After two years of living in Waco, I finally made the trip to Salado, TX. Salado is a little art village in between Waco and Austin, they were having their annual wine festival in March, alongside their Wildflower festival.
When I was 13, I visited the village, and I loved it – but I wasn’t sure how it aged 11 years later.
Working in news, I learned that the construction on the major interstate had greatly affected tourism in the area, so I was really worried about how much we would have to do.
Fortunately, my sister and I made a great day trip out of it, and we had tons of fun.
WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL
The Wildflower Festival was our first stop. While it was cute and great to see all the products from the local artists, it was more of an event for locals. We still made the best of it!
One vendor, Chef Flaco’s Salsa, let us taste test some homemade salsa and queso. I tried their hottest sauce, and even I was kicked off my feet from the spice. I highly recommend it!
WINE FESTIVAL
If you are in Texas during the Wine Festival, I highly recommend it! And if you are not, you should still check out the Salado Winery Co. because their wines are fantastic, and the atmosphere is great.
The wine festival was extremely affordable – and I ended up leaving with two bottles of wine. I was most excited to taste wine (or Meade) from the Dancing Bee Winery. Their other company, Walker’s Honey Farm, was featured on Netflix’s docuseries Rotten, and I had heard great things from people I have met through my other job.
Alongside the wine, there was food and art from other local vendors. The pottery was amazing!
STAGECOACH INN
Because we were in Salado, we had to go to the historic Stagecoach Inn for lunch. When I was 13, I visited the restaurant, but they had just gone through a crazy remodel.
The new version of the Inn was an Instagrammers paradise. It had tons of natural light and great backgrounds.
The Stagecoach Inn is one of the (if not the) oldest restaurant in Texas. It served famous pioneers like Sam Houston.
My sister and I shared a burger and fries – and I got another glass of wine, because why not. It was super tasty, and the burger was very fresh.
There were a ton of other restaurants (like Alexanders Distillery) that we want to try when we visit next!
THE SHOPS
Salado is known for their unique shops full of items from local vendors! My favorite shop was the Sage Hill Market.
This market was literally a home decorated with things you could buy. Everything screamed Fixer Upper, and I am going to make the trip back during Christmas to find some unique gifts.
One thing I loved about the shops in Salado that they let you taste test all of their sauces, preserved, crackers, etc. in store. If you aren’t careful, you might return with an entire pantry.
Salado also has a couple of great breweries that are worth stopping by! I was with my underaged sister, so we didn’t check them out – but I definitely will be coming back for them!
Where is your favorite Texas day trip?
