The Daytripper Explores Waco’s Mammoths and Magnolia Market
September 19, 2023 | By Chet Garner
The first column I ever wrote for Texas Highways, way back in November 2010, was about Waco.
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Waco’s Historic Suspension Bridge Reopens After Getting a Fix-Up
April 20, 2023 | By Gene Fowler
When my mother’s family would journey to the big city of Waco from their home in Mexia back in the 1920s and ’30s, they would cross the Brazos River on the famous Waco Suspension Bridge.
Waco’s Dr Pepper Museum Reopens Historic Bottling Room with New Exhibition
February 22, 2023 | By Anthony Head
Just a three-block walk from the crowds at Magnolia Market in Waco is the Dr Pepper Museum, where visitors can learn all about the quintessential Texas soft drink and get handmade floats at a real old-fashioned soda fountain.
The Wild and Urban Brazos is a River Full of Contradictions
June 30, 2022 | By Joe Nick Patoski
Baylor University Spreads the Gospel With New Music Archive and Listening Center
December 21, 2021 | By Michael Corcoran
When Memphis record producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, the Replacements) was a lonely freshman at Baylor University in 1959, he spent hours studying in the library every night.
The Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in Waco Celebrates 40 Years This Weekend
July 2, 2021 | By Sarah Thurmond
Before there was Chip and Joanna Gaines, Waco had another visionary couple: Charlie and Emadele McCleary.
A Guide To the Historic Bridges of Texas
January 28, 2021 | By Dale Weisman
From Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge to the Pecos High Bridge, Texas has bridges that span different landscapes and marvels of engineering.
Can Chip and Joanna Gaines’ New Magnolia Network Carry the Day?
January 7, 2021 | By John Nova Lomax
After a year without Chip and Joanna Gaines turned into two because of COVID-19, the Fixer Upper stars returned to the airwaves this week with the soft launch of their new Magnolia Network.
How do I Love Thee? Victorian Romance Lives on in Waco
December 27, 2019 | By Robyn Ross
Fixer Upper Stars Chip and Joanna Gaines Unveil Plans to Open Downtown Waco Hotel
October 8, 2019 | By Julia Jones
Chip and Joanna Gaines are planning to build on their Waco empire with a new historic hotel.
5 Texas Podcasts to Listen to Now
August 15, 2019 | By Meara Isenberg
These five podcasts highlight unique stories from all corners of Texas
Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Table Gives New Life to an Old Diner in Waco
April 16, 2019 | By
Chip had always dreamed of opening a breakfast joint, and when the historic Elite Café, located on the Waco traffic circle, came up for sale in 2016, the Gaineses decided to make that dream a reality. In the process, they wanted to preserve an important part of Waco’s history. The original Elite Café opened in downtown Waco in 1919, and the second location on the traffic circle followed in 1941. The Gaineses gave the Spanish-style building a complete overhaul while also preserving its historic feel. Framed black-and-white photographs and an original menu from the café’s past adorn the walls.
Things To Do in Texas This Weekend: March 15-17
March 12, 2019 | By Jane Kellogg Murray
Spring Break and St. Patrick’s Day collide this weekend for fun across the state—including Magnolia Market’s spring fair and the Texas Food Truck Showdown in Waco.
Fire Street Pizza Brings Neapolitan Fare to Belton
March 1, 2019 | By Julia Jones
The road to Fire Street Pizza seems more likely to lead to nowhere. As you wind around cedar trees and open, mostly empty ranch land on FM 439 near Belton, you might think you’ve gotten lost. But the red laser-cut sign hanging over the restaurant’s driveway will put hungry travelers at ease: “There’s no place, quite like this place, anywhere near this place, so, this must be the place.”
Where to Stay in Waco
September 13, 2018 | By
Waco is home to Baylor University, Cameron Park, and, of course, The Silos at Magnolia Market. As the midway point between Austin and Dallas, it’s the perfect weekend getaway—and these bed and breakfasts and hotels will ensure you have a comfortable, enjoyable stay.
Find History and Romance on the Bridges of McLennan County
August 27, 2018 | By E. Dan Klepper
Despite its title, this story is not a parody of a famous novel with a similar name. It is about a love affair, however, one that endures between the people of Waco and their bridges. And this love story begins with a tortilla.
9 Texas Cruises to Keep You Cool and Charmed This Summer
July 26, 2018 | By Heather Brand, Matt Joyce, Clayton Maxwell, June Naylor, Jennifer Babisak
We love the idea of taking a boat ride—the cool breezes, sparkling waters, and rare perspectives you just can’t see from shore. Not everybody has a boat, though. For the otherwise landlocked, here are nine Texas cruise experiences—from spotting dolphins on a paddleboat to serenading your sweetie on a gondola—that make getting out on the water a summer treat anyone can enjoy.
Ever Tried Texas-style Seoul Food?
July 25, 2018 | By Michael Corcoran
The “Lip Locker” cheeseburger, alongside a heap of “Oriental fries,” is the restaurant’s star attraction. Korean food joints are popping up all over Texas, but when Kitok Moore opened her first and only restaurant in Waco in 1975, she wasn’t sure the townsfolk were ready for cuisine from her native land.
A Fancy B&B in Waco with Its Own Bowling Alley? You Heard That Right
February 13, 2018 | By June Naylor
The 1910 home was the creation of local architect Milton M. Scott, whose Waco work also includes the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Plant, now home to the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute. Among early owners of this imposing Mediterranean-style residence was department store magnate Louis Migel, whose family entertained here in lavish style. The house fell into disrepair in later years along with the mansion next door.
Waco Wine Shoppe’s Tasting Room Aims to Expand Your Wine Horizons
November 9, 2017 | By Veronica Meewes
If you venture to Waco on any given day but Sunday, you’ll find Magnolia Market buzzing with starry-eyed devotees of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ HGTV home-improvement show, Fixer Upper. Waco has seen a steady uptick of visitors since 2015, when the Gaineses transformed two defunct grain silos into home and garden shops, complete with food trucks and a bakery. But blink and you could miss one of Waco’s more understated gems just 5 minutes away, a taupe building emblazoned with two simple words: Wine Shoppe.
Pigskin Palaces
July 14, 2017 | By John Lumpkin
True Texas football fans we are.
We stand in lines, endure the swelter of early-season day games, and pay top dollar in donations and seat licenses to cheer our college and pro teams. We turn out to watch the local boys play under Friday-night lights, whether on six-man squads with bleachers set up next to pastures or suburban dynasties in multimillion-dollar stadiums.
5 ways to celebrate Chisholm Trail’s 150th Anniversary
June 15, 2017 | By Robert Reid
Ever wanted to throw a birthday party for cowboys? This is your year. But be sure to have a cake big enough for 150 candles.
Silver Stars and Six Shooters
April 18, 2017 | By Dave Montgomery
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco has just opened for the day, and already nearly 100 fourth-graders pore over exhibits and artifacts chronicling one of the world’s most storied law enforcement organizations.
Off-N-On
March 22, 2017 | By Michael Corcoran
Cupp’s is home of the classic Texas diner cheeseburger. Back in the 1950s, Cupp’s had car service, and a young soldier from Fort Hood named Elvis Presley would occasionally sneak a double cheeseburger with bacon in the back seat of family friend Eddie Fadal’s Cadillac. During his six months of Army training in 1959, Elvis retreated on weekends to Waco, where Fadal, a former DJ whom Elvis met on one of his earliest tours of Texas, built an addition on his house for Presley and filled it with records and TVs. Willie Nelson, from nearby Abbott, has been eating at Cupp’s since the late ’40s.
Signs of the Times
July 18, 2016 | By
In planning my maiden voyage to the Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, I have the good sense to enlist my friend Sherry to ride shotgun for the 90-minute trip from our homes in Fort Worth.
Ski Waco!
June 20, 2016 | By Sofia Sokolove
On the two-hour drive from Austin to the Barefoot Ski Ranch in Waco, I’ve been chattering away about my teenage summer-camp waterskiing skills.
Harboring an Ancient Herd
January 12, 2016 | By Helen Anders
Some 65,000 years ago, a small herd of female Columbian mammoths and their babies wandered through a grassland in what is now north Waco during an intense rainstorm.
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
December 15, 2015 | By Sofia Sokolove
There’s a new sense of energy and possibility on the streets of downtown Waco—not a boom, exactly, but a steady drumbeat led by some determined entrepreneurs whose vision of the future is infused with an affectionate regard for the city’s past.
The Great Wacoan Novel
November 10, 2015 | By Michael Barr
The Houghton Mifflin Company made history in 1952 with the publication of a novel called Sironia, Texas.
It’s No Secret
March 17, 2015 | By Gene Fowler
As I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the American flag on the moon in the summer of 1969, I had no idea that Aldrin was also laying ceremonial claim to the mysterious orb on behalf of an enigmatic group of my fellow Texans.
When dinosaurs (and mammoths) roamed
December 12, 2014 | By Kathryn Jones
Curved tusks jut out of red sandy soil. Massive bones scatter around them in the prehistoric burial ground.
Texas Top 40 No. 3, Waco
October 2, 2014 | By
For those unfamiliar with Waco, the little city in the heart of Texas might be tough to decipher.
The Texas Cheese Tour
June 17, 2014 | By June Naylor
My first taste of the Texas cheese renaissance came at a farmers market in Dallas, where I nibbled a bite of Veldhuizen Texas Farmstead Cheese from Dublin.
Hot Dr Pepper
January 3, 2014 | By Anthony Head
I’ve always been interested in Dr Pepper,” Jack McKinney tells me as we sit down together at the soda fountain inside the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco.
Texas Top 40 Travel Destinations
December 3, 2013 | By
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Last fall, we asked Texas Highways readers to share their favorite places in the state for our Texas Top-40 Travel Destinations.
Daytripper with Chet Garner: Waco
November 12, 2010 | By Chet Garner
Unless you’re from Waco (or are a Baylor Bear), you may not have frequented this Central Texas hub off I-35. I decided to spend a day in Waco and explore beyond the access roads.
Mammoth Discovery
June 15, 2010 | By Shermakaye Bass
I’ve always been fascinated with Waco. It’s a convenient mid-point between Dallas and Austin, and I stop whenever possible to take in some of its colorful history.
