5 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting the Waco Amish Village That’s NOT Amish (Homestead Heritage)

I heard of a little Amish farmers market that I wanted to go to that was only on Saturdays, so we were going  to need to stagger out this trip for a little so that I can be there for the Saturday. With these physical limitations, I get tired quickly so I’ll need to plan recovery time in between activities. Today was destined to be the highlight of this trip. In my mind, the little Amish village was complete with horse-drawn, carriages, and people living without technology. This little village is called Homestead Heritage and it was pretty easy to find. We arrived around 9:30 on a Friday and it wasn’t crowded yet. We went to the glassmaking shop and the leather shop and the fiber shop and the basket shop and the soap shop. Each of the little villages had schedules for little activities that you could do. You know, the little 5 to 15 minute things that even kids can do which are right up my alley all the way to like a six or seven day woodworking class to learn how to build a rocking chair. We actually did less activities than we had planned to do because I felt like the lady in the leather shop was being a little judgmental when we chose to do the leather coaster stamping activity. She said something like “ I usually do this with kids”. To which I replied, “we are like kids” and had her hold my leather stamp in place while I pounded it with the little mallet to make sure it didn’t move. I had expected to spend a small fortune in the basket store since I have a little bit of a fetish. The gal working in the store was very sweet and had a lot of stories about how she had personally crafted some of the most beautiful baskets I had ever seen. Because I had previously bought so many baskets from different places, usually from a person that made it in India or some kind of mass produced basket, I was pre-conditioned to expect a much lower price. When I saw the price tags on these well earned pieces of artwork I just couldn’t get myself to buy another basket. 

Hint 1: Bathrooms are not as readily available as I like so if you see one, you better use it. We did find one without a line and it wasn’t on the map they provide. It is adjacent to the basket store and slightly left as you exit the shop. 

The proximity of the basket store was near the farmers market pavilion that we had planned to visit the following day, Saturday. I asked the shopkeeper if it was worth going to since we had visited all of the villages just today. Would it simply be those stores selling their goods in a common building?  She enthusiastically explained that we should absolutely go to the market. In addition to the village. She began to tell us about some of the amazing food and crafts that we would see. She said everything would be made by locals in their community, which confused us a little because we were thinking about the little religious community but she was referring to the larger community. She specifically said we really needed to try the Butter Chicken from the Indian restaurant. So, I guess we will plan to be back tomorrow! But for now, there was more to look at. 

After five or six little village stores, we had worked up an appetite and went for lunch at the Cafe Homestead. I had heard that there were long lines but we walked right in and were seated right away. Maybe because the lunch crowd had already been seated or maybe because it was a weekday but I am not complaining. I looked at the couple next to us because I always like to see the food before I decide what I want to order. The woman was sitting almost uncomfortably near our table so I could get a really good look at the healthy looking chicken salad sandwich. Her husband was having a Reuben sandwich and raving about it. I got the feeling he doesn’t have that often, if ever, but he seemed to really enjoy it. Both dishes looked like good options but  neither looked like a special vacation treat or what I had in mind at the moment. I ended up ordering a mouthwatering chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and my husband splurged even more with chicken fried steak. We shared some corn fritters to start, which were so good that we’re almost the consistency of a hush puppy but they were a little more corn tasting. My chicken fried chicken was perfectly cooked and it tasted like it was in fresh oil and did not leave me feeling like I just had a heavy meal or that I needed to take a nap. It may have been one of the best chicken fried chicken dishes I ever inhaled. The friendly couple next to us wanted to look at the sweets after their lunch so the server brought out a dessert tray with six or seven home cooked desserts, but then also said they have a peach cobbler that’s not on the dessert tray. Of course that’s what the couple ordered and it came warmed and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That’s exactly what my husband had to have as well. We found ourselves making friends with the couple that was equally interested in what we were ordering. We commiserated on the high prices in the village, the delicious food offerings in the cafe and small town vacations. We actually exchanged numbers and vowed to get together again one day on a future trip.

Hint 2: Get an ice cold tea with your meal and when you fall in love with that delicious southern flavor, buy some to take home with you. It’s the same tea in the water powered gristmill building. 

After lunch, we wanted to hit the main gift shop and then head back down the road towards some of the other community specialty shops that were a bit too far to walk. Our next stop was the chocolate factory. It was a combination of a coffee shop and handmade chocolates in a fancy building that’s kind of set back from the others. The aroma of the coffee hits you as soon as you open the truck door. I’m not a coffee drinker so I wasn’t particularly excited about that. When you enter, there was a round table of retail chocolates that were made previously and a huge glass window looking into the actual factory where you could see workers stamping rows of delicious looking confections. Unfortunately, we could not sit at a table to watch the show or even felt comfortable shopping for the chocolates because the place was filled with college students that were sitting one to a booth working on their computers, not paying attention to the amazing show around them or even the other people wanting to sit and have coffee and chocolate. We did wait in line for a single piece of chocolate, just to say we tried it. It was dark chocolate and I thought it was exceptional but my hubby didn’t care for it. I suppose it was a specific taste but I can’t really describe it. 

The drive down to the market and bakery was very short, less than a block. While the market looked like just a market, the area that included a bakery is rumored to be exceptional. Some close friends of ours had previously visited and raved wildly about them. The bakery sold out of almost everything by the time we arrived in the mid-afternoon, and there wasn’t much to look at. From there, we walked over to a couple other shops and then drove to the cheese store. I had a sense of excitement driving up to the creamery as I read signs explaining how the cheese is award winning and aged in their cave. The yard had so many shady picnic areas that made me wish I had a bottle of wine. I hadn’t noticed before but there wasn’t wine or beer for sale anywhere. I think it probably has to do with their religion. The store had a nice variety of little cheese themed gifts and a few local chocolate treats that were from yet another chocolate factory. I was surprised that it wasn’t from the neighboring store but it was equally delicious. In the back of the store was an orderly sample table. We didn’t expect to be overwhelmed but we love a lot of kinds of cheeses so we wanted to give it a try. The Gouda samples were particularly and surprisingly tasty! Joe, my hubby, said the ghost pepper cheese was really good and not too spicy but I was still too scared to try it. We watched the cheese making class behind the window for a few minutes and decided to buy a small cheese making kit as a gift for my son along with all the cheeses we sampled.

Hint 3: Check all the classes and activities online before you go and visit the village stores around that schedule to ensure you don’t just miss something to make memories on your trip. 

Leaving the creamery, you can see a small building with a sign that simply reads “cave”. It got my curiosity going but it couldn’t possibly be where they age all this great cheese. We walked up to the tiny building which appeared to be nothing more than a long stairway leading underground. We had already been walking around quite a bit that day so my husband recommended skipping the stairs but my curiosity was having no part of that. The first few steps were tricky without a handrail but the cave wall served well  when we got a little lower. At the bottom of the flight of stairs, we reached a turn and another flight of stairs. At this point I’m starting to worry about the trek back up and hoping I didn’t make a mistake. We went down one more flight of stairs and I was thinking we were already pretty deep. The temperature had drastically changed from the Texas heat to a cool, almost refrigerated feel. At the foot of the second set of stairs, we were met with a giant window into the cheese cave. You could immediately see the dozens of wheels in various states of aging and it looked as if the room went further back but it was not open to the public. Because it was Friday and a little less crowded, we were alone in the cheese cave and were happy that nobody was trying to come down behind us so I took my time climbing back to the top. I was happy this was our last stop but I was even happier that I experienced the cheese cave. 

Hint 4: Don’t expect anything to be cheap. Just because it is homemade, doesn’t mean you get a discount. In my opinion the prices were two to three times what you would buy the same product in the store for, and I don’t mean a discount store. 

It was now about 3 in the afternoon, and we were not far from the Waco Waffle Company. It reminded us of the 4 different people that had told us it’s not to be missed. Our goal was to enjoy a county waffle there in the morning when we returned for the indoor farmers market. Some passing travelers were mentioning that they were staying on or near the property in a short-term rental. They didn’t even know about the village until they checked in. I asked one of the community members for information about the stays and they pointed to a flyer about tree house cottages that were not far off the property. They didn’t have any additional information about the short-term rentals that I had heard of. As we drove away from the village, there were numerous signs about a nearby “U-Pick” Pecan farm. I thought that would have been really nice to know ahead of time, but we were way too pooped at this point. 

After a long rest from all the walking, we were ready to go to the Waco Waffle Company. Us and everybody else! When we arrived about 9:40am on Saturday morning, the parking lot was full and people were parking on the grass. We wondered where everyone was sitting because the building wasn’t that big. We consider ourselves too old for lines and crowds, so we decided to pass. We ran into the bakery and bought some packaged cinnamon rolls and drove on down the hill to the Heritage Craft Market parking lot. As we waited not-so-patiently in the truck for the market to open, we made note of what we thought were Amish women driving modern cars to set up their booths. Joe took a minute to look up the beliefs of this community. Apparently, it started as an inner-city ministry in New York, and they are just bible believing Christian’s that focus on simple living and natural products. We found our new knowledge interesting, but it was time to open the market doors! Having missed the Waffle Company and fresh warm bakery products, we were hungry and eager to try some of the farmers market food. Remembering what the basket vendor mentioned the day prior, we started in the market going counterclockwise to avoid the early morning rush which all seemed to go left (towards the food vendors). We skipped all the booths from the local villages which made shopping much faster but bought a snuggly handmade stuffed panda from one booth and a morning coffee from another. Enough was enough, time to go down the food aisle! Right off the bat was a Filipino booth offering pansit and lumpia. I’m a sucker for lumpia so we can eat somewhere else, but I need to get this! How was it not ready yet? Ug! Ok, they said 3 minutes. I’ll come back after I order our other food. We had decided to order small plates from various booths so we could try more. Next booth up was Lebanese with the cutest little 8 year old girl selling cookies. It took a little longer to ring up our chicken shawarma sandwich but it was ok because she reminded me of my own adorable grandbaby trying to figure out how much change to make. She was so distracting that I almost walked away without the best part, garlic sauce. Almost! The lady said, “oh, you are familiar with this food”.  I thought, more than familiar, it’s my favorite kind of food and I’m not leaving this spot without garlic sauce! 

Hint 5: Go to the market hungry! There is lots of tasty food!

Oooohh, next was the Indian food. There was no way this butter chicken was as good as the basket maker said but let’s check it out. It comes on a plate with basmati rice, a side salad and a piece of naan. I think they called the bread something else, but it looked and tasted like naan to me. We skipped a couple vendors and grabbed an Argentinian empanada and a pineapple soda before we ran back to the Filipino place. Time to eat! We hoarded one of the center picnic tables and arranged our treasures. Empanadas are usually a delish, guilty pleasure so I started there. Remembering the vendor was going on and on about how he grew up in the streets of Argentina, I wondered why the appetizers tasted frozen and day old. I went from super excited to have international food in Texas to feeling like I needed to give this vendor a “good try” speech. I wanted to wash that bite down so I opened the pineapple soda. I had never had this brand of Argentinian drink but how could that be bad? After a huge swallow, I realized that I spoke too soon. It would be one thing if it just wasn’t the best, but this was not even drinkable, in my opinion. Realizing the plan to share this beverage  isn’t going to work, my amazing husband jumps up and stands in line at a fresh squeezed lemonade stand. The limeade he also purchased was so refreshing! The lumpia still looks like it will burn my mouth so I went to taste the Indian dish. Omg, this guy needs a restaurant and it needs to be a little closer to me. The perfect amount of velvety sauce over juicy chicken. Don’t even get me started on that buttery bread. Now my expectations are back up there! I grabbed the lumpia and thought that just because it didn’t look like what I’m used to, it’s probably still amazing. Not! First, this lumpia was a round stick that I’m used to but it was about 12 inches long and cut in half. It had a very thin outer wrapper and the filling was so loosely wrapped that it was falling out on the plate. It reminded me more of a small chicken burrito than lumpia. The flavor was ok but it certainly didn’t give me the same satisfaction of eating that fried stick of goodness. Last but not least was the chicken schwarma wrap. The chicken looked a little pale and when pulled out of the wrap, it was a little bland. I thought it was probably because most people trying this won’t be as familiar and probably won’t have the pallet to handle all those seasonings. The cooks likely toned it down for the masses. For the next bite, I slathered the garlic sauce on. Oh dang. That was delicious. All the flavors meld together and I wish I hadn’t already eaten so much other stuff! Having tried almost all the food and visited almost all the booths, it was time for us to go. We watched people walking down to a hay ride area and others admiring chickens as we drove off with full bellies and satisfied cravings. If I weren’t on vacation I would have ordered bigger meals everywhere just to have left overs. I will definitely come back and be ready to eat!