Ever Ready: Fixer Upper Tour of Waco, Texas Part One

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Fixer Upper Tour of Waco, Texas Part One

Waco, Texas though it's home to Baylor University and the birthplace of the soft drink Dr. Pepper the show "Fixer Upper" is making this town a popular destination.

After five successful seasons of "Fixer Upper" on HGTV, Joanna and Chip Gaines are best known for their show in which they sell houses and style them for lucky clients in Waco, Texas.

But the Gaineses have come a long way from their small business flipping houses. Nowadays, it's safe to say they've built a nationally recognized lifestyle brand. They opened a bakery, publish a quarterly journal, and have their own home paint and wallpaper line, among other things. Along the way they've stayed true to their roots in Waco, often lifting up other small business owners with them.

Perhaps my daughter missed her calling in life. Instead of teaching being a tour director for this area would be the perfect job for her. She has watched almost every episode of "Fixer Upper" and had done a lot of preplanning of where to go and what to do so we'd make the most of our three day visit. What we did not factor in was the temperatures in the 100's three days in a row. It was imperative to plan accordingly as the weather limited how much walking one could do as even a 5 block walk in 100 degrees seemed like an eternity.

Starting out with a guided Waco tour morning tour for 2 hours in a shuttle with AC was helpful getting a general idea of the area. They took us by homes that had been featured on the show plus other points of interest in the area.

Enjoy the photos and commentary. We had a great time and it was all so interesting to see the places you read and heard about.

Magnolia Market

Magnolia Market at the Silos is a shopping complex that encompasses two city blocks in downtown Waco, Texas. It is marked by two 120’ high silos, built in 1950 as part of the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company.

It was fun to experience the area first-hand. Feels like a cross between an antique store and a farmer's market with an array of diverse merchandise.

It's a really busy place and know that if traveling you can order the same merchandise online or have them mail your order to you.
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and a large green space for kids to play on with food trucks near the silos.

Be sure to treat yourself to a cupcake afterwards at the Silos Baking Co. (on site bakery). There was a line but the wait mid-afternoon was about 20 minutes. They are super organized with an order form to present to cashier. Our two recommends are a lavender lemon cupcake and strawberry lemonade cupcake.