If you’re thinking about where to get away for a long weekend or a fullblown vacation, consider a couple of Texas destinations that have been in the national spotlight of late. They may be familiar names, but in recent years, they’ve blossomed in ways that make them feel new. And they’re within a half-day’s drive from home.
WACO
For most of its existence, Waco was little more than a pit stop between Austin and Dallas. If you had an afternoon, you might visit the Texas Ranger and Dr Pepper museums and the Cameron Park Zoo. Then you could check it off your list. But in less than a decade, the once sleepy college town has transformed into a vibrant getaway destination.
There’s now something for everyone beyond soda and legendary lawmen. The spark (or two sparks) that ignited the city’s makeover was the entertaining and inspiring home renovation team of Chip and Joanna Gaines. This Central Texas city is now known to millions nationwide and beyond, thanks to the popularity of the couple’s HGTV series “Fixer Upper.” Their Magnolia Network, and all of its retail offshoots, is to Waco what GM is to Detroit and the main reason today’s travelers set their GPS to end in Waco. In fact, TripAdvisor, a leading travel site, named Waco number two in a list of “Destinations on the Rise” in the United States.
The main draw is the Gaines’s sprawling Magnolia Market at the Silos development in the center of town.
Dominated by two massive, weathered silos, the five-acre development and its bright white-with-black trim buildings have a fun, relaxed feel, with plenty of shops where you can browse everything from home furnishings to handbags. A fleet of food trucks stands ready to satisfy just about any craving and a pleasant, tree-shaded area with picnic tables a few steps away. You’ll also find a popular bakery, coffee shop and sit-down dining at Magnolia Table. Plus (possibly because Chip and Joanna have five children of their own), there’s plenty of room for kids to run and play games on a spacious “lawn” of artificial turf. There’s even a ballpark for pick-up Wiffle ball games. Magnolia Market’s advertising tagline “Shop. Play. Eat.
Relax” covers it.
The 30,000 visitors it draws each week have profoundly impacted the city. The so-called “Magnolia effect” has spread through downtown, encouraging other entrepreneurs to create new dining, drinking and entertainment opportunities nearby, with a relatively new trolley system easing access.
Where finding a memorable meal used to be like searching for Italian loafers at a Boot Barn, there are now so many tasty offerings that you can book a foodie tour through TripAdvisor, as well as a wine tour visiting three boutique wineries.
Just beyond downtown, there are kid-pleasing exotic animals, alive and fossilized. The Waco Mammoth National Monument is the only place in North America where a nursery herd (mom and youngsters) was discovered. The dig display, complete with a life-size painting depicting one of the 14-foot-tall beasts, gets high marks from visitors and should thrill any young child going through a prehistoric critter phase.
A few miles away at the 53-acre Cameron Park Zoo, kids can enjoy sightings of rhinos, giraffes, elephants, various big cats and other wild animals.
Lovely Cameron Park, rolling over 416 acres on the banks of the Brazos and Bosque rivers, is exceptional for a municipal park in a city of just 140,000 and is worth visiting for a stroll or a picnic.
Lodging to suit any budget abounds, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau will help you find your best options. But if you want the full-on Magnolia experience and are willing to splurge, the Gaines’s Hotel 1928 opened last November, offering a luxurious, nostalgic trip back to the hotel’s early 20th century glory. Rooms start at $375 a night. Or, if you really want to go big, you can have the sprawling Gaines-renovated Hillcrest Estate all to yourself ($1100 a night). Details and other booking options are on the Magnolia site magnolia.com/visit/stay.
FREDERICKSBURG
If Rick Perry was governor the last time you visited this charming German town, you would be amazed at how it has grown into a wine-tasting destination, with wineries lining the highway serving as the town’s Main Street.
While we were all paying attention to other things, the Texas Hill Country has grown into the second-largest wine region in the nation, with more than 300 wineries sprawling over 9 million acres, trailing only California’s Napa wine region. The dry, sunny Texas Hill Country is ideal for growing grapes like Tempranillo, Syrah, Albarino, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.
The wine boom has caused outsiders to take note of the region’s other charms as well, which is why CNN Travel named the Texas Hill Country one of the best places in the world to visit in 2024. And there’s no better place to experience the region than Fredericksburg.
You can map out a self-guided wine tour by visiting the “Wineries” page VisitFredericksburgTX.com on the Fredericksburg Convention & Visitor Bureau’s official tourism site, a great place to start for planning every aspect of your visit, from sites to lodging. If you’d rather leave the driving to someone else, wine tours are available by trolley, limo and big pink bus—the “bubbly booze cruise.”
Squint as you roll into some of the larger wineries, and you may feel like you’re in France, Germany or Italy.
The beauty of Fredericksburg, of course, is that there’s so much more there than wine. First, there’s shopping on photogenic Main Street, where you’ll find unique offerings from scores of locally-owned businesses.
If perusing artifacts rather than merchandise is your thing, there’s the excellent National Museum of the Pacific War, the only museum dedicated to the battles of the Pacific Theater in World War II. You’ll find enough interactive exhibits for adults and kids to fill an entire afternoon.
In case you’re wondering, the museum is located in this landlocked town because it was the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
And speaking of commanders, The Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site is just down the road in Stonewall. The historically significant park includes former President LBJ’s country home.
Those inclined toward outdoorsy pursuits can enjoy an afternoon or a full day exploring Enchanted Rock, which draws its name from the sounds it makes as it expands and contracts in the Texas heat.
Accommodations abound in Fredericksburg, which offers every kind of lodging you can imagine, and then some. It is known far and wide for its charming bed-andbreakfasts and has RV parks, cabins, farmhouses, luxury hotels and resorts. Plus, it boasts two of the most unusual accommodations in Texas— the Hangar Hotel and the Pullman Train Car—plenty to choose from for a relaxing weekend or a week.
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