A Day Out with "The Bag Ladies"

My dear friend, Wynn, who used to live here, contacted me on Monday, asking if I'd join her and her three friends from Huntsville (they call themselves "The Bag Ladies") for a couple of days of fun in Waco and McGregor. Sadly, I already had a dentist appointment scheduled for Tuesday, but happily agreed to join them for the McGregor portion of the adventure, on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, while I was in the dentist's chair :-( they went to Magnolia Market - the marvelous shop owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines, from HGTV's Fixer Upper. I've been wanting to visit there, so was really disappointed to miss out on that part of the trip. Here's a photo of Wynn and the Bag Ladies at Magnolia Market. Wynn is on the far right.

Left to right: Jenene, Yuka, Dorothy and Wynn

But Wednesday turned out to be tons of fun. We met at The Cedar Chest Antique Mall. It's huge, and we spent a couple hours there before heading an eighth-mile down the road to check out The Cedar Chest Too. Yes, as big as the Cedar Chest is, it has had to expand into a second building.

After a morning filled with nostalgia - "My Grandma had one of those"; "Did you have a poodle skirt when you were in grade school?"; "Oh, look, I had a doll just like this!"; "Don't you think this would be perfect in my kitchen?"; "How cute! I could make this!" - we went to lunch at The Coffee Shop Cafe, also in McGregor.

Dan and I have eaten at this wonderful cafe for breakfast a couple of times, but this was my first time to try lunch. It was really, really good. Too bad we were all too full for dessert, because they are known for their amazing pies. McGregor is less than 10 miles from Crawford, Texas, which is where George W and Laura Bush have their Texas ranch. The Bushes have dined often at the Coffee Shop Cafe, and there are photos and memorabilia of George W and Laura all over the shop, including a check they used to pay for one of their meals.

After lunch we went over to the Magnolia House. This 1800's house was restored by Chip and Joanna Gaines (of Fixer Upper fame), and converted into a bed and breakfast.

Wynn and me

Behind the house is another Gaines fixer upper, where the bed and breakfast managers/caretakers live. While we were standing there, gawking at Magnolia House, dreaming of what it would be like to spend a night or two there and taking lots of pictures, a man came out of the caretakers' house. He was trying to get some yard work done, but it was pretty hard to ignore the five of us. Dorothy was the bravest and she called to him and started asking questions. His name is Rob, and he and his wife are the caretakers. He is such a nice fellow, and before we let him get back to his work, we twisted his arm and convinced him to join us for a picture. What a good sport!

Now I might have called it a day at this point, but these ladies are DEDICATED shoppers, and headed to yet another antique store. After spending 45-minutes-or-so there, I told everyone good-bye and thanked them the wonderful day, then headed south on HWY 317, for home.

It was so nice of these ladies to let me crash their "party". It was a special treat to spend the day with Wynn, but it was also great getting to know her friends - the fun-loving Bag Ladies.