It’s taken me a few months to get this post written, but I wanted to “formally” share about our trip to Texas last Fall! My husband had a business trip to Austin that I tagged along with him on. We flew out a few days before his work conference began so we could have some extra time to explore.
As soon as our plane landed and we got our rental car, we headed straight for San Antonio. It was about an hour car ride from Austin. It was a rainy and cold day, but we made the most of the afternoon. We wandered the River Walk, found a great Tex-Mex place for lunch and finished our afternoon touring The Alamo. It was a great day and I’m very glad we fit it into our trip. We drove back and stayed in Austin that night.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and headed to Waco! Waco is about an 1.5 drive from Austin (in the opposite direction as San Antonio). The weather was AWFUL on our drive to Waco. Pouring rain and COLD. I was started to get bummed that this would hinder my oh-so-anticipated trip. Low and behold, once we got into Waco…the rain moved out!! Hallelujah! It was still very COLD. I can do cold, though.
It was a Monday when we went (and again…cold and rainy) which made for an actually pleasant trip to the Magnolia Market grounds! We were able to park and walk around without very much crowd.
We came in mid November, so the the grounds were just beginning to change from Fall to Winter. While the outside areas still had pumpkins; the inside of the Market was beautifully outfitted for Christmas/ winter! I absolutely loved walking around and looking at all the amazing displays. Except for a T-shirt, I did not buy a single thing. This surprises some people, but honestly I didn’t care about the actual items. I was more excited about experiencing the FEEL of everything.
One of my favorite spots was the Seed and Supply shop. It is a smaller building on the side of the property, but it is so beautiful and truly exemplified the Joanna Gaines’ touch.
We walked around the corner to see about getting a cupcake from the bakery, but there was already a long line. It was getting to be about lunchtime so we decided that if we were going to wait in a long line for some food…we would rather head over to Magnolia Table to wait for some lunch!
Before we got in our car, we made sure to walk across the street to visit The Findery, which was such a beautiful shop!
It took about 5-10 minutes to drive to Magnolia Table. When we got there, the parking lot was FULL. Zack dropped me off by the door so I could go put our names down. The hostess took my name and asked which type of seating we prefered .. private or community style. I had already known of this concept from watching Fixer Upper so I decided we would go with whichever came first. The wait was 1 hour… which I am told is actually a GREAT day to have come. Usually it is a 3+ hour wait and they have to close their waiting list in order to get everyone in. So, I considered ourselves lucky!
The grounds of the restaurant were nothing short of amazing. Had it been a warmer day…I can only imagine the bliss of enjoying all the outdoor nooks. We were able to find some warmth and wait indoors on the Take-Out side of the facility.
Finally it was time to eat. We were seated at a large corner table…with two other families! I have to admit, it was a very unusual feeling to be sat down with complete strangers for lunch. We were able to enjoy some conversation and it was neat to learn where everyone came from and the different walks of life we were all in. Zack got the eggs benedict and I got the pancake breakfast. The portions were HUGE. And the food was DELICIOUS.
Did I mention how incredible the restrooms were???
After lunch, we decided to ride over to Harp Design. It was the most devine smelling shop!! All the items were super cute too!
We made one more stop by Joanna’s original Magnolia shop on Bosque. They sell lots of extra inventory and scratch and dent items at this location. Depending on what you are looking for, you can find some great deals.
I know it’s all the rage to love anything done by the Gaines’ family. But what I loved most, besides all the beauty of the facilities and decor items, was how inspired it left me feeling. To see how Joanna started with a small shop to her now HUGE platform was really amazing. What stood out the most from the day was how incredibly friendly the Magnolia staff was at every single location. I was very impressed at how well organized and thought out every thing was. Kudos to the whole Magnolia team!
Have you been to Waco? If so, what was your favorite part?
-Adrian
stewartstyle.com 