I love college towns.
They’re always so vibrant, adventurous, and they ALWAYS have good food options. So let’s say you’re visiting Waco, Texas and you only have a weekend so explore. Here’s a few things that we’ve found that are MUST SEE things to do and place to eat at while in Waco, Tx.
Things to Do
What started out as a college town has grown into a thriving small town with big city amenities. Check out all there is to do in Waco, Texas on your next family road trip!
Homestead Craft Village
This really neat place for kids is a free admission farm that features make your own craft activities for kids, hay rides, gardens, and you can even have a meal at the Café Homestead. It’s a great way to spend a few hours outside and learning how early settlers might have lived.
Magnolia Market
If you’re a fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines or their show, Fixer Upper, chances are you’ve heard of the Magnolia Silos. The Silos feature food and home décor all in one cute location. The Silos, Seed + Supply, Press, and Bake Shop take up several city blocks and provide a great space for families to shop, eat, spend some time outdoors, and design their dream home. It’s really a great place to spend a couple hours. Our new favorite additions include the Katy Ballpark and the Old Church. They add such a sweet, hometown element to the Silos District and we all found something different that we loved about the space.
Mammoth National Monument
This cool national park is open 9-5, and admission adults $5, kids $3. What you’ll see while there are Columbia Mammoths! Standing as tall as 14 feet and weighing 20,000 pounds, Columbian mammoths roamed across what is present-day Texas thousands of years ago. Today, the fossil specimens represent the nation’s first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of ice age Columbian mammoths.
Visit the Bears
On the edge of the campus of Baylor University, you can walk up to the bear den – aka where the famous Baylor Bears live on campus. Depending on the weather, you might be able to see them and you might not. But I always have to check and see just to be sure.
Where to Eat
You know this girl’s gotta eat well while on vacation, so here’s a few spots you’ll want to take your family to eat at while you’re in Waco, Texas.
Southern Roots Brewing
This was our favorite place to eat while in Waco, hands down. Even during the summer when the students are out of school, they’re busy on most nights – especially weekends when they have life music playing inside. The pizza and wings are out of this world! That’s what I love about college towns – there’s always so much delicious food available! They also have board games available, so you can come and drink a few beers and make a night of it!
Magnolia Table
Every time I visit Waco, thi is a must if you want to eat all of those delicious Joanna Gaines recipes she has in her recipe books. They serve breakfast and lunch and are open to walk-ins, but reservations open up online one month prior to the booking date, so if you want a guaranteed table without a wait, you’ll want to stay up until midnight and book that reservation for your day and time of choice. They have some delicious country-style classics and the food and décor are both phenomenal.
On a normal day, there is at least an hour wait to get a table at Magnolia Table. But here’s how you’re going to skip that line. Reservations open exactly 30 days before booking a specific date. So if you know you’re going to want to go on a certain day, go on their website at 11:59pm 31 days before your trip and patiently wait that one minute and then POUNCE ON IT. Yep. You will pick your exact time and you can’t reserve a table for over 6 people, so have a game plan beforehand. There are only a certain number of reservations allowed each day, so once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Places to Stay
Waco has a ton of different types of housing options for you to stay in while visiting! Use the map below to see what’s available duringt the dates you’re looking at visiting!
Booking.com
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