Saying goodbye to friends is always hard, but I had better get used to it because we will have to do it again and again this trip. Before we left the Dallas area, we stopped by Zack's cousin's place to catch up with them (I would have posted a picture of us all together but we totally forgot to take one...).
On our way to Austin we stopped in a town called West. We had heard that they had yummy kolaches that we needed to try. Up until this point I had never even heard of them, but I quickly learned that they are pastries with a filling in the center. I got pumpkin with cream cheese and Zack got strawberry with cream cheese. They were delicious and now I'm a fan!
Commentary by Z: I posted a little blurb on imgur (social image hosting site) asking people for any food or attraction suggestions in the towns we were visiting, and multiple people told us to stop for these kolaches! Turned out to be worth it imo
Once we left West were only went another 20ish min down the road to...drum roll please!! WACO! I have been so excited for this leg of the trip because I have wanted to go to Magnolia Market for a while now. What's so cool about Waco? Well if you aren't familiar with Fixer Upper on HGTV, you should just check it out. A husband and wife (Chip and Joanna) remodel homes. They can transform any home into someone's dream home, all they need is to break down a few walls, add a little shiplap and paint and bam! They have a beautiful home for the family moving in. The popularity of the show has helped transform the town into a popular tourist destination. The couple opened Magnolia Market which has 3 buildings around a little grassy square. One offers home decor, another has gardening supplies, and the the last is a bakery. They have turned the square into a place to relax, grab a bite to eat at one of the food trucks, or shop and get some goodies. I love Joanna's taste in decorating so it was fun to go into a store and see her style. I loved everything.
I was also told to check out the Findery just a block or two down the road. It's another home decor/clothing store. Their style is similar to Magnolia Market but is slightly cheaper. So if you are ever in the area, I say you should check out both because you may find what you are looking for between the two.
For lunch, we heard that we needed to check out Vitek's bbq so that's exactly what we did. The place was just off the freeway and like 5 min from Magnolia Market. It did not disappoint. They have Texas BBQ which in my opinion was fantastic.
Commentary by Z: this was like my dream lunch - they had a bbq version of taco salad. Comes with fritos on the bottom topped with pulled pork, sausage, baked beans, cheese, onions, and peppers. Was AMAZING.
After lunch we weren't quite ready to leave Waco. We had to see the Dr. Pepper Museum. Did you know that Dr. Pepper was founded in Waco?? I didn't until someone online told us we should go. The museum was a little run down, but it was still really cool to read about the history of Dr. Pepper. Zack is a Dr Pepper lover and when I first met him I hated it. Over time whenever we were out at dinner and he would order it I would ask to take a sip of it. At first it was gross, but for whatever reason I kept taking one sip at a time and over the course of our marriage I grew to love it. Desensitized maybe? YES, regardless I have been converted. Anyway, back to the museum, while parts of it were a little random (like the wild west exhibit?), they had restored sections on the building where the first Dr Pepper made it's debut over 100 years ago and being only $10 to get in, to me it was worth it!
Commentary by Z: There's something about opening an ice cold Dr. Pepper in a glass bottle in the original Dr. Pepper bottling plant that you can't get anywhere else.
We spent over 3 hours in Waco, which I was a little surprised by that simply because it was supposed to be a quick stop before heading to my sister's house, but Waco has more to offer than meets the eye and sometimes a quick stop is not enough!
4th leg of the journey: 10 hours. 253 miles.
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