Magnolia & Fort Worth Itinerary

There comes a time in every HGTV lover's life when they decide it's time to take the plunge...and schedule a trip to Waco! Quite honestly, as someone in the world of interior design, I get tired of being asked if I want to become the next Joanna Gaines. BUT the way I see it, whether or not your style aligns directly with Joanna's, she and Chip are entrepreneurial prodigies who transformed a forgotten town into a destination. They literally took their hobby and turned it into an entire experience, simultaneously creating opportunities for other creative small businesses to flourish. Plus, nobody can turn reality TV into a comedy show like Chip. But that's enough fangirling for today.

Over Christmas break, some friends and I scheduled a quick trip to Magnolia & Fort Worth and it was incredible! I thought it would be helpful to share our itinerary and the amazing place we stayed, because it totally made the trip. Talking to a few friends before we left was super helpful in finding hidden gems and simply knowing how long to stay, since Waco is a pretty small town. Without further ado...

How Long Do We Need?

Of course everybody's travel style is different and people will require different lengths of time, but I would recommend 2 days in Waco as the sweet spot. In our case, we were looking for a chill girl's trip to serve as a sort of spring break replacement. This meant we wanted to see everything, but still have time to kick back at a coffee shop for an hour and chat. If that's not your style, you could certainly cover the Silos in one day, but we enjoyed the relaxed pace of a two day trip. Another perk was time to enjoy more cuisine, cause let's be real. Good food is essential for good travel :)

I'll share a detailed itinerary later, but we spent two nights at an Airbnb in Waco, then hit Fort Worth for a bit on the second half of our trip. By the end, we felt we hit all the Texas moods...from Waco to Honkey Tonk to Downtown.

Where to Stay

The highlight of the trip for me was staying in the German Schmear House from Fixer Upper!

We booked through Airbnb, and had an absolutely incredible time. If you don't have an Airbnb account yet, you can sign up with this link and get up to $50 off your first stay. The house was absolutely stunning and location was only about 10 minutes from anywhere you would want to go! We enjoyed cooking in the beautiful kitchen, eating out back under the lights, and watching the Fixer Upper episode while in the house. It was wild to be sitting in the finished product, seeing where it came from!

Our Itinerary

Day 1: Travel Day!

Most of us decided to road trip it out to Texas, but a couple flew. We met them at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and pulled into the Airbnb late that night.

Day 2: Magnolia Table, the Silos, & Dinner at the House

We started our day out right, with reservations at the Magnolia Table. The restaurant feels like something straight out of Europe, with ivy, outdoor seating, and bistro-inspiration.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Silos, chilling in the grass and soaking in the sun we don't feel during Indiana winters :), eating at the bakery, and essentially hitting everything we could on the grounds of the Silos. There isn't much need to over-plan because once you're at the Silos, everything is pretty much right there, except for the Magnolia table. So setting aside a good chunk of one day for this was perfect.

We ended the day with a drive by Chip and Jo's house, fly by drive of Waco, and making dinner together at the house. Such good memories from this evening.

Day 3: Waco Businesses, Little Shop on Bosque, Coffee, & Honky Tonk

This day might be my favorite, for the sheer variety of it. We began with an easy breakfast at the Airbnb, then packed out, took pictures, and headed out to explore other small shops in Waco.

A couple highlights:

• Harp Design Co.

• The Findery

• Gather

• Fabled: My challenge to you at this adorable bookstore meets coffee shop--find the kid's room, go to the Narnia closet, walk in said Narnia closet. I can't say more or I'll spoil the surprise!

We also stopped at the original Magnolia shop, now known as the Little Shop on Bosque, which is a can't miss for good bargains! And once we had thoroughly examined all our options we stopped back at the Silos to hit up the Magnolia Press and grab any last minute purchases. Cause you know... who can decide the first time they see something? They were patient with me :)

The mood change that comes next is just my favorite. We went from classy Europeans on a coffee break to the depths of the Honky Tonk. That's right. I made a quick phone call and discovered Billy Bob's Texas Honky Tonk was hosting line dancing for college students that night, so we skirted on over to Fort Worth to hit up some line dancing and pool tables.

It was everything my country side needed to experience and I am still finding myself deeply disappointed that I somehow grew up somewhere where line-dancing isn't a weekly pass-time. Hmm. I'm pretty sure that was a mistake...

Also, can we just say props to Texas for having dances and live music despite COVID. So 👏🏽Proud. 👏🏽

Day 4: Stockyards, Sundance Square, Vaquero Coffee, & Water Gardens

And can it really be a trip to Fort Worth without seeing the cattle drive? For the last day, we did all the classic things...visiting the Stockyards to watch a cattle drive and look for the most expensive boots we can find. Here is what I learned: I'm pretty sure I could pay my tuition with the amount of money a cowboy is wearing on his body. Between their hat, boots, and belts those guys aren't messing around, ha!

We also slid over to Sundance square, but found ourselves to be tired travelers, so we crashed on the engulfing leather couches at Vaquero Coffee and made ourselves at home for a couple hours. They were so good to us! Then we headed to the water gardens, which are absolutely a can't miss. So much fun! We finished it off with a top notch meal at Mash'd on Crockett Row, which is the coolest area of Fort Worth. Ice cream topped us off and we headed back for a movie and bed before the trip home.

Day 5: Travel day.

Can I just say, traveling with people is my favorite way to get to know them better! I love learning more about people's lives, seeing the way they live their day to day, bonding over inside jokes, making memories, exploring and discovering, and having the deep conversations that come from spades of time together. This will always be one of my favorite college memories and I'm so thankful for everyone who could come!

I hope you are able to make it to Waco someday soon & if so, hopefully this provides some inspiration. If you're willing to drive or find a cheap flight, bring enough people to split accommodations, and make some of your own food, this is an easy trip to do affordably. Yay for travel! Do any of y'all have trips coming up? I'd love to hear where you're headed!

Oh, and happy March! The snow is melting and I woke up to birds one morning this week. Hallelujah! Aren't you thankful seasons change? This year I'm especially excited for spring. Also, I've been listening to this song called Springtime lately & it has been such a beautiful reminder of seasons and how they are a glimpse of the bigger picture of life and how as we wait on the Lord, He is faithful to change the seasons.

make yourself at home,

Liv

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Have the best March ❤️