Austin
Austin seems to be every Texan's spiritual home. Texas is a state which has a love affair with its own capital. And well it should. Nestled on a river next to the famed Texas Hill Country, it boasts two Splash Days at the beginning and end of the summer when literally thousands of gays and lesbians from all over the state swim and party the weekend away under the cliffs of nearby Lake Austin. And the rest of the year there is 6th Street, an entire thoroughfare of restaurants, rock bars, jazz clubs and assorted other dubious but loud hangouts, closely circumscribed by, yet intermingling with, Austin's rich and varied nightlife. The many schools of higher learning lend Austin a youthful zest coupled with a hunk quotient that is enough to endear this town even to an out-of-stater.
