Laid-Back in Austin, Texas

Austin isn't what comes to mind when most people think of Texas. A 60s hippie mecca and college town, Austin developed a certain funkiness that belies it's placement in the heart of cowboy country (sandals, not cowboy boots are the preferred footwear). Sparkling lakes, dozens of great Mexican food restaurants, Sixth Street nightlife, the warehouse district, a booming economy and a laid-back, welcoming attitude make Austin an ideal spot for vacation or relocation.

Quick Tips:

Watching the sunset from The Oasis Cantina is a must for your first visit to Austin. Sip a margarita and snack on nachos on one of the multiple decks overlooking Lake Travis. Then join the round of applause that erupts as Apollo completes his descent behind the lake. Get there early, though, as the crowds can be quite large.

Best Way To Get Around:

Public transport is cheap and readily available.

What happens when tackiness, Tex-Mex and Elvis worship collide? You get Chuy's, one of the standouts in a town that is far from bereft of great Mexican food. Nowhere this side of Graceland is the image of Elvis so ubiquitous, and nowhere are the burritos so huge and mouthwateringly delicious. As you dine beneath the hundreds of hubcaps that line the ceiling, go for the blue corn enchiladas with green sauce, crowned with, yes, a fried egg. Tex-Mex Nirvana. And the margaritas. Sheer delight. This is a fun, sometimes noisy place that captures Austin's essence perfectly.

This is where Austin parties. Blues, metal, reggae, alternative and even country are among the musical appetites sated on Austin's answer to Bourbon Street. Every night, the street and its bars, pubs and nightclubs teem with students, slackers, conventioneers and tourists, carousing for a good time. Restaurants from the Hard Rock Cafe to steak houses and bistros ensure that the more corporeal appetites aren't ignored. Sixth Street is the place to go for a night on the town. Located within walking distance or a very short taxi ride from most of the hotels, you can party "till the cows come home" (no, most of us don't really talk like that).

On any summer night, people line the Congress Avenue Bridge and the Town Lake jogging trail, preparing for the evening departure of the little denizens of the night, the Austin bats. Numbering between one and two million, they make up the largest urban bat colony in the world.

Each evening, at dusk, it happens. First, one bat flutters out. Then another. And another. Then it happens. Streaming out by the hundreds of thousands, they swarm to the East, away from the setting sun, to begin their nightly search for sustenance.

Within minutes, they are gone, floating to the East in great black clouds, devouring literally tons of insects each night before returning. This sight really shouldn't be missed; it's fascinating and more than a little awe-inspiring.

The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

In addition to housing the Guttenberg Bible (the first surviving book printed from moveable type on a printing press), the HRC is a repository for extensive collections spanning photography, theater arts, film, music, literature and visual art.

Housing original manuscripts of Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Dylan Thomas, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and many others, it is a valuable resource for scholars and the intellectually curious alike.

The photography collection consists of more than 5 million original photographs and transparencies. The art collection contains a wide array of painting and sculpture from around the world spanning five centuries. Antiquities from ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt abound. A jewel that even many Austinites have yet to discover, the Harry Ransom Center definitely merits a visit.