12 Signs You’re In Austin Texas

Austin, Texas is the first place my eye wandered lustfully upon neon signs. I like them down and dirty, tacky, faded, broken, and even handmade.

The Continental Club is a classic.

Jo’s Coffee House might fool you with their graffiti sign.

Chuy’s Fine Tex Mex, another classic over on Barton Springs Road.

 

Foodie Seeks Sign Porn

Fresh bun burgers, better than N.Y. Pizza (oh no I didn’t!), and mac and cheese over a spicy sausage are just the tippity top of Austin’s kick ass comfort food ensemble. Better yet, most of these goodies are being hustled out of trailers flaunting cool signs. Wow, lay it on me!

Good and dirty. One of the trailer lots had this as their trashcan sign.

Home Slice Pizza is as fresh as their sign.

Frank Hot Dogs & Cold Beer – Purveyors of Artisian Sausage… and murals.

A Casual Love Affair Appreciates Spontaneity

I let them find me. Often times I just enjoy my sighting with a mental snap shot, other times I whip out my camera for the photo-op. The signs are my guilty pleasure in this city. Mac and cheese just goes hand-in-hand with neon gas I guess? I enjoy both simultaneously.

Magnolia Cafe need not be sorry.

A fallen star on Congress.

Doc’s Neon is a Roadside Relic creation.

Deep Cuts

Paying homage to this great american design style is Artist Todd Sanders. He restores and recreates neon signs. His work is on display around Austin and around the country. For a deep cut into sign art, visit Todd’s 1st Street Studio, Roadhouse Relics. The door is open. An up close view of neon in the making is a cool experience, too.

I’ve lusted over his “modern vintage” work several times without even knowing it. His Hot Dog Lovers sign is on my wish list… if I could only figure out how to install them in our motorhome!

Okay!

Hot Dog Love.

Todd’s latest work, the crown.

Crackled and Faded

There are signs for days around here and enjoying each of them would probably take another ten trips to Austin. I’m up for it, if we could only get a spot at Pecan Grove RV park.

Found this mural outside a 420 store. Hey, is that Oat Willie?