Hi again! I thought I’d divide posting about my foray into Fixer-Upper country. Obviously, as an English major, I’m verbose enough for about three people combined. For Day #1, click here.
A quick word about how my children were handling my extended absence. Apparently, all went pretty well on the homefront. I wasn’t too worried, but I knew my husband, father-in-law, and sister-in-law would be pretty worn out by the time our trip ended. The hardest part for me was how well my 2-year-old daughter knows how to twist the guilt knife whenever I called to check in.
“I come tooooooo!” she hollered when she heard my voice on speakerphone.
She had also made this proclamation when I gently explained how Mama and Grandma would be going to Texas for a few days. I’m always baffled by how much she can actually understand. And her “I come too!” plea basically said, “Mama! You forgot me! Let me go get my shoes on so I can come with you!” Heart-wrenching, little girl.
During our second conversation, she whipped out, “I miss you, Mama!” for the first time in her little life. Lay it on thick, little one. Just wait until you go off to college…
Day #2 in Waco
Here are my thoughts on the Gaines’ restaurant, Magnolia Table, which is not located on the Magnolia Silo compound. We were there when the door opened at 6 a.m. After the first few people were seated, we had to wait exactly three minutes in the 35ish-degree darkness before being seated. No one was especially hungry that early. The food was good, and the staff was nice. We were finished around 7 a.m. and saw a small crowd waiting to be seated. I came away thinking we should’ve slept in a bit and waited a tad longer to get a seat. You just never know when it comes to touristy venues. We’d heard the day before the wait could be up to three hours long. That would’ve been frustrating, so I am glad we avoided that stress.
So, after filling my belly with croissants, eggs, avocado, and toast, we bided our time until the rest of the city opened at 10 a.m. The timing in Waco was a challenge. I felt like we were waiting around for things to happen. We had one more Magnolia gem to discover before heading out of town.
The Magnolia Warehouse Shop is the discount market located in Joanna Gaines’ original store on Bosque Boulevard. It was fairly small, but, obviously, the prices were a bit better than those at Magnolia Market. The “final sale!” section made me laugh, because it was hard to tell what items were damaged by customers or were simply beat up in their “vintage” state.
And with that, we headed north! To West! West, Texas, that is!
Mama Sr., and I simply had to stop in West, as it’s a Czechoslovakian immigrant town, a lot like the Florida town in which my mom was raised. That Czechoslovakian pride runs fairly deep. We went for the antiques, strudel, and kolaches. We found all of that as well as a bitingly frigid wind and a tiny town that could use a little more PR influence. West just needs to use its niche a little more strongly, if that makes sense?
After this, we headed north to Dallas to drop off Mama Sr., at the airport. Then my mother-in-law and I turned the minivan east and drove until our eyelids began to droop (about 8 p.m.). We spent about seven hours in Jackson, Mississippi, then headed home to the babies. And the husbands, of course!
Did you have any fun adventures over the holiday break? Tell us about them! Though, my greatest adventure is the search for a clean house, as my post-vacation home is a w.r.e.c.k.
Sounds like a fun day. I don’t blame you for going earlier. I would never be able to wait in line for 3 hours.
It was just so cold! We also learned that if you wait too late into the day, they eventually close the waitlist.