We were thoroughly surprised by the Mayborn Museum. It looks small but it offers so much for kids…read more The first floor is the museum and the second floor is interactive and mainly for kids. We spent the whole day here except going out for lunch as they offer re-entry. Check out the Design Lab and Lights and Sounds areas. We had the most fun there. Also, there are scavenger hunts all over the museum so keep your eyes open for those.

This is my second visit to the Mayborn Museum. It is an excellent museum for children of all ages…read more My earlier visit was about 4 years ago. Many of the interactive exhibits that would interest younger folks has been updated. Interactive exhibits is a big part of the museum exhibits. Very educational and fun. There is a room for Space X rocket technology and the relationship of Baylor University and Space X. Well worth a visit for all!

This place has a lot history and fact that most people don't know. It is well laid out. There is a…read morefew interactive things to do. So Big and Small children don't get bored.

Having watched the CW's "Walker" featuring Jared Padalecki, I've been itching to check out the…read moreTexas Ranger Museum! If you're thinking it's a museum for the baseball team like Tracy P. thought, uhm, it's not. Haha. Texas Rangers have an illustrious history. Surprisingly, not all TR's were good, but for the most part they were lawmen. Do watch the 45-minute film before touring the museum which helped me appreciate the exhibits as it ties the TRs with almost every aspect of Texas history. There are interactive exhibits so you can pick up and feel the weight of a TR gun. And there are somber reminders of the most famous Waco incident. Expect to spend a decent couple of hours here and stop by the gift shop for a memorabilia. Only $10.50 per adult admission. Enjoyed it! Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and NY.

Think of this is as cheap children's museum in your backyard. It's an old school building, and…read moreevery classroom has a ton of activities for elementary and under. It's not super clean, or super new, as it runs mostly on volunteers and donations, but if you're looking for an indoor place to take your kid(s) for some imaginative playtime with role playing, art, building, and a little bit of being active, then this is a great option. $5 per kid and $2 per adult (cheaper for grandparents and under-twos).

My kids love the Imagination Station! Originally it was in Joshua but has moved to an old school…read morebuilding in Cleburne. It still very much looks like a school inside but all of the classrooms have been changed into themed playrooms. They have a room with a big sand pit, an arts & crafts room, a music room, a black light room with lots of fun glow in the dark play, a Lowes construction room, a stuffed animal hospital, and a party room. It's a little small and a bit dated but it's extremely affordable and my kids have a ton of fun. They have picnic tables outside so you could easily pack a lunch and spend a whole day there. Check out their Facebook page for upcoming events. Prices $2.00 Adults 18+ $5.00 Children 2-17 $3.00 Children 12 months-23 months $1.00 Grandparents

I'm a sucker for history especially when it comes to institutions,prisons,insane asylum,hospitals…read more In this case,the old original Hood County Texas Stone jail house. This style is very indicative of what was built as counties were establishing their infrastructure back in the 1800s. This is a good one. Don't miss it,.

The Hood County Jail and Historical Museum was such a great find! It was surprisingly dog…read morefriendly, although we held our little terriers most of the tour. The docents there are very knowledgeable and passionate about the Jail history and the history of Hood County. Upstairs has the jail holding areas, and downstairs has the old sheriff's quarters. There is also a few rooms that are dedicated more to Hood County history and have a museum feel to it. Our docent was super friendly and also took us over to see the historical cabin a few doors down. Highly recommended for any history buff!

As a National Park enthusiast, I was really excited to learn this site wasn't too far from my…read morefriend's house and so I was ecstatic to visit Waco Mammoth National Monument while in Texas. I'm also glad I happened to bring my National Park passport (you just never know!) Anyway, Waco Mammoth is definitely one of the more unusual units of the National Park System I've visited but also worth the visit!!! The history behind the site is fascinating. After two men discovered bones in 1978, researchers from Baylor University and other institutions began excavating the area and quickly realized they had uncovered something incredible! More and more fossils were found and in 2015 my guy President Obama established the site as an official unit of the National Park System. Though, one thing visitors should know ahead of time is that even though this is a National Park Service site, our America the Beautiful passes do NOT work here. General entry to the park grounds is free, but there is a separate fee to enter the dig shelter because it is operated in partnership with the City of Waco to help support preservation efforts. The actual dig shelter is absolutely the highlight of the experience, though you'll need to join a guided tour led by a docent. Hopefully you end up with one who is especially knowledgeable and enthusiastic because that really makes the experience come alive. I loved seeing the nation's first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of Colombian Mammoths from the Ice Age! So neat. At least 19 mammoths were discovered and the jury (err, scientists) are still out on how exactly these mammoths came to be trapped at this site/the reasoning for their passing. Anyway, this is a fascinating stop and absolutely worth visiting if you're in the Waco area, especially if you enjoy history, science, paleontology, or just visiting National Park units. It's not a full-day destination by any means, but it's definitely educational, memorable, and offers something very different from the typical national park experience!

If you have been driving and need to get out and stretch... stop here. It's the perfect "break."…read moreLearn something new and give your little ones the opportunity to become a certified ranger! ;) There's a gift shop of souvenirs for memory sake.

What a cool Dino stop nearby to the state park and full of exhibits and fun touristy exhibits and…read moresouvenirs and gifts of all kinds for kids and adults of all ages. What a cool and kitschy spot!

What a neat place to visit for dinosaur fans! We spent a little over 3 hours here with my almost 2…read moreyear old. She had a blast looking at all the dinosaurs. I was shocked how few I recognized. Many dinosaur books do not talk about some of the ones here. I wish they had a book about all of the books you saw during the visit. I would definitely buy it! Most of the books at the gift shop were cartoons or with just a few pictures and a lot of facts. Some fun little things: feeding koi fish on the path, some benches in the shade to eat a snack while walking, two large playgrounds with many picnic tables and a museum to look more facts about dinosaurs. I do wish they would tell us more about the dinosaur prints found in dinosaur state valley park. Many dinosaurs here were found in Canada, Asia, Europe, or Africa. Only a few were around here. I did love to learn about the only one found in a cow farm in Kansas! Overall, it was a great trip, and I would recommend to any dinosaur fans! If you come on a day, 80+ degrees, it will be hot, so bring lots of water, hats, sunscreen, fans, and cool clothes. There is some shade on the trail to get some relief. There is a changing table in the bathrooms with 4 stalls, so it's not too long of a wait when lines form.

Such a fun museum!…read more For $12 per adult, you can't beat the price and it comes with a free soda! This museum has so much history of Dr. Pepper and all things Dr. Pepper/Keurig. My dad worked for Dr. Pepper/Keurig for nearly 40 years, so this was so fun to see. So many cool artifacts from the beginning of Dr. Pepper to now. The gift shop is so cute with various souvenirs. The soda fountain building is fun! You can pre-book a make-your-own-soda event. We forgot to do that, but it looked really fun. The free soda was a plus. They even have flavors I've never heard of like Diet Caramel Dr. Pepper. Fun thing to do while in Waco!

Fun with the kids at the museum. Had a 12, 8,and 7 year old and looking for summer adventures to…read morekeep them busy. The museum is very well organized with lots of nostalgic pieces and fun advertisements to see. Interesting to see the changes in design over the years. After the museum we got the floats and they were tasty and a perfect treat especially in the TX heat. They have some fun flavors of Dr. Pepper items you can also purchase like popcorn and cases of pop. Nice family time and place to escape the heat. Spent about 2.5 hours. Tip- $10 parking right across the street for easy access.

Its beauty is to aesthetically entice and attract the eyes visiting the Waco Convention Center…read more Unfortunately, it lacks servicing the close proximity of the EAST WACO Citizenry and Community's needs. The Bledsoe Miller Park has an overdue tribute statue of Doris Miller-but the city has erased Moore High School, Jefferson Moore High School, the late Indian Springs Middle School-leaving no where for the black community to access, heritage.., and the be active, and be a part integral to Waco pride. The Bledsoe Miller park located on Bridge Street-Elm/Washington Avenue was where black families had Easter Egg Hunts, played baseball and softball. It was where my dad pushed me high in the swing where I tried to touch the trees that grew upward seemingly enabling me to touch the sky. There are fewer park benches-no pits to roast hotdogs, grill burgers, or heat s'mores 'till the marshmallows almost melted away and burned ! .., There are the no public outdoor swimming pools on the East Side of the mighty Brazos-part of the Red River and the -Colorado River. Our Brazos River has 7 tributaries.. home of the historic Chisholm Trail, the route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and ending at Kansas rail stops. A little further south was the great Cotton Palace that was erased also. The Cotton Palace was an exhibition ground in the area of Clay Avenue, Dutton Avenue and South Sixteenth Street in Waco, Texas, from 1895 to 1930. Waco was central to amazing history with Waco Connally Airforce Base has only remnants that still exist today. Along with the Waco Veteran's Hospital that has diminished where as the Olin E. Teague Veteran's Medical Center located in Temple,Texas; 40-45 miles south of WACO has grown and is basically replaced the Waco VA as an essential government based medical facility. Walker's Auditorium where WACO, Texas (a report done by FOX 44 NEWS) - When looking back at East Waco there are few things more iconic than Walker's Auditorium. However, the venue has been forgotten - there is not one picture of the famed building that seems to exist. On a street in East Waco stands the daughter of a trailblazer. Charlotte Floyd-Love, the only child of Herbert Walker - the legendary Black -Waco businessman who opened up the iconic Walker's Auditorium in 1945. Even though there are no pictures of it, remnants of the famed building is like time has passed on and remains only in the mind's eye of their grandchildren born in the late 1940's and 50's.. Behind the old bricks echoed the music of legends. "Ike and Tina" and "Little Stevie" rocked East Waco with their immense talent, but Charlotte shares there were so many more. *My mother, who worked for Mr. Charlie DeVall at the best restaurant in Waco-the Chicken Shack favored Walker's Auditorium, was fortunate to go there and swoon over her favorite, the incomparable Billy Eckstein. "B.B. King was one of my very special ones..." she gushes. "Bobby Blue Bland. I enjoyed all....love them. Gladys Knight. James Brown..." ***I am sad that the city of Waco is disappearing. WE NEED MORE WALKING PATHS LIKE THE MCC OUTDOOR WALKING TRACK- and the nice and adequate Baylor University Outdoor track named for the recently passed great Track Coach -Coach Clyde Heart whom I met and engaged with twice in the last year. He Coached my classmates Michael Beck, and Larry M. Davis-as well as several Gold Medalist Olympians, including Dallas,Texas native Michael Johnson, along with Jeremy Wariner, and Darold Williamson. We need a weatherized-cushioned walking path for all Wacoans: Extending from the Highway 77L and MLK Jr. Boulevard along to pass magnificent Baylor's McLane Stadium to extend pass Franklin Avenue near Indian Spring Park to down along the Brazos River Walk winding down past the Herring Bridge to Brazos Park East!! Make us all a safe, pertinent, durable walking path/ track to walk, build health, hope, and dream for the future, execute the present, and reminisce and improve upon the past. Why Not ? Because we surely do need it.., ...Why, because there is no insulated mapped out walking trail for us like the awesome McLennan Community College outdoor walking track located at 1400 College Drive 76708. Indian Spring Park seems to be only a place for a few people to picnic.

The Waco Suspension Bridge is located in downtown Waco a few feet from the Waco Convention Center…read more It is filled with a rich history, built in 1870 with cables from John Roebling's, the same company that provided cables to the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge spans 475-feet, and at one point, was considered the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi. The Waco Suspension Bridge is majestic, yet aesthetically pleasing. It now serves as a pedestrian crossing. When you walk out on the bridge, it is peaceful, quiet and serene. Listening to the water meander under the bridge almost puts you in a trance. In addition to the bridge, the steers in the front of the bridge are being renovating...painted and sealed with hot wax.