Yesterday we drove south to Waco, half-way between Fort Worth and Austin. We are staying in the Airport COE Park on Lake Waco. This is our first stay in a COE (Corps of Engineer) park and what a surprise. This campground has full hook-ups, is on the banks of a lake, and the sites are huge. Plus, you get 50% off if you have a Golden Age Pass! We thank our friends Liz and Ron for suggesting it!
Soon after we arrived here, we headed out to Waco Mammoth NM, about 4 miles from the camp ground. In 1978 mammoth bones were found here, buried near the Brazos River. The first fossils found were taken to Baylor University for study. Sixteen of the fossils remain and were left in situ, where they have been for the last 65 – 72,000 years. A climate controlled building protects them. We took the tour and it was great; bone-remains of a nursery of baby mammoths, mothers and a grandmother (head of the herd – note that grandchildren!) were half uncovered in the dirt and clay.
There were also the bones of one male mammoth, a camel, and a saber-toothed cat. Awesome!
Just heard that tonight is the last show of Fixer Upper, the HGTV show….and we went there this morning! We drove into Waco this AM to Magnolia Market, run by Fixer Upper stars Joanna & Chip Gaines…but they were not there! I don’t often watch the show but like it when I do. I don’t know what I expected from this place, but it turned out to be a big warehouse/shop surrounded by food trucks, a bakery, and a garden shop.
Thanks again for information from Liz, we parked in the free parking area behind the silos and walked around. We went first to the Silos Baking Co. where a line had already formed around the building. But the line moved quickly, they have a great ordering system in place!
We each got a cupcake, Norm strawberry, and I got the Nuts & Bolts. The cream frosting on top what to die for! The Market itself contained lots of new home decorating items (made in China) and we didn’t see a single antique or salvaged item.
Two streets over from Magnolia Market, was the Dr. Pepper Museum. This was a 3-story, do-it-yourself tour through the old factory (it is not now owned or run by Dr. Pepper). Dr. Pepper soda was created in Waco in 1890 and is touted as the nation’s oldest ‘Major’ soft drink. I didn’t realize that we were visiting here today, or I would have worn my Moxie T-shirt. (For those of you not from New England, Moxie is the oldest bottled soda in the country…but it never became popular outside of N.E.)
There was lots of Dr. Pepper memorabilia, delivery trucks, and a theater where you could watch Dr. Pepper commercials.
Again, there was free parking right across the street. Love this city!
The Meandering Mainiacs 