Eye Candy For Fixer Upper Fans

This is the coveted Magnolia Table by the traffic circle in Waco. It is beautiful and the food is amazing. Great coffee, too! A little pricey, but I highly recommend it.

This is the cute bakery. I had the strawberry cream cupcake. Yummy! Both restaurant and bakery are jammed full of tourists, so the earlier you get to both places, the better!

Can You Say Price Gouging?

If you've been following my blog, you have read that I was planning a trip to Waco to see the dynasty that the Gaines family has created. They are richly blessed w/ many talents and everything they touch seems to turn to gold....that being said, it has taken me a few weeks to be able to write about my experience because I felt torn and confused....(more about this later).

I was so excited. I thought I might even get the chance to SEE Chip and Joanna. Not a chance. Locals say you'll never see them because they would get mobbed....so be it. I adore what they've done w/ their talent and they employ a lot of people (who will probably have jobs for life). Magnolia House, their B&B (in McGregor), a small town about 20 minutes from Waco, was immaculate. Just beautiful. And so was the house they rehabbed right next to it for the bed and breakfast managers.

But two things caught me very off guard: 1. the price to stay there, and 2. the neighborhood. It is $995/night w/ a 2 night minimum stay. Local taxes are 8.25%, so the minimum it would cost to stay there would be $2154.18 and that doesn't even include a cleaning fee, and other taxes and fee they MAY charge. We are talking about a bed and breakfast that is in a town that no one has even heard of....? And the neighborhood was certainly nothing to brag about, either. It is in a run-down, depressed and depressing town. The roads around Magnolia House were riddled w/ huge pot holes and I don't even know if they were asphalt.  Where my friend and I stayed was just 2 blocks from Magnolia House and was the reason I booked the Airbnb we stayed in. 

As a business owner, I believe everyone has the right to earn a profit and a healthy one at that - but - when you are charging EXORBITANT amounts, it just makes me angry. And sad. Seeing where Magnolia House was located and what they charge changed my my mind about Chip and Joanna.... and I idolized them prior to my trip. I STILL believe they are fantastic role models for married couples and parents but as far as the B&B goes, they are doing nothing short of gouging the public.  More pics to come at a later post.