On April 14th before it got blistering hot I planned a little mothers and daughter/ girls trip to Waco for a Saturday. Jo's cookbook was coming out, my mom, Roelie (mother in-law), and myself all LOVE all things Gaines and the Magnolia Table restaurant had recently opened. There was no better time to head to Waco early one Saturday morning to have brunch at Magnolia Table, enjoy the other projects the Gaines have around Waco and just do a little exploring. We left around 5 am and made it to Waco around 8. The wait at Magnolia Table was already lengthy. We ended up waiting right at 2 1/2 hours but enjoyed the outdoor waiting/sitting area and had a coffee. The weather was still pretty chilly in those morning hours but it was ssooooo worth it!
There were people all the way from Ohio there just waiting to do all things Fixer Upper. It was incredible, everything about the experience from the landscaping, the decor in the restaurant, the history, and the FOOD!
We got the much talked about homemade biscuits and strawberry butter for the table and wow!!! Melt in your mouth is an understatement! Just enough salt, just enough sweet, just couldn't get enough but we had to save room for all our other yummy plates coming up.
I was a glutton and got a little bit of everything because I had to try a few things since we wouldn't be coming back all the time plus we needed to see if those biscuits and butter were a fluke LOL! I also got a breakfast plate with sausage patties, medium eggs, and the most dense, moist, but heavenly hash brown nuggets EVER! I had never had "hash browns" made this way and OMG I have no clue what they were made up of but it was so good almost like dough. And the topper to me was the avocado toast. If you were a Fixer Upper fan then you know there was one episode where the avocado toast was Jo's idea and Chip wasn't sold well let me tell you....I'm so glad I got this and I still have dreams of it today. I would go back to the restaurant and wait 3 hours just for this toast. The toast was a blend of grains with a half way chunky but creamy avocado spread topped with micro greens in basil olive oil and a side of red pepper flakes and sea salt to add as you would like..... wow my mouth is watering just reliving this experience. SO Good! Just go and try it for yourself you will not be disappointed.
After our brunch we left happy and with full bellies to hit up the little shop on Bosque, which was Jo's first baby. It just so happened that the Saturday we were there was the last day the shop was going to be open for that season. The shop there is only open a few days a season from what I understand and it has mostly past season's leftovers that are marked down. We were glad we stopped and saw the little shop but we didn't find any must haves.
After the first shop visit we headed downtown to visit the silo complex. We walked around and there were TONS of people. I got a tea from one of the truck vendors that was so good and we loved the seed shop. The gardens are so well thought out and put together I wish I could make my backyard like that it is such a little piece of Heaven on Earth! The seed shop was quaint. I got a hat and a plant lady tee. We stopped all around and took pictures of everything and our last stop before heading over to the bakery was the Magnolia store that had all the housewares and such inside. I came out with a sweatshirt and a cookbook about cooking things directly from your garden that also has some recipes and growing tips.
After the store Mom and Roelie took all our merchandise to the car while I got in line for the bakery. It took about an hour to get through the line and get our cupcakes. We ended up getting a solid dozen with 4 different flavors 3 of each so we could also try a few and take some home to the men who missed out. The bakery is really the only thing that I wasn't completely in love with. It was really cute but the cupcakes weren't worth the wait in my opinion. The white cake with chocolate icing was my favorite and I am glad we gave them a try but if I go back the bakery won't be a must stop especially if there is a line.
After we enjoyed a cupcake we headed out to work our way back to the car and stopped at a few of the downtown shops along the way and also saw some really cool street art.
It was early afternoon when we left the downtown Waco area so we decided to stroll over to Harp Design who is also a fixture on the Fixer Upper show. It was so cool seeing one of the actual houses that Chip and Jo essentially rebuilt from the ground up and the Harp store/ workshop right next door. We browsed the shop but that's all we did. It was EXPENSIVE and that is an understatement LOL! Really neat things though.
Before we headed out on our 3 hour journey back home we stopped at Root Burger for an early supper. None of us had ever ate there and it was really good and had a really cool vibe.
It was a long day but it was really rewarding and such a great experience that I got to share with my Mom and mother in-law. Hopefully it won't be too long until we can take a short trip to another coveted town in Texas....maybe down South??
