Waking up our first morning in San Antonio we were in for a treat. We had met Zach & Cindy at the Keep Your Daydream meet-up back in Austin about a week earlier and they had invited us over for coffee and lunch. We were pretty excited as everyone that we have met while on the road has been super friendly and excited to see us again. The drive to Zach & Cindy’s was about half an hour north of the city close to Randolph Air Force Base. When we got close Zach & Cindy greeted us at the door. They excused themselves for the small mess in the house, which we immediately disregarded due to them moving in 2 weeks prior. We couldn’t believe that that had moved in only 2 weeks prior! After watching Zach make some intricate and tasty coffee we sat on their back porch talking travel. We found out that Zach is currently in the Air Force (he actually met Cindy years prior as she was in the Air Force as well) and they had recently moved to San Antonio from Seattle. They were RV’ers as well and had an AirStream model that they towed from Washington State. After eating a delicious lunch of smoked burgers (I think everything tastes better when put on a smoker) we got to tour their AirStream. We had seen these on the road for months but had never been able to get inside one. For the retro look that that are known for on the outside they are 100% modern on the inside. We thought it was really neat and thought that if we ever get a trailer we would go for an Airstream. After getting a few tips on what to see in San Antonio and Oklahoma City (they lived there for a few years) we said our goodbyes and headed out. Hopefully we will see them on the road one day soon!
One of the neighborhoods that they suggested to check out was the King William neighborhood located just south of downtown San Antonio. The neighborhood got its present day start in the 1860’s when it was settled by German immigrants who named the neighborhood after King Wilhelm I. Homes in the Greek Revival, Victorian and Italianate-style still stand in the neighborhood. We walked around the neighborhood staring in awe at some of these homes. Most of the grounds of these homes were beautiful as well. Most everything can grow in south-central Texas so there was everything from pine trees to palm trees and cactus growing around these homes. The historic San Antonio Riverwalk also reaches this neighborhood (although at this point of the river it is just a sidewalk that people walk and jog on). Feeling that we saw most of the neighborhood we strolled back to Bubbles. While taking our bikes out of the van and putting them back on their rack in the back a young couple (Courtney & Clint – Hi Guys!) stopped us wondering what we were doing in San Antonio. After explaining our story they could not help but tell us all the spots they loved in the city. We then made plans to get together the next day so that they could show us in person. We headed back to the campground pretty excited that we had lunch with one great couple and just randomly met another. Just goes to show how many great people there are if you just stop and say hi.
The next morning we woke up ready to go. As downtown San Antonio seemed walkable to us we decided to leave Bubbles in the campground for the day and catch an Uber into the city. Before we knew it our driver had picked us up and was dropping us off in the Pearl district. Unfortunately Courtney had woken up under the weather so we would not be meeting up with them but we still were checking out some of their recommendations. The Pearl district from 1881 to 2001 was a working brewery and at one time the largest in Texas. Since 2009 however the area has had a complete makeover with shops, restaurants and a luxury hotel moving into the area. The day we were there was farmers market day. We arrived to a band playing, booths and tents set up and people walking every direction. We sampled a few bites of food and a beer from a local vendor while we listened to the band enjoying our time.
From the Pearl district we walked over to Market Square. Market Square was amazing. It is the largest Mexican style market outside of Mexico and on Sundays it has a fair like atmosphere. It was really cool for us, as we had no idea something like this existed in San Antonio. It was also very similar to the market area that we went to in Guadalajara while in Mexico a few months earlier. We walked in and out of shops looking at the unique merchandise while listening to Latin and mariachi music. From Market Square we headed back to the touristy area of the San Antonio Riverwalk stopping in a few stores and at the oldest bar in the area (The Esquire) for some snacks and drinks. We then headed back to the King William Neighborhood to check out an open house that we saw on Zillow. Checking out open houses in different cities on Sundays are one of Julie’s favorite pastimes. The house while not in the best part of the neighborhood was still beautiful…mostly. While it had a great kitchen the rest of the house was set up very awkwardly with the front door leading directly into the bedroom. The best part of the house was not in the house at all. It had a detached garage (rare for the neighborhood) and an indoor-outdoor patio on top of the garage that looked all the way to downtown. This was the selling point of the house. It was unfortunate the rest of the house was so strange. Oh well, that’s the fun in looking at houses that you will never buy.
The next morning we woke up ready for a travel day. Today we would be heading north to Waco. As we had time we decided to take the back roads instead of the interstate. Off we went north on route 281. This was true Texas Hill Country. People always ask us, “What has been your favorite place or state?” After 20,000 plus miles that’s a very hard question to answer but without a doubt in the top 5 is the central Texas hill country. Ranches small and large, small towns, wineries, parks, bbq and simply beautiful scenery this area has it all. Our mid day stop for the day was in Marble Falls. Marble Falls was a beautiful little town on Marble Lake. We found out that Marble Falls Lake was part of the largest chain of lakes in all of Texas. It was a really beautiful little town. Its main street and streets around it were filled with mom and pop stores with locals and a few tourists alike popping in and out. After eating lunch we said goodbye to Marble Falls and continued on to Waco where we camped for the night.
The next morning we woke up and headed into town. Waco is known for a few things. The first soda invented, Dr. Pepper, was invented in Waco. Baylor University has its main campus in Waco. The infamous Waco siege happened just outside of the city in 1993. The Texas Rangers Hall of Fame is located in Waco. While all of those things are interesting (and one pretty scary) the reason that we were here was to see one of Julie’s famous show locations in HGTV’s “Fixer Upper”. The show is based around the Waco area where the main couple Chip & Joanna take run down properties and fix them up to sell. They also have created somewhat of an empire in knickknacks, housewears and anything with a term or phrase that they have created. They also have their own store, restaurant and bakery called Magnolia close to downtown. Julie wanted to go so off we went.
After getting off the highway and getting close to the store we knew something was going on. We could not get to the stores parking lot and some of the churches that were close were charging to park. We drove a few blocks away, found parking and walked toward the store (its more like a few converted huge barns all put together). The closer we got the more people that there were. It finally dawned on us what was going on…this was spring break week for Texas’ primary schools. As we entered the barn store we could not believe our eyes, it seemed as every 14-18 year old female and their mother within a 100-mile radius had descended on this store with the goal of buying every item that they possibly could. We wandered the massive store, Julie looking to buy something before leaving (she settled on one of their Magnolia tee shirts) before wandering out back. Behind the store a field of turf was set up with big bean bag chairs to sit in. Around the field were food trucks and vendors. With the lines being 20 deep at each vendor we decided to look elsewhere for lunch for the day.
After getting our fill of Magnolia we wandered into downtown Waco browsing in a few shops before going and checking out the Dr. Pepper museum. It was pretty neat to see all the Dr. Pepper artifacts and the history of the soda in Waco. For those of you who have been to the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta its similar to that but much smaller. From the museum we walked back to the van for lunch. On the way though we wandered past an In-n-Out Burger location. In-N-Out Burger is a California burger chain that we had been having at least once a month while in California and heading east in every state until we made it to Texas. As we didn’t think there would be any more after this we stopped in for a burger. For the gluten free people out there such as myself you can order a lettuce wrapped burger! It’s so delicious!
From Waco we started to head north towards Dallas. Just outside of Waco we had one last stop to make. In most of the country (from what we have seen anyway) doughnut shops are declining. It was rare that we ever saw one and even more rare that the shop was still in business. Not in Texas though. There are mom and pop doughnut shops everywhere. As Germans and Czechs mainly settled central Texas, they too brought along their food from their home countries. While the Germans brought their traditions of smoked meat (aka BBQ) the Czechs brought their pastry called the Kolache. The Kolache is a pastry that can be either sweet or savory with either fruit, cream or meats in it. We had been seeing signs for Kolache’s from Houston to Brownsville and San Antonio to Austin. We were finally here, the mecca of Czech food in Texas, the town of West, Texas.
Driving on the highway from Austin there were signs for 2 stores; The Little Czech Bakery and the Czech Stop. Julie knew this was finally the place to try a Kolache (I unfortunately cannot have them – the gluten factor). As both stores were across the street from one another we decided to try one of them. The Czech Stop turned out to be more of a truck stop that had some Czech food with the Little Czech Bakery being an actual bakery with the line out the door. Julie tried a Kolache from the Czech Stop. She said it was delicious with the dough tasting like a slightly sweet dinner roll with a great cream cheese and raspberry filling. From West we drove north setting up camp in Fort Worth.
Up next….Our last stop in Texas. We explore the Metroplex of Dallas & Fort Worth!
Looks fun guys! You should show us some of the campsites you stay at with Bubbles. What are those like?
Great idea! We will try to post some photos of the campgrounds we stay at soon. They are usually pretty nice as we like to stay at KOA campgrounds.