Road Trip Time!

TRAVEL THERE: GIRL’S TRIP TO NEW BRAUNFELS VIA THE MAGNOLIA SILOS

Last summer, my friend Shana announced she’d gotten her life coach certification and extended an invitation to her first retreat.  I didn’t hesitate.  Of course I was going to attend and I figured my bestie would go, too.  The trip also proved to be the perfect opportunity to stop in Waco at the famous Magnolia Silos.

The Magnolia

Deb and I aren’t exactly DIY enthusiasts, but we’re all about shopping opportunities.  In Dallas, the buzz about The Magnolia was so loud we figured it had to be wonderful.  As it turned out, we’re just not the Fixer Upper types.  I’m sure that’s not hurting Chip and Joanna Gaines at all, but it did increase my growing sense of disconnect with the modern world.

We took a few wrong turns, but found the famous silos in spite of ourselves.  I’d heard on the weekends you couldn’t get near the place.  This particular Friday morning it was quiet, which may, in part, explain some of our lack of enthusiasm.

Lunch Time

The “restaurant” at The Magnolia is a group of food trucks with picnic-table seating.   On the surface that seemed like my cup of tea and it could have been, if the sun hadn’t turned the gravel covered area into an Easy Bake Oven.  We strolled up and down the row of food trucks and quickly understood why everyone was standing in line at the Cheddar Box.

The other choices available didn’t resonate with us.  We should have wanted to eat at the healthy place, but this was a road trip after all and indulgence is the name of the game.  There were some unhealthy choices, but the heat made those unappealing.  The crepes sounded good, but I didn’t want to start with dessert.  That left the Cheddar Box.  While my Guac This Way sammie was good, I can’t give the Cheddar Box any points for efficiency.

After waiting in line we were given a number and sent to find a table.  They said they’d call us when our sammies were ready.  While there were plenty of tables, only a few were covered, so everyone who was visiting The Magnolia, on this particular day, was huddled together out of the sun.  We made nice with the strangers at our tables and found they’d been waiting quite a while for their grilled cheese sandwiches, long before we arrived to huddle with them.  Then we waited together for another while.  By the time we got our sammies, the heat had drained us of our enthusiasm for them.

The Shopping Opportunity

The Magnolia Market was at the front of the property on the way to the car, so Deb and I hit the new garden center next to the food trucks.  While charming, the gardening style was a little un-manicured for our tastes and the goodies in the shed a little steep for our pocketbooks.  We figured we hadn’t yet happened upon the Magnolia Magic, so we headed for the main store.

I’d only watched one episode of Fixer Upper, so I didn’t know the style used in that episode was the sum total of the Magnolia look.  To me, something named after one of my favorite types of foliage, should be as elegant as the aroma of the namesakes blossoms.  Instead it was sort of log cabin meets minimalist porcelain.  Everybody else walked out with bags of goodies.  Deb and I just shrugged our shoulders and went back to the car.

While it was not exactly the break we’d hoped for, we’d managed to get lunch and mark something off our to-do list.  On to New Braunfels!