Aside from the baking hot temperatures and the smell of barbeque wafting around what seemed like every corner, I didn’t feel like I was deep in the heart of Texas during my Austin stay.   The city felt beautifully out of place compared with all of my preconceived notions of “Texas-ness”.  In exploring a few parts of the city on foot, the vibrant and plentiful public art reinforced the “Keep Austin Weird” vibe that I fell for within an hour of first arriving.

Right across the street from my motel on South Congress Avenue was the “I love you so much” mural on the wall of Jo’s Coffee (a place I would later laze away a few hours with a book).  The simple mural by Amy Cook was a scrawled love letter to her partner Liz (the owner of Jo’s Coffee).  Simple and profound, I felt the love directed to me each time I walked past.

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