Not Wacky About Waco: The Silos
I am a combination Food Network and HGTV fan. I enjoyed watching Chip and Joanna Gaines on their television show, The Fixer Upper based out of Waco, Texas. I thought Joanna’s passion for remodeling and sense of decorating style combined with Chip’s playful spirit and carpentry skills made for great entertainment. The show only lasted for five seasons and towards the end they developed The Silos (Joanna’s working and storage area, turned tourist destination) and Magnolia Table (their restaurant). While I have been to Texas many times and have lived in Texas for several years, I hadn’t ever thought about a vacation destination to Texas.
Then one day I was watching Molly Yeh, Food Network star of Girl Meets Farm, another one of my favorite shows. Molly decided to take a vacation with her husband, Nick, to visit Waco as they were remodeling their home kitchen and wanted Clint Harp, the woodworker often seen on The Fixer Upper, to build some kitchen shelves for dessert sprinkle storage. Yes you read it right dessert sprinkle storage, Molly is a sprinkle fiend. Molly got to visit Joanna Gaines and The Silos on her trip and shared on her show Girl Meets Farm some places Nick and her ate at and visited. After watching Molly’s adventure, I felt that I needed to plan my own adventure with my husband to the Waco area. My husband had never been to Texas except to change planes at Houston Airport, and I wanted him to experience what Texas had to offer and especially some Texas barbeque. We flew into Austin, Texas airport and stayed in Austin as I was planning to go to Fredericksburg, Texas as well on this trip and wanted a central location between there and Waco.
The Silos: We planned a day trip from our Austin Texas Hotel up to Waco. It is not a bad drive but the traffic on Interstate 35 is extremely congested in the Austin area and did not let up until 60 miles outside of the city limits. The trip itself is about 100 miles and takes 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on the traffic. My main goal was to get to The Silos and look around and buy some cupcakes from the baking company that everyone seems to rave about. When we got there it was already getting busy for the day and there was an off-site parking area near a church down the street that we had to pay to park at.
We walked through the furniture store on the property that wasn’t all that exciting. There was a coffee shop when you first walked into the property, but the line was so busy we passed on it. There was a church on the grounds of the property, but nothing special about it. There was a line of food trucks on the property as well, we didn’t eat there as I was planning something else to eat for the day. I have to say I didn’t know what all the excitement was supposed to be about The Silos.
We got to the baking company and there was a little bit of line. I wanted to get several cupcakes since everyone had raved about them, so we got a box of four with a variety of flavors that seemed exciting and a chocolate chip cookie all to eat later that evening. After 30-45 minutes I was ready to leave the Silos and find some lunch.
Milo: I had planned to go to Milo’s for lunch. Molly Yeh and her husband Nick had visited there and had a Sic-Em-on-a-biscuit Chicken sandwich that I was determined to try. Molly absolutely raved about it. We headed over to Milo’s and boy was I elated we did. That crispy fried chicken sandwich with tangy, sweet and spicy slaw on a buttery fall apart biscuit was the best part of my whole day. It wasn’t on their menu, but they knew what I was referring to and were able to make one for me. By far a mind-blowing fried chicken on a biscuit sandwich.
Harp Design: I wish we had called it a day after Milo’s, but we decided to go to Clint Harp’s store to see his woodcrafts. There were a lot of cutting boards and nicknacks, nothing overly excited me to buy.
No Wine: While we were at the Silos earlier, I had inquired about if there were any wineries in the area. We were told about the Waco Winery that was about 20-30 minutes outside of town. When we got there the drive led you up through the back of the building, it didn’t even look like a tasting room or winery from that angle. I guess I am used to the vast estates in Michigan, and it did not even come close to comparing. They had only had 2 white wines for tasting so we just left very disappointed.
The Silo Cupcakes: Later that night we finally got to sample the cupcakes we had purchased at The Silos that everyone raves about. My husband and I were extremely disappointed. They were dry and flavorless, the frosting that is supposed to be the most special thing about them tasted like eating a can of lard. I had to throw them out, they were so bad. At least the chocolate chip cookie was tasty.
Not Wacky About Waco: Have to say based on this experience I am just not wacky about Waco and what it has to offer. I would not recommend a special trip there, but if you are going there be sure to check out Milo’s.
