Regardless of what you may have heard about Waco, this place is quite incredible in almost every aspect that comes to mind. Just from the top of my head, there are awesome places to eat (i.e. Vitek’s, George’s, and Schmaltz’s), there are two rivers (the Brazos and the Bosque), there’s an incredible university (BAYLOR!), and there are a few hidden gems that make Waco an absolutely wonderful place to be!
HIDDEN GEM # 1 – CAMERON PARK
Cameron Park is the best, most out of place thing that you might find in Waco. It lies upon the limestone structures that line the Brazos and Bosque rivers, and it features very intense bike trails, some pretty interesting wild life, and of course incredible views of the rivers.
Cameron Park is pretty sweet because you can go there with absolutely no agenda and end up spending hours mesmerized by the things you’ll find and taken away by the beauty of God’s creation. You can also go there to hammock (you must have a hammock before coming to college), have a picnic, or study! Basically, it’s one of the greatest things you never expected to find in Waco, TX.
HIDDEN GEM # 2 – LAKE WACO
Lake Waco is located about 20 minutes from Baylor’s campus, and just like Cameron Park, it’s an unusual find for the average student. Lake Waco covers 79,000 acre-feet of water, and here’s a fun fact: the largest catfish caught from Lake Waco was 59.5 pounds!
At Lake Waco, you’ll find biking and hiking trails, great water for recreational fishing, a dam (makes for great sunsets), and beaches where the possibilities are endless (we like to go out there at night and start bonfires, listen to music, and star-gaze). Needless to say, Lake Waco is without a doubt one of the coolest amenities to the Wacoan.
HIDDEN GEM # 3 – Cameron Park Zoo
The Cameron Park Zoo is something you’ll hear a lot about while in Waco, but you’ll never truly understand the Cameron Park Zoo until you experience it for yourself. You may not think of Waco as having an awesome zoo, but in my humble opinion I think it can easily compete with the San Diego, Fort Worth, and other world-famous zoos. There are so many awesome animals (lemurs, giraffes, and elephants) and some not-so-awesome animals too (SNAKES).
In addition to being an incredible zoo, the Cameron Park Zoo can also be a social hub. Every year, the Freshman Leadership Organization, or FLO, hosts a dance for freshman called, “Frontier” held at the Cameron Park Zoo! This year, I had the privilege of DJing the event and I’m not kidding when I say we had at least 350 people crammed onto the dance floor there at the Cameron Park Zoo! CHECK IT OUT!!!
HIDDEN GEM # 4 – PUDDLES
Don’t worry, you read it right PUDDLES. Now I’m not saying anything, but I feel like since we’re the largest Baptist university in the world… God probably likes to say thanks in His own special way.
Here’s a brief story explain why I think that:
It was a Sunday afternoon when Marcus (my good friend) and I were about to unpack the car from the picnic we had just had with his sister and some of her friends. I kid you not, as soon as we got out of the car a beam of light shined down from the clouds onto a puddle. Marcus, being an intelligent Baylor student, walks to the puddle and pulls out a fifty-dollar bill. I am scouring the puddle for more, while livid because I didn’t find the money, and Marcus carries on with unloading the car. After returning to the car, he goes back to the puddle only to find thirty more dollars just lying there, even though I swear I just got done looking! At this point I am furious and Marcus now has $80 for no good reason.
Regardless of who actually found the money from the Sacred-Puddle at 9th and James… There is still a sacred puddle here in Waco and if you get some time while in town, you honestly might want to swing by and test your luck at the puddle.