There's more to Waco, TX than Magnolia! From a homesteading community to the entrepreneurial Dr. Pepper Museum, there's tons of fun things to do and things to see in the Heart of Texas!
0:00: Welcome to Waco, TX
0:25 Homestead Heritage and Craft Village
1:40: McLennan Courthouse
2:23 Dr Pepper Museum
3:56 Taste Test of Fresh Dr Pepper
4:34 Magnolia Silos and Market
6:59 Waco Riverwalk & Mac & Cheese Review
7:25 Branding the Brazos Statues
7:56 Waco Suspension Bridge
8:26 Waco Sculpture Zoo
8:40 Waco Mammoth National Monument
9:24 Safe Travels to Waco!
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Transcript:
The first thing on our list is The Homestead Craft Village at Homestead Heritage is
located 15 minutes north of downtown Waco. It features shopping, dining, and tours, and classes. It's an agrarian community that has buildings to tour and shop, including a quilt and fabric store, a general store, a market place, gift barn, blacksmithing, basketry, fiber crafts ,woodworking, pottery, a gristmill and tea house, plus there's food options such a bbq, a waffle place, and an actual restaurant. There's also classes you can take. They also host two festivals a year, one an annual homestead fair in late November and a sorghum festival in September. If you have any interest in homesteading, farming, or want to get out of the concrete jungle, this is a good place to stop.
Now let's drive into the heart of Waco
Thing to do #2, the McLennan County Courthouse! This courthouse was built during the peak of Central Texas Cotton Wealth and is made of steel, limestone,
marble, and Texas red granite, which from the looks of it, attracts
pigeons.
#3, the Dr. Pepper Museum. Built in 1906, the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company was the first building dedicated to the manufacturing of Dr Pepper.
A public museum since 1991, this museum is a very thorough museum experience taking your through not only the history of Dr. Pepper but also the soft drink industry itself.
Did you know that there was a time where carbonated drinks were thought to hold
cures for fever, scurvy, kidney troubles, and even stress. TONS of information to browse through, so if you have a short amount of time here, you won't be able to read 1/50th of the information here. In fact, Waco used to be called Geyser city because of all the artesian wells! The museum, which costs $10 to enter, includes a fresh dr pepper made right in front of you with syrup and added carbonated water. This is in the other building, where you can also get a very delicious float!
Magnolia Silos and Market, #4: I had no idea what to expect as I didn't look at videos prior
or really studied it, I just knew it's a must-stop in Waco. I was happily
surprised at how pretty it was. They had a lot of things to look at for such a relatively
small area. Tons of shopping (and insanely long lines to go along with that).
good food trucks, a courtyard where families can play cornhole or soccer or
just sit in cute chairs and watch the children play, then continuing south you
came to the church and the surrounding mini shops. According to their website, the goal of Magnolia is to inspire people to create a home and life they love, as home is their favorite place to be. The beginning of their Magnolia Manifesto goes "We believe in home,
that it should restore us from today and ready us for tomorrow." Ok, but it's slightly past lunch time for me so I grabbed some mac and cheese and a tea for lunch to take to the Brazos river on our next stop. But first, let's recap Magnolia as I walk two blocks back to my car!
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The Waco Riverwalk, where we will find our next three destinations
as well as other cool sights! We find ourselves at The Waco suspension bridge
which, if you guessed, is also along the Chisholm trail. And on the southern side
there is a bunch of cool cowboy statues and cattle, which is thing to see
#5. The sculpture group includes three riders on horseback
and a herd of 25 longhorn cattle. It's a fun statue set to walk through.
Ok now it's time for, you guessed it, lunch!
Number 6 is to walk the 475 foot WAco suspension bridge that was built by the same man
who built the Brookyln Bridge! This was the first bridge across the Brazos river. 19 years later, McLennan county bought the bridge and made it a public free thoroughfare.
Number 7, Waco Zoo Statues. In total, there are 28 statues made by leading artists across the united states. This would be a great spot to bike all the way down to the zoo or the cities 400 acre Cameron Park.
Things to do #8, Waco Mammoth National Monument! There were 16 Columbia mammoths were discovered between 1978 and 1990. It's worth a stop if you're into fossils but it's also not that expensive if you're not into fossils to still go and see it.
I'd definitely recommend visiting Waco, whether it be a day trip from Austin, a day trip from Dallas, or a pit stop while drive I-35 in Texas. Safe Travels, my friends!