I couldn’t be more in love with our new location. It truly warms the cockles of my heart.
Our parish is close enough that we can not only walk to Mass, but we can hear the church bells from our bedroom. And we can hear them loud and clear if we’re playing in the yard. I feel very medieval getting dressed for Mass and walking past little houses with the bell tower in sight.
Our little homeschool co-op is also in walking distance. Benjamin looks miserable, but I promise he had fun learning basketball and science.
We can also eat some of the best Mexican food in Waco by taking a three block stroll. It’s not Tex Mex, it’s real Mexican and it’s HEAVENLY. If I won the lottery, I would eat there once a day instead of once a week. #tacotrucksoneverycorner and all that. They have free wifi so maybe I’ll just use it as my blogging office. Tacos fuel good writing, right? This could work.
Our street is mostly little starter homes built anywhere from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. Most are in some state of serious disrepair. North Waco is very spotty. You’ll see what looks like a crack house next to a really nice well-kept house. It reminds me of New Orleans in that regard. But the neighborhood is starting to recover even though it has a long way to go. Someday I’ll do a whole post of Waco’s weirdness and why I love it so much.
If you take a walk for just a couple of blocks you’ll find yourself on a gorgeous street of old 3-story homes (mansions?!) that are stunning. Some of them are falling down but some are in great shape. I’m dying to know what they look like inside but Daniel told me that knocking on the door and asking to tour stranger’s homes would be “weird.” So, alas. I just stare as I walk by. The residents probably think I’m planning some sort of heist.
There’s even a few tiny libraries set up in the neighborhood. So cute!
Most of our friends live within five minutes of our house so since we’ve moved away from our great farm community, we haven’t been lonely! It’s great to be able to text a friend in the late afternoon and say, “hey! Got dinner plans?” and then spend the evening eating good food and talking into the night.
We’re just a few minutes away from downtown and all my favorite writing haunts. And we’re even going to get a grocery that’s ALMOST walking distance. It’s at least biking distance.
Being able to walk to Mass and to eat and being such a short drive from most everywhere else feels so very European. Sure, it’s Waco, TX, basically the opposite of Europe. But, it’s right where I want to be. Thanks for all your support on the twists and turns of our crazy adventure. I feel like we’re stopping to take a breath after lots of transitions and changes. And it feels good.
That is so cool that you can hear the churchbells from where you live! And that you can walk so many places. I wish that more cities were walkable like that!
The funny thing is that Waco is NOT a very walkable city. I think we just found a great pocket. They are working on making it more walkable and safer for cyclists! It used to have electric street cars and I’m SO SAD they don’t have them anymore!
I was lucky to be able to go to Europe after I graduated from college, my favorite thing about the cities that we visited was being able to walk to Mass everyday. Your writing about Waco makes it sound like a really cool/unique spot to live!
It’s a great place to live! Super quirky, but we love it.
Yes and amen to walkable, charming Texas towns that harken to European living! *fistbump*
Yay! I know y’all are still hard at work fixing up your new place, but I imagine you feel the same way about the relief of having a permanent place to live again. So glad y’all are nearby now!
Love it! We lived three years in an apartment in San Antonio, because we could walk to two grocery stores, Chuy’s, Barnes & Nobles, a movie theater, and a handful of other places. We pretended to be urban and loved every second. We’re still on the hunt for a great walkable section of San Antonio.
We explored San Antonio for the first time a couple of months ago and just loved it! Stayed in the historic district so we walked everywhere and fell in love with it 🙂
Our new place is walkable to our new parish, too. It’s really delightful.
So great!
Haley, what is the name of that beautiful Marian painting over your mantle?? Who is the artist?
It’s by Botticelli, Julia. I think it’s called the Coronation of Mary? Something like that! Botticelli’s Madonna’s are my favorite 🙂
This *does* sound like New Orleans! (And not at all like the Waco I know!) We’re on Algiers Point in NOLA, complete with church bells <3, a café, playground, homeschool co-op and more … never expected so many similarities with my college town when in the right pocket. Happy for y'all =) ! Keep on being part of the growth!