Austin

If your mental image of Texas is all cowboy hats and country western music, the city of Austin will make you paint a new picture. Austin is a progressive city, both politicaly and socially. No matter what your beliefs are, you're welcome in Austin.

Home to the famed South by Southwest more... Music Festival, Austin is the heart of the Texas music scene. Country, blues, rock, hip-hop, reggae, jazz and any other type of music can be found playing in Austin nightclubs any night of the week.

Austin's entertainment district is located in and around East 6th St. and stretches seven blocks from Congress Ave. to Interstate 35 and includes parts of 5th and 7th Streets.

The scene here is young and hip and extremely wild.

Bars range from from dives to dress-code-required establishments and offer entertainment ranging from live old-time music to house DJs spinning the latest in techno. If you're not in a music mood, there are cafes offering poetry and performance theater.

Sixth Street has an anything-can-happen feel - whether it is a chance rendezvous with an attractive stranger or a bloody fist-fight in a drunken haze. This is partly due to the many drink specials that can be found at 6th Street establishments. It is not uncommon to find happy hour specials offering pitchers for five dollars and drinks for under two bucks.

For those who survive a full night out on 6th Street, there are plenty of all-night eateries that cater to the partying masses. At 2 AM in Austin, the streets are so jammed with people leaving bars and getting food that traffic is usually stopped.

But why worry about driving anyway? Austin has a fantastic network of pedicabs and rickshaws to take you where you need to go, which is probably back to the room to sleep it off.