The Silos have become a popular destination for Fixer Upper fans from around the world. Chip and Jojo are on the cover of People Magazine this week, and the article says that they receive 40,000 visitors a week! And while shopping Magnolia Market is for sure top priority, there is so much more to the Silos than that!
The reason that Chip and Joanna purchased the Silos back in 2014 was to create a community gathering place and they have definitely achieved that goal. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and visitors are encouraged to hang out and enjoy. There is a large grassy area, plenty of seating, toys and swings to enhance your visit. There is a huge barn that provides shade and extra seating. It was imported from Canada, which is pretty cool! They took it apart, shipped it and then reassembled it on sight. They showed the old fashioned barn raising on one of the episodes of Fixer Upper.
You will not go hungry at the Silos, as there are many foodtrucks to choose from. Whatever you do, save room for dessert! We couldn’t get into the bakery when we were there, the line ups were so long! Thankfully there was a Bakery foodtruck and we scored the last 2 Silobration cupcakes!
As an added bonus to visiting during Silobration, there was a pretty huge vendor fair. Oh how I would love to be a vendor at that market. The night before, there was a private shopping event for Joanna and her friends, and then at each booth, there would be a sign saying “Joanna bought 3 of these”! Talk about your celebrity endorsement! In addition to the Artisans selling their wares, they had a few cool things set up, one was this giant backdrop that was used on the current issue of Texas Monthly!
Another important area of the Silos to talk about is the garden and the Magnolia Seed and Supply, which is a tiny little gardening store. Joanna is a self-professed #plantlady, so I am sure this little corner of the Silos is a space that is near and dear to her heart!
The retail space, is of course adorable, but the garden blew my mind! And because it was “Fall y’all” there were pumpkins everywhere, such a fun pop of color!
I loved the fairy gardens! I keep meaning to create these with my girls, such a fun thing to do. I love how each little fairy garden was resting in the center of a birdbath. Stylistic genius!
One of the main events of the Silobration was an appearance by Chip and Jo, followed by a concert performance by one of their favorite bands, Georgia Swim. This happened on both the Thursday and Friday evenings, and you had to purchase tickets for this. We arrived in town on Thursday and our tickets were for the Friday evening performance. Hands down, our biggest thrill, was seeing Chip and Jo in person. For this reason, I can’t recommend attending enough. The downside to their amazing success and fame is that they don’t visit the Silos during public hours because they get swarmed. I learned this when I read the article in Texas Monthly. It actually made me kinda sad, because they wanted to create a place for families to gather, but now they can’t take their kids there. The Silos are closed on Sundays, and sometimes they go then, but Chip described how they hosted a birthday party there and people were lined up at the fence watching them. He described feeling like animals in a zoo! So sadly, if you want to see Chip and Jo, attending the concert is your best bet! Isabelle and I had an issue with our Uber and we were kinda stressed because we got to the Silos right at 7, when the appearance and concert were set to start. We had wanted to get there a bit early to get a good spot to watch from. Turns out that arriving at 7 was the best thing we could have done, because it placed us in the right place at the right time. First of all, Joanna walked right by us, as we were standing on the path between the store and the stage.
We sensed some commotion and when we looked towards the store, we saw Joanna being escorted out! #girlcrush
I love that she was wearing her typical Joanna “uniform”… the green field jacket, distressed jeans and ankle boots are her classic go-to look, one that I shamelessly copy! #singlewhitefemale
She was just as beautiful in person!
We had barely recovered from that excitement, when we sensed that something else was about to happen. We knew from facebook that the previous evening Chip rode in on a Harley. He did not disappoint, and a few seconds later he cruised right by us. I could have high-fived him! Watch the clip below!
Seeing my two idols this close was pretty much the biggest thrill for me. I was like a 10 year old girl at a One Direction concert!
Perhaps this is what launched me into stalker mode and I spent more time trying to lay my eyes on Chip and Joanna than I did watching the concert! Sorry Johnny Swim, you guys are a talented group, and your music was a great soundtrack for the evening, but we came to see our idols! Here are the photos I managed to snap on my phone…
Chip and Jojo took the stage for about a half hour before the band played, and even joined them on stage at the end.
I snapped this picture of them watching the concert from the top of the fire escape. See what I mean…I became slightly stalker-y.
We noticed Chip and Jo got up to leave their viewing place on the fire escape so we hung out by the door that Joanna came out of at the beginning of the night and sure enough, out they came. I should have been a police detective, seriously.
Chip was super friendly and gracious. I was surprised by all the police in attendance for crowd control.
Attending this event was everything we dreamed of and more! From several close encounters with our design crushes, to simply spending time at the Silos and all they had to offer, we were in heaven! For anyone planning a trip to the Silos, I highly recommend staying at either the Hilton or Hotel Indigo. Both of those are within walking distance to the Silos. When we originally booked out hotel, we obviously didn’t know the area and ended up really far away from downtown in a really low end hotel chain. We quickly realized our error and got ourselves over to the Hilton. It was a nice hotel and the location was amazing. It was right across the street from the river that runs through town. The first two photos from the left I snapped on my phone out of the window. The horse statue is in the park across the street and the Iconic Alico building is a block or two away from the Hilton. There is a free trolley service that takes you from the Silos around the downtown core. On our last day in town I walked to the Silos and then took the trolley back to the hotel.
Attending this event was everything we dreamed of and more! From several close encounters with our design crushes, to simply spending time at the Silos and all they had to offer, we were in heaven!
I hope you enjoyed the recap of my experience and thanks for reading!
xo, Kerri