Waco, TX (Magnolia Market & Bakery) & Hot Springs National Park, AR

Magnolia Market Silos

Waco TX - The drive to Waco turned into a little bit of an adventure due to the congested and construction riddled Fort Worth area on I-35W.  Between narrowing lanes and multiple road interchanges, we both had to be on our toes.  I think it would be difficult to maneuver the Motorhome through an area like this alone.  I tried to alert Jim to upcoming lane changes and exits, while looking down at the construction barriers that seemed too close for comfort; but we made it with no problem.  It turned out to be very warm here, in the 90's, so that was a little shock to the system after the Colorado Fall temperatures.

We arrived in Waco late in the afternoon and found the small RV park we were staying at about seven miles out of town.  When driving through part of Waco, we were reminded that it is the home of Baylor University.  Our route took us through the heart of the this very nice campus starting with the large football stadium located right off I-35.  We found a Texas BBQ place, Rudy's, to have dinner; very good food!

Bridge and River Walk - Brazos River

Bronze Cattle Drive sculptures in Park

Since we had several days here, we checked out the downtown area and everything "Magnolia". The Brazos River runs through Waco and there are several bridges that cross the water, including the historic Waco Suspension Bridge built in 1870, currently used as a pedestrian bridge.

Waco Suspension Bridge

Indian Springs Park and the Riverwalk create a nice setting along the river where they were setting up for a weekend festival. There is a bronze sculpture group in the park made up of 3 horseback riders and 25 longhorn cattle, honoring the Texas cattle drive history.   There is plenty of free parking, as well as the free "Silo District Trolley" to help people get around several blocks of shopping and dining.  Very easy to walk around, but lots of one-way streets to maneuver if you are driving.  We got some helpful tips from our daughter Beth, who visited Waco earlier this year.

Magnolia Market

Magnolia Market and Bakery at The Silos

The highlight was spending time checking out Magnolia Market and Bakery at the Silos, owned by the HGTV Fixer Upper couple Chip and Joanna Gaines.  I was beginning to wonder if it would live up to the hype, but I really liked the concept and how it was done.  If you like Joanna's style, it is clearly evident all around in the attention to detail everything has been given.  The Market has everything from home decor items to T-shirt to bags and purses and more.  There is a separate Garden Shop and garden area, as well as the large courtyard with a play area and lots of picnic table seating.

Magnolia Bakery

The Bakery, located in a separate building, usually has a line out the door but is worth the wait. Specializing in cupcakes and pastries, we ordered a couple of cinnamon rolls (and a few other goodies) and walked out to the courtyard area to sit and enjoy.  The cupcake purchase we saved for later.  All were delicious; my favorite being the Pumpkin Spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

Cupcake boxes - in shape of Silo!

Courtyard & Food Truck Area (Alico Bldg in background)

There are food trucks lining two sides of the courtyard area that would have made choosing just one for lunch difficult.  Our lunch timing didn't work out this time, but I probably would have gone for one of the gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches from Cheddar Box or something from the Hot Dog House.

It seems "The Silos" venture in downtown Waco has spurred other redevelopment in the area.  It's really nice to see part of an older city coming back to life.  You have to give the Gaines' some credit for that in my opinion.

Trains run through town near Silos

Magnolia House Bed & Breakfast

We also visited Harp studios, owned by Clint Harp who makes a lot of furniture for Fixer Upper, and then we drove to McGregor, TX (about 15 miles from Waco) to see the B&B "Magnolia House" featured on episode of Fixer Upper.

Camp site outside of Hot Springs, AR

After leaving Waco, we headed northeast and spent a night in Texarkana, TX on the TX/AR border.  The next day we drove to Hot Springs, AR.  Located just south of the Ozark Mountain range, in the Ouachita Mountains (pronounced Washita), we found a very nice camp site that we enjoyed for a couple of days.

Fordyce Bathhouse - Hot Springs Park Visitor Center

"Needles Shower"

Bathing room and Steam Box

Hot Springs National Park - I knew very little about this Park and the Hot Springs, Arkansas area, but with it's National Parks designation, I was curious to check it out.  It turns out to be a pretty good history lesson and a little different than most of the other National Parks we have visited.  The main mission of Hot Springs National Park is to preserve numerous bathhouses that were built in the very early 1900's to take advantage of the natural hot springs water flowing out of the mountain at an average temperature of 143 degrees.  The bathhouses, and therefore part of the National Park, are actually located right in the City of Hot Springs along the Magnolia tree lined Central Avenue.  Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the Park's visitor center and is set up for self-guided tours.  There are separate areas for men and women and explanations of how the more affluent came here for healing and pampering.  There are a couple of the historic buildings being operated as modern day bathhouses/spas using the mineral water from Hot Springs Mountain.

Quapaw Baths - operating bathhouse/spa

The hot springs water is high in minerals and thought to have medicinal and beauty benefits.  Touring the preserved Fordyce Bathhouse made me realize it was the "spa" of that period.  There are also several old hotels in the town that used the water of the hot springs to lure guests.

Most of the flowing hot springs have been capped now for collection and distribution through underground piping; there are a view that are still visible.  The water is captured and used by the City and Parks Service.  There are several places where there are "cold" springs where people can go and fill containers for their own personal use.

Walkway to Grand Promenade area

Hot Springs Cascade

Hot Springs Mountain is directly behind the Bathhouses and from the half-mile brick "Grand Promenade"walkway you can see an example of the sandstone cliffs and hot springs cascade.

Mountain Tower

City of Hot Springs from Tower

There are several hiking trails around Hot Springs Mountain that start from the Promenade area. The most popular trail leads to the Mountain Tower.  It looks a little out of place sticking way above the tree tops, but it was a pretty nice view from the top.  When going to the top, you can take the elevator or the stairs.  (I have to confess, we took the elevator.)

I-40 over Mississippi River-Memphis

 Continuing our travel east, we crossed over the Mississippi River  at the AR/TN border coming into Memphis.

Mousetail Landing State Park camp site

Mousetail Landing State Park -  About 150 miles east of Memphis, near Linden, TN, off the beaten path, we found this park along the Tennessee River and decided to stay a night.  Nice, quiet park where we were one of 3 or 4 campers there for the night.  At first I thought it may have been a mistake when the entrance to the park and drive to the camp site turned out to be a winding/curvy road with some big hills.  It's still an adjustment for me to get used to the size of our vehicle on some of these roads.  Thank goodness Jim handles it fine and we get to take advantage of some out of the way places. Once we were settled, we had time for a rigorous hike down to the river to catch the sunset (coming back uphill was the rigorous part).

Mousetail Landing State Park -Tennessee River at sunset

Jim looking out over River