My Visit to the Silos

We just returned from a long (wonderful) weekend in Texas yesterday visiting family.  While there, we had the opportunity to visit Waco and tour Baylor University.  We also spent a few hours at Chip and Joanna’s place, the Silos/Magnolia Market.

I’m not exactly sure what its name is, so I’m just going to call it the Silos. The outdoor section was a cool place to visit as it encourages folks to relax and visit. There are plenty of picnic tables, big swings, and a green space area with sports balls and corn hole. It had rained A LOT the morning we were there- so there was lots of mud/standing water. Thankfully, the green “grass” is actually outdoor turf carpet so it wasn’t muddy. This was a great area for little kids to run around, chase balls and play. The swings were big enough for kids of all ages and many adults. They each had a mud puddle under them, but that didn’t stop them from being filled. There were also good trucks parked in this area (they seem to stay here all the time). We didn’t eat at them (lines were crazy long when we drove by earlier- which encouraged us to hit up a fast food restaurant instead.

The Silos Bakery remodel was featured on last week’s episode of Fixer Upper and the line to get in was probably 100 people long. Everyone knows that I love a good cupcake but that line was too intense for me.

I visited Magnolia Marketplace and picked up a few souvenirs. The lay out/displays at the store are really cool. They seem so much more organically assembled than just metal/plastic shelves. Check out lines were quick- but the place was really crowded- like hard to move around crowded. There were two parts “upstairs”- which had more decor items like fake flowers/vases  and “downstairs”- which had souvenirs.

Overall, I think the amount of people that show up is really surprising to everyone- including the owners because there are not nearly enough bathrooms for everyone. Long lines were found for all of them except the after thought port-a-potties. They have to be making a large amount of money here. Tank tops, t-shirts and hats were all $28 each. The city seems very excited about this influx of tourism/money. The Baptist church located next door must be ecstatic as they charge visitors $10 to park there. (Magnolia Silos has there own free parking- you just have to find it). There is also a free trolley that does a loop around Waco. There is free parking along it’s route and you get dropped off at the entrance to the Silos.

I’m glad we visited as it was a great place to let JB play for an hour and I got to check out what all the excitement is about. However, I don’t think I would plan a trip to Texas to just visit the Silos. But since we were already there, why not?

learn, brooke