Waco Anniversary Vacation

We picked Waco as our Texas location for our wedding anniversary trip. 15 years together deserved something special. My wonderful in-laws gifted us the hotel suite AND took care of our kids for us for the four days we were together. What a gift my mother and father-in-law are!

So why did we choose Waco? Chip and Joanna Gaines would be why. We didn’t go to Waco just to see their Magnolia Marketplace. In fact, that really wasn’t even it at all. But, they did have a huge reason in why we went to Waco. See, we love their show, and fell in love with the area on their television show. Funny though, we didn’t really get to see any of the beauty of the ‘burbs, and even, the countryside of the surrounding areas. So, the whole reason we went, was a bust. But we still had a great time!

We ended up staying in the downtown area of Waco, near the college. We weren’t expecting that. I don’t know exactly what we were expecting, but staying downtown wasn’t on our radar. I have to admit, at first I was a little unsure. I was hoping that, at the very least, the hotel was nice. Thankfully, it was. And the more we got to know the area, the more we liked it. We didn’t have to drive to do much of anything. There were shops and eating and things to do all within a four block radius. And the zoo, which we drove to, was literally 10 minutes or less away.

So let me back up a bit, the drive down was rather uneventful – except for the couple of times the highway split off into, what felt like, a hundred different directions and we had to have our wits about us, making sure not to go into the wrong direction. I don’t know what it is about Texas, but the highways scare the crap out of me. They are huge, with huge tall bridges and highways converging on each other, fast drivers, and congested roads – not to mention all of the construction! So, I guess I do know what it is about Texas highways that scare me. But I did rather well on the drive down, and back, with the help of Adam guiding us.

Once we got into Waco, we had to kill time before checking in. So we parked in the parking lot of the hotel, and walked a couple blocks over to the Dr. Pepper Museum.

(this was right outside the hotel.)

The Dr. Pepper Museum was sorta interesting. I mean, I guess there’s only so much old timey Dr. Pepper things you can look at before it gets a little dry. However, it was a great way to cool down, the merch was neat to look at, and Adam and I had a great time together. We can have fun doing just about anything together.

We then grabbed a couple pizzas from Pie Five. One of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time. You choose everything about the pizza. It was so good! We did some people watching. Lots of college students and their parents. We got to know the area a little bit. An interesting mix of college students, homeless, locals, and visitors. After the museum and eating we finally got to check into the hotel. Frankly, from the outside, and the area, we weren’t sure what we would find inside. To my delight, we found a nice, nice room! And a nice pool area, good breakfast, and friendly staff.

We settled into the room. Which, for us meant, we quickly hopped into the big king sized bed, put on cable (which we don’t have at home) and promptly landed on the end of the Chiefs game. What a treat! While we watched the game, I stitched a bit (surprise!) and he played games on his phone (another surprise). We relaxed for a good couple of hours before going back out to get drinks and such for the room and then to swim.

The pool was empty. Just the way we like it! We had the pool, and the hot tub, to ourselves for an hour or so. Just enough time to enjoy swimming around and relaxing. We had a good time, like a couple of kids. It was fun. Vacation just doesn’t feel like vacation if you don’t have a pool to swim in!

And that ended our first day in Waco, Texas. I’ll be writing more about our trip this week!

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