Texas - Nov 2017 - Days 3 -5

 November 11^th, 2017

Magnolia Market

After breakfast we made the trek up to Waco. Our visit of Waco started at the Magnolia Market, yep that probably sounds familiar, you have probably seen the HGTV show Fixer Uppers. Despite arriving before 10am, it was already very busy. Street parking was available around the store, or if you would rather you can park in the church parking lot for $10! The prices were not nearly as bad as we had expected – apparently the prices are only high at other locations that sell their stuff. Leaving Magnolia, we headed over to a relatively new NPS site – Waco Mammoth National Monument. If you want to see the bones, you will have to pony up $5/adult to take the guided tour. The site was rather interesting. Tours lasts about an hour.

Waco Mammoth National Monument

We had lunch at a place called The Wagon Wheel. It was good, we all had sandwiches.

After lunch, we headed back into Waco to check out Baylor University, the Dr. Pepper Building, and we grabbed some cupcakes at What about Cupcakes. The cupcakes were just okay.

Next, we ventured to the boardwalks along the river in Austin.  The boardwalks provided great views of the city skyline.

Downtown Austin

Welcome to Austin 

We visited the “Welcome to Austin” wall mural, which just happened to be near we planned to eat. It was suggested we stopped at Torchy’s Tacos for dinner. There are numerous locations around town, but we picked the one that was in a food truck courtyard on 1^st street. The Queso was really good as were the tacos that we had. I really liked the Green Chile Pork taco.

Texas Capitol

Since we had yet to have some ice cream on this trip, we decided to try a local ice cream place called Amy’s.  We lucked out and found street parking.  The ice cream was okay, comparable to most other good quality ice creams.  There were a lot of restaurants in the area and we walked around a bit.  We came upon another cupcake place, Hey Cupcake, so we stopped to get cupcakes for the next day. These cupcakes ended up being better than the ones we got in Waco.

I had my camera with me so we stopped by the capitol for some night time photos. The previous night, I just had my cell phone with me.

November 12^th, 2017

Zilker Botanical Garden

We made yet another stop to the capitol – this time we went inside and poked around. The interior is just as pretty as the exterior! There is free parking in a nearby parking deck.  Since we had a little more time to kill, we made a visit to the Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin.  There were so many places that lent themselves to great photographs! There was a $3/person fee to enter the park.

Heading south, we stopped by Gruene. Gruene is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a dance hall and a bunch of shops. The area was really busy, so we opted to have lunch a little ways away at a place called Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Que. It was an interesting place.  You go in and get in line, you tell the “meat” guy what you want – like ½ a pound of brisket. The guy then slices a hunk off and asks if you want it in sauce, if so he dunks it in a vat of sauce and then proceeds to plop it on a tray.  Then you head into the next room where they take the tray, slice and wrap the meat. You then proceed along the line and pick any sides you may want and then at last you pay.  Community seating is available. I would say it was my least favorite BBQ place that we visited.

Mission San Jose

After lunch, we headed to Mission San Jose (the visitor center is located there) in San Antonio.  We watched the 20 minute video which was informative and worth a watch. There are guided tours available of the mission. Since we had a little bit of time before the tour we ventured into the mission on our own and then returned to the visitor center for the tour. The ranger that took us on the tour was very informative. Very little of the exterior paint remains, but what that does remain is pretty.  The interior is pretty as well.

Leaving the Mission San Jose, we headed down the road to check out Mission San Juan.  This mission was not nearly as grand as the first.

Mission San Juan

Lastly, we attempted to visit Mission Espada, however the gate was locked. By this time, we could check into the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn San Antonio - Riverwalk.  On-site parking is $25. Our room was on the 22^nd floor and provided nice views of the city.

My sister had a friend in San Antonio that we met up with for dinner.  We ate at a place along the Riverwalk called Mad Dogs British Pub. The food was good; however, the red velvet dessert waffle was not as amazing at it sounded.  After dinner, we walked around the Riverwalk area for a while, but then started to get creeped out by the number of homeless people lingering.

November 13^th, 2017

3 pound cinnamon roll

Holiday Inn does not include free breakfast, which was okay since we had our eye on the 3 pound cinnamon roll at a place called Lulu’s Bakery and Cafe.  Lulu’s did not smell the best, but the cinnamon roll was a fun reason to visit.  The three of us did not finish the cinnamon roll, I think had we had another person with us we would have conquered it!

Alamo

We could not forget the Alamo!!  There were two different tour options, we opted for the guided tour ($15/person). There was also a self-guided tour with audio available ($7/person, but there was a deal if you also went on the guided tour). The tour lasted about an hour and was very informative. After the tour we checked out the buildings (the tour covered the battlefield). There is also a building that has a special exhibit. During our visit the exhibit was about the Bowie knife.

We visited one last mission that we did not get to the previous day, Mission Concepcion. It was very nice inside.

GO RIO San Antonio River Cruise

After breakfast, we dropped the car off back at the hotel and headed out on foot to take the tour of the Riverwalk.  The GO RIO San Antonio River Cruise costs $12/adult and lasts about 35 minutes. When you get your tickets they tell you that time the tour that you can get on is, but the time is not printed on the ticket.  We stood in line and got on the next boat, no one seemed upset that they missed the boat so it worked out for us.

We walked back to the hotel and packed up and headed out (thank you IHG rewards for the late checkout).

Another recommendation was to visit Nothing Bundt Cakes for some yummy treats (we ended up taking them home). Come to find out, Nothing Bundt Cakes is a chain and there is a location opening kind of near where we live! We had lunch at a place nearby at a Mexican restaurant called Paloma Blanca.  It was good, as expected, the restaurant was celebrating 20 years of service!

It was time to drop off the rental car and get to the airport. Again we got luck and not paying for a seat worked out!  We ended up in the Comfort Plus seats!  Our flight home was a smooth one, as was the drive after picking up the car.  Until next time happy travels!