When your bestie invites you to travel with her to Texas to visit Magnolia Market in Waco is there even a question as to whether you will go or not?!? It was almost an immediate yes! after I talked it over with the husband of course and arranged childcare before and after school for the kids. We planned to fly into Austin and stay there for the duration of our trip. Our trip was 3 nights and 4 days in November before Thanksgiving. The plan was to drive to Waco for a day to spend time exploring Magnolia Market and all that the Gaines’ family have to offer.
We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Austin, had an amazing barbecue dinner and then planned to drive to Waco the next day. Waco is 102 miles from Austin, roughly a 1.5 hour drive. We bought ourselves some amazing Dutch Bros coffee (we are from Oregon where Dutch Bros was founded) and headed on our way.
After finding a street parking spot just a block from the silos we walked up on the backside of the silos were Chip & Joanna (probably mostly Joanna) have paid great attention to detail and they have flower baskets along the fences. As we walked the Magnolia Bakery was the first building we came upon. There was a significant line and we had just eaten breakfast so we decided to explore first and come back to the bakery.
Once we entered the area I had to take a picture with the #milestomagnolia sign that is next to the silos. Again the attention to detail is amazing and the silos and grounds are beautifully landscaped and it was fun to explore and see the amazing flowers still in bloom.
The silos are beautiful, old, rusty and rustic and make a great background for someone who loves farmhouse decor.
Since we traveled during November when we arrived at the Magnolia store it was already decorated for the Christmas season. I just had to take pictures of all the beautiful displays.
I found a couple items to purchase including Christmas ornaments, a tote bag, a t-shirt to commemorate our trip and a rolling pin. As much as I wanted to purchase some of the antique/vintage items I knew I would only have so much room in my suitcase.
After the store it was getting to be lunchtime and we wanted to make sure to eat at Magnolia Table before it closed at 3pm. So we left before seeing everything at the silos and drove over to grab a bite. My friend dropped me off and she went to find parking, we were told the wait would be 45 minutes but after sitting down for only about 10 minutes we were told our table was ready.
The decor inside Magnolia Table is top notch and exactly what I would expect from a place that was created by Joanna Gaines. And the food was amazing, Ashley and I shared an appetizer of pimento cheese and seasoned saltines that was delicious. I also chose to get a sweet tea as this is a Southern staple and it was good, a little too sweet for my tastes but not terrible. My entree was a chicken salad on a croissant with homemade tater tots and again it was great. In addition to the food being amazing the wait staff was excellent.
After our excellent meal we went to find the castle that Chip & Joanna had recently renovated as it is located close to Magnolia Table. The castle looks really cool but very out of place in a residential neighborhood.
Once we took our pictures at the castle we drove through some Waco neighborhoods and stopped at the original Magnolia on Bosque and also found Joanna’s builder Chip’s store and workshop. (Since our trip in November 2023 his storefront has since been closed.)
And then to round out our day the last stop was back at the silos, we toured the grounds and went into each of the mini shops that are along the turfed grass. I loved that the turf area as it is a great place for kids to play (they even provide the balls to play with) including a mini baseball diamond.
But before we made our way back to Austin we made one last stop at the Magnolia Market Bakery for some cupcakes and cookies!
If you are planning at trip to Magnolia Market in Waco I don’t think it is necessary to stay in Waco itself, I think it depends on how much time you want to spend around the grounds at the Silos and how crowded it is. We went on a Friday in November and the weather was overcast and there were not huge crowds at any of the locations. We spent a solid day in Waco and we both felt like we were able to see everything we wanted to see. If you want to take more time to explore outside of anything that is not related to Magnolia I would suggest at least a couple of days. Happy Travels!
Other Posts You May Like:
- Shiplap: Channeling my inner Joanna Gaines
- DIY Board and Batten Wall
- Best Time to Visit Magnolia Market
