Chest,” an antique store often frequented by Joanna Gaines. (31631 US-84) After finding a few treasures there, we continued to a house that was redone by the Gaines and is now owned by the founder of Waco Tours and the official Fixer Upper photographer for HGTV. (1413 Oak Hollow Dr.)
We then continued on to Waco to see Joanna’s original store “Magnolia” which she opened in 2003. (3801 Bosque). Its a tiny building on Bosque, and we learned from her book that Chip had salvaged the letters to make the mismatched sign that still hangs on the storefront. It is now a warehouse that sells slightly damaged and last chance items from their large market. We got an adorable little llama wall hanging and made our way to our AirBnB, another surprise from my Mom. We stayed in the German Schmear house in the heart of Waco. It was absolutely adorable, and after settling in we went back out to see another little house that the Gaines redid, called “Barndamonium.” (117 Spring Creek St.) We planned to go to Cafe Homestead for dinner, but we realized it closed at 5 pm on weekdays, along with most restaurants in Waco. We went to a little Mexican place called “Abuelita’s” instead, before going downtown to an adorable coffee shop with a rooftop bar called “Dichotomy Coffee.” (508 Austin Ave). I ordered a foaming hot chocolate and we sat on the rooftop looking out at the tall Alico building and the twinkling Christmas lights on the capitol building.
DAY 2:
On Day 2 we woke up bright and early to make it to the Silos Bakery by 8 am. (601 Webster Ave). We found a prime parking spot in the free parking lot provided by Magnolia, and ordered sugary breakfast food and coffee from the bakery that we sat eating while we surveyed the complex while we waited for the Market to open. We were pretty much the only ones there, and got our pick of the photo ops and free reign to explore the beautifully curated grounds. There is a large green space with picnic tables and a stage on one side, surrounded by food trucks that open up for lunch. In the back corner, theres a neat garden with a miniature greenhouse and seed shop. When the market opened, we looked at all of the treasures inside, and bought several! We then took a quick walk down the street to The Findery (501 S 8th St.) and a little strip of shops on Mary avenue close by, all adorably curated antique shops to explore before the food trucks opened at 11 am.
After lunch we headed to Harp Design (808 N 15th St.), where all the creations of Clint Harp are housed, right next door to the house that the Gaines created for his family. I got a signed edition of Clint’s book before we headed off to our tour of the various Fixer Upper houses around Waco:
211 N 40th St.
121 Castle Ave. (1st episode)
2001 Gorman Ave
1525 McKenzie Ave (owners are the founders of Common Grounds)
1403 N 5th St. (Mailander house)
707 S 7th St. (shotgun house)
After our house tour of all the neighborhoods in Waco, we headed to Spice Village (213 Mary Ave), a huge collection of clothing and creative gifts. We then visited the Suspension bridge (101 N University Parks Dr.) and the street of boutique shops on Austin avenue. (Sironia, Junque Queens, and Honey’s Home). We then went to Common Grounds (1123 S 8th St) to grab some coffee for a pick me up and to Heritage Creamery Shack next door for some gingerbread ice cream. We then took a quick rest at our AirBnB before going to our dinner reservation at Milo All Day (1020 Franklin Ave), which is a new restaurant and was absolutely delicious.
The next morning, we went to Magnolia Table (2132 S Valley Mills Dr) bright and early, and had no wait as we ordered oatmeal, bacon, and delicious powdered donuts. We finished our whirlwind tour with the yummy breakfast, thanking the fun town for the wonderful time it gave us this Christmas break. Thank you to my generous mom for setting up this whole trip, it was everything I had been dreaming of since the show started years ago!
