lost in exploration | fort worth

an 11-day road trip starting in Indianapolis, visiting 10 cities in five states

day nine:

4 | 29 | 2023 (Saturday)

As Tabs and I were chatting during the drive north toward Fort Worth, we discovered that I forgot to use the Magnolia gift card my coworkers got for my birthday while we were actually in Waco two days prior. Well, since we were taking the same interstate north (I-35) to Fort Worth, which passes Waco, we decided to stop. That way I could use my GC at Magnolia (not simply online), and Tabs could stop at the boutique that wasn’t open before we left to grab something she wanted. It was a win-win, especially since we had an open day without any reservations.

Oh! *And*, Tabs had been wanting to try Dutch Bros coffee, which we also didn’t have a chance to get the first time around, so of course we stopped there, too! Again, this road trip was the perfect amount of spontenaity as well as planning.

Surprise, surprise… I decide to use my gift card at Ferny’s. We initially refrained from purchasing any plants or cacti, but because we only had a few more days left, we figured why not! Bob and Mo were still there; I adopted them, and they traveled back with us fairly unharmed. They now lean a little closer to each other, but how can you not when you share a pot? :)

Stopped back at Ferny’s, Magnolia grounds

We arrived in Fort Worth, which is almost three hours from Austin, around 12:15PM. After Google searching brunch and lunch places, we settled on BREWED, and it happened to be close to the Fort Worth mural we wanted to see. First, we stopped to check out the mural by Kristen Soble; we both loved the creativity with the letters and the colors!

Arriving at BREWED around 12:30PM didn’t have us waiting too long, but it was pretty busy for brunch/lunch. We sat inside, but they did have a nice outdoor area. For me, if a restaurant offers breakfast (any time of day), I will order it, and thankfully, Tabs is usually down. It was helpful to order a couple of things we both wanted to try in order to test out multiple dishes.

We decided to order the Texas Breakfast - sausage or bacon, two eggs, buttermilk biscuit, and serrano cheese grits - as well as the Fried Egg Sandwich - grilled Challah bun, maple garlic aioli, honey smoked bacon, over-medium-well eggs, lettuce, tomato, served with serrano cheese grits. The Texas breakfast wasn’t too bad, specifically the biscuit, but everything else was just meh, especially the grits. Now, the sandwich was delicious! However, we probably would’ve ordered an over-hard egg because it was a bit of a mess but still recommend! Overall, there’s plenty of other items on the menu I’d gladly try.

Walking out of the restaurant, we noticed another Fort Worth mural on the side of the building. A little bonus considering we didn’t realize it was there!

On our way out of town, we had to make our city donut stop: Funky Town Donuts & Drafts! After parking and on our walk to there, we passed the Bass Performance Hall; we both loved the classic architecture and the angels.

We did not spend as much time in Fort Worth as we would’ve liked, but it was a beautiful day exploring another Texas city. And just like that, we were headed out of Texas to OKC!

Funky Town had probably the *biggest* apple fritters I’ve ever seen! As much as Tabs loves them, she opted for the mini fritter, and I chose a more simple option, vanilla glazed with sprinkles. Now, the apple fritter was decent, but Tabs will forever love the Gibson’s version in Memphis, and I thought the vanilla glaze was pretty good.