I’m back with the promised part 2 of my adventures in Texas! As I talked about in my Adventures in Austin post I spent a majority of my time in Austin but I was fortunate enough that my friend Ryan was willing to hitch me a ride up north to Waco. When I planned my trip to Texas I knew that I wanted to make it to Waco if at all possible so I could spend time in the motherland of all: the Magnolia silos.
I am so thankful that I got to experience this magical little place in Waco and am equally glad I get to share it with all of you. In total, I spent about 2.5 hours there which I found to be a good amount of time. For a frame of reference, I visited on a Monday and it was much busier than I expected it to be. The staff shared that since they are closed on Sundays they tend to see a larger crowd on Mondays (with Tuesday and Wednesday typically being their quieter days!) I also happened to visit the day following the first ever Silo District Marathon so I am assuming some of the crowd was a continuation of that group.
The silos campus includes multiple stops or attractions on the same grounds: The Magnolia Market store, the bakery, a smaller garden shop in the back surrounding by gardens of fresh flowers, a large open turf courtyard with yard games, bean bags, and space to play, and then last (but certainly NOT least) a collection of local food trucks to fill your bellies with delicious food and drinks. { Of note, the Magnolia Table restaurant has recently opened but is not located on the silos grounds so I did not get the chance to check it out}
Out on the grounds they also have plenty of seating and most of it protected from the sun with umbrellas or large overhangs. The grounds are filled with large farmhouse and picnic family-style tables and black & white color schemes. The courtyard where you first enter that serves as a patio for the bakery is filled with sweet black & white patio chairs and offers another place to sit down and relax. And of course it wouldn’t be a true Joanna Gaines space if it wasn’t filled with beautiful plants and greenery. I loved admiring the hanging planters and plants throughout the property to bring lush feeling to the grounds. This big family style table below is where I enjoyed my lunch!
The food options available were so fun to read about and walk around before deciding. As I mentioned above all of the food trucks located on site are local to Waco and have unique offerings that are outside of the box. There was sweet tea, pizza, smoothies, cold brew coffee, grilled cheese, crepes, burgers, sandwiches, and anything else you can imagine! The day I was there was extremely hot (92 degrees and SUNNY!) so I made a stop at the Luna juice bar food truck A) because I couldn’t not eat at a place that shares a name with my sweet puppy and B) a cold smoothie sounded delicious in the hot weather. I got a smoothie that I won’t soon forget….I took a picture of the contents so that I could list them all for you. It was lifechanging and I really want to try making something similar at home but I’ve already accepted the fact that it would be nowhere near as good:
- banana
- peanut butter
- oatmeal
- unsweetened cocoa
- cinnamon
- maple syrup
- cold brew coffee
- cashew milk
Sounds amazing, doesn’t it!? The coffee gave me a good caffeine boost and the taste was so raw and natural. Since that was basically dessert in liquid form I needed to decided what my main course would be. The decision was fairly easy for me since my love of cheese is so apparent: I went with Cheddar Box gourmet grilled cheese. I got “The Boss” which was basil, bacon, and gouda cheese (my absolute favorite cheese) on grilled sourdough. This sandwich was also life changing and really hit the spot. They’re special salad that day was watermelon and mint which sounded refreshing in the heat so I got some of that too which was the perfect natural compliment to the sandwich and smoothie.
When I first got on the grounds I took my slow stroll through the Magnolia Market store. That was extremely crowded so I didn’t get to enjoy and take my time as much I would have ideally wanted to but I still was able to get through the whole store. They sell more than you would imagine: décor of all kinds, cookware, cookbooks, inspiration books, signs, clothing, floral stems, coffee mugs, and the list is endless. I took photos of a few items that inspired me/that I thought would work in my house but since they were larger I knew I didn’t want to purchase as I wouldn’t have been able to take them home with me on the plane.
I didn’t want to leave the silo empty-handed because that didn’t seem right!! So I decided to purchase a cute black and white marble coffee cup to add to my collection at my office as well as a wide strap casual tanktop to wear outside this summer while gardening. I find myself envisioning going back to the silos again someday when it is quieter so that I can spend more quality time in the store and not feel rushed with the masses of people!
Near the back of the property was this fun vintage style jeep that I had a friendly group of women take my picture in front of! This is near the large gardens I mentioned earlier which lead you in to the sweet small garden store at the back. In this separate “store” are only garden related items and so I decided to make a second purchase when I got back there! They had many different types of flower and food seeds packaged and available so I picked some seeds that I planted in my flower bed this past weekend at home.
No Chip and Joanna sightings happened while I was visiting and I also didn’t get the chance to experience the bakery or the treats because the line to get in was so long!! Even with those downfalls my experience was great and I am looking forward to a day when I can make another trip back and try it all again. As always thanks so much for reading along with me 🙂 I hope you’re having a wonderful week!
#sugarspiceandstylethatsnice
xoxo Jen
sugar, spice, and style that's nice 