SoCo, So Cool in Austin, Texas, Austin, Texas

I had the great pleasure of visiting the cool Texan capital that is keeping weird — a not-so-little place called Austin. Declared the “live music capital” of the USA, it’s a musical, tropical, funky paradise. Flying from New York, I was one early morning uber to LGA and onboard tear-jerk film away from the South Congress Hotel and rooftop pool oasis.

We arrived at our beautiful hotel where our room included two queen mattress bunk beds! There were also endless pumps of Aesop in the bathroom, that were bolted to the wall so they wouldn’t end up in our suitcases. Smart.

My closest compadre Nicki and landed just in time to fill our bellies with the incredible cuisine at Elizabeth Street Café, a Vietnamese-French culinary adventure and true bánh mì boulangerie.

We took the afternoon to tour the neighbourhood that we would call home for the next two days: South Congress. Also known as SoCo, it’s an artsy, vibrant area south of Lady Bird Lake (which looks more like a river through the city). Its main artery is South Congress Avenue so if you can manage to stand in the middle of the road, you’ve got a direct view of Texas’ Capitol bookending the northern end of Congress Avenue. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).