Austin getaway offers cool shops, hot night life

That and so many other experiences we had over four days were why my girlfriend and I chose the funkiest city in Texas for a reconnecting getaway. We had strict criteria for a destination: great music, good restaurants, eclectic non-mall shopping, pampering and R&R, and ethnic and cultural cachet.

Austin exceeded our expectations. The capital and the only blue dot on a big red state, its unofficial slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." Enough said.

Dubbed the coolest city in America by Forbes magazine, it is also one of the brainiest, with more than 40 percent of adults holding bachelor's degrees. And Austin continues to attract educated professionals and California-ex pats to its hefty concentration of high tech industries. It's a young town, with some 110,000 students enrolled in seven area colleges and universities. Residents have a penchant for health and fitness. Mornings when we walked around Lady Bird Lake, a reservoir on the Colorado River directly behind our hotel, we had plenty of human and canine company.

The entire city is walkable to the point that we didn't need to rent a car. A free trolley runs between big attractions and downtown neighborhoods, and public transit makes getting around a breeze.

"It's all about lifestyle," said Lisa Wineland, a commercial realtor who relocated from Washington, D.C., four years ago. Wineland, a native of Lubbock, is the first to say that Austin isn't like other places in Texas. "Everybody's fit and into organic food here. Austin is also at the forefront of the green movement in Texas, and the weather's great. People are genuinely nice and happy to see you."

That lifestyle component is one of the reasons celebrities including Luke Wilson, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Lyle Lovett, Lance Armstrong, and Willie Nelson live here.