I’ve written and posted about day one of our Texas trip when my parents and I attended the Baylor Men’s Basketball vs. Norfolk game, day two with the Baylor Women’s Basketball vs. Hawaiʻi game—both in the NCAA first round, and day three featuring my favorite Mexican food ever, and day four of our Texas trip had even more delicious foods with some of my most beloved people!
My family and I fully went in on our favorite meals on day four of our Texas trip! We woke up quite early to drive to my favorite kolache place in the whole world out in Valley Mills. My best friends Jonathan, Lo, and I discovered Best Donuts and Kolache Shop randomly on the way to Fossil Rim several years ago when we got hungry on the drive. We pulled over when we saw the kolache sign on a bright yellow storefront and ever since then, I make sure to get the most sweet and savory sausage and cheese kolaches every time I’m in Waco. My mom, sister Megan, and Megan’s partner never had Best before, so it was fun to have all of them around to try my holy grail delight shop. I got two large sausage and cheese kolaches (it’s always good to have an extra one lying around for a snack) and a chocolate sprinkle donut for sweets. The store owners heat the kolaches up after purchasing so they’re warm, buttery, and sweet from the bread and the salty sausage is juicy with a light crisp on the outside. We didn’t want to eat too much for breakfast because we’d arranged to meet some of dad’s oldest friends, Tommy Jack and Gloriana, for lunch at Cracker Barrel (another big time favorite for us)!
In between meals, we stopped at Central Texas Marketplace to wander around the stores and I picked up the cutest floral plates and a yellow gingham dress for spring. I without fail order meatloaf (Jonathan, Lo, and I had cry laughs the last time we went to Cracker Barrel and I announced my meatloaf order) from Cracker Barrel every lunch I spend there and I chose mashed potatoes with brown gravy and mac and cheese for my sides. After only eating half of my meal, I was ready to roll out of the restaurant to take a FAT nap. We drove around a little while longer post-lunch before mom and dad went to the Women’s Basketball NCAA second round where Baylor fell to South Dakota (I was set to go as well, but I wasn’t feeling good).
After the basketball game, we met Jonathan, Urn, and Lo for dinner at Texas Roadhouse (the holy grail of affordable steaks) and we waited well over an hour for a table. Mom repeatedly checked on the wait and when we’d already been there for 45 minutes without the time decreasing, we split up into two tables of four instead. I ate with my bffs and my family sat on their own table together. I finally got my favorite ever ribeye with a house salad and mashed potatoes and gravy as well as one too many rolls with cinnamon butter. And while I adored my dinner, eating and cry laughing with my friends was the best part of the night. I’m super lucky that we text all day every day and correspond with daily Marco Polos, there’s nothing like eating together and losing our voices while laughing too much. We had a wonderful day four of our Texas trip!
