3 Days in Waco, Fort Worth, and Dallas, Texas
Day 1: Waco and Fort Worth
Our next stop in Texas is DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth), about a 3 hour drive from Austin. We made a few pit stops along the way. Our first stop was Waco: home to all things rustic farmhouse vibes, Chip and Joanna Gaines, and Magnolia.
Magnolia Market is a small mini-town of shops, retro-looking food trucks, cozy white and black buildings, markets, bakeries, and more. It’s like Barbie Land for HGTV lovers—or like the Magnolia home goods section in Target blew up. Everything was very aesthetically pleasing.
We walked around for about an hour, “ooh”-ing and “ah”-ing at everything that we saw because it was all so nice. But we ultimately didn’t buy anything because, well, we don’t have a house to put stuff in. Perhaps we’ll come back in a few years.
We hit the road and saw Buc-ee’s signs on the freeway so decided to swing by one and see what the hype was all about. It’s a gas station with a giant convenience store/gift shop that has souvenirs, clothes, groceries, a bakery, hot foods, etc. Keon heard that the brisket there is good so we grabbed a brisket taco to-go. It really was good but don’t think it was worth the marked up Buc-ee’s price tag.
Our only plan for the rest of the day in Fort Worth was to go to Billy Bob’s: the world’s largest honky tonk. It was Ladies’ Night so I got in for free and Keon’s cover was $3. I haven’t been to many country bars (yet) but Billy Bob’s was by far the biggest I’ve seen. There was a gift shop, a whole section for pool tables, a restaurant, a dance floor, plenty of seating, and a full back area with a stage and more tables that could have, and probably is, its own concert venue. There were a lot of kids and it was fairly tourist-y so it felt less like a bar and more like a country Dave and Buster’s. They did a line dance lesson and the rest of the time was open dancing, but they only played a few of the songs we knew so we watched most of the time. The whole place shut down pretty early so we went back to our hotel for some shuteye. Overall, 6.5/10.
Day 2: Dallas
We were pretty tired today and weren’t really in the mood to do much. So we checked out of our hotel and went to explore Sundance Square for a bit. I’m sure it’s more lively in the evenings but midday during the week there just wasn’t a lot going on. We walked around the area and checked out the water gardens before heading back to the car. We had a few hours before check-in at our next hotel so we went on our own little driving tour. We drove by AT&T Stadium (where the Cowboys play) in Arlington, got some queso and chips at Torchy’s Tacos because we heard it was good there, checked out the Deep Ellum neighborhood (again, probably much more lively in the evenings but wasn’t too busy when we went), and drove by American Airlines Center (where the Mavericks play) to see the new Dirk Nowitzki statue.
Check-in hour was finally approaching and we stopped at Trader Joe’s before heading over since our next place was going to have a kitchenette for us to use. Shopping at Trader Joe’s is usually always exciting, but I don’t think we’ve ever been this excited for it. It’s been a struggle trying to get fresh produce for a meal or so that isn’t a premade chopped salad, so being able to get small bags of lettuce was great. Not to mention their frozen options are superior to other grocery stores’ frozen options and this Trader Joe’s location was handing out free samples of their new vanilla and chocolate gelato.
Not sure what else we did the rest of the day, which makes me think we just rested and hung out on our laptops and phones.
Day 3: Errands and a Rodeo
We’ve stayed in a few uncomfortable hotels over the past 2 weeks. We went into this trip knowing that we didn’t want to spend a ton of money on accommodation because we have no income, but wouldn’t quite limit ourselves to only places like Super 8s either. So we booked budget hotels that still looked decent online. However, the key word seems to be “online”. We’ve stayed in places that have smelly hallways, gym equipment that were half missing or didn’t work, elevators that didn’t work, bathroom doors that wouldn’t stay shut, spills that weren’t cleaned… the list goes on.
Our current hotel wasn’t much different. It wasn’t comfortable enough for us to want to hang out in for a long time so we decided to get a quick work out in at their gym and then go to a nearby shopping plaza to pick up a few things we needed. We managed to kill a few hours at Daiso, TJ Maxx, and Target before heading back for lunch.
We rested for a bit before going back to Fort Worth for some BBQ and a rodeo that they have every Friday and Saturday.
It was our first rodeo so there was some novelty at the very beginning, but it wore off by the time we left.
“It’s Texas Cowboy culture turned into a competition. Fun to experience once.” - Keon
“It felt like the longest halftime show ever.” - Lillian
It was cool to go once but don’t think it’s really our thing in the future. My personal favorite part of the entire show was when they let all the horsies run free at the end.
We are headed to Tennessee next, where it’s not just going to be hot and humid, but hot, humid, and rainy. Fun.