Life in Chicago!

I had a discussion today with my youngest about cities we would like to inhabit.  I ended up telling Mike that there was a good chance we would be in the Chicago area for some time.  Five years ago my wife and I talked some about where we would like to move when we retired (which for her is in 4 months, yay!).  The only preference I had was that I would like to move to a college town where there might be seminars and talks open to the public (preferably about math). We talked about North or South Carolina, but they are becoming the new Florida. Arizona sounds nice until you realize it is filled with Arizonians (Arizonimites?). More recently we talked about Tennessee  -  a nice area with the added benefit of being home to the National Storytelling Festival (Jonesborough) in October. But that talk has slowed down recently as we realize that other than moving because of family, we are pretty happy here in the Chicago area.  We are lucky to be retiring with a sufficient pension that we will be able to do things in the area as long as our health holds up.  And I can't think of another city that has as much to do as Chicago.  If you go to the Theater in Chicago website and look under "Now Playing" there are 86 plays listed in the Chicago area.  We have season tickets (in the cheapest seats) to the Bulls games which we love, Cubs and White Sox games to go to, and I still haven't done the Segway tour that I have been talking about since we saw them from the boat while doing the Architecture of Chicago Boat Tour five years ago.   There are two "Chocolate Tours" in the Loop that I have my eye on, and a "Cupcake Tour".  

Part of what prompted this discussion was watching Pardon the Interruption, the lone ESPN show I watch regularly.  This summer the Mariners play the Marlins in an interleague series in Florida, but the game is being switched to Seattle to accommodate U2 setting up for their concert the day after the series ends. Wilbon mentioned he was happy because Seattle is the second best place in America to be once winter ends.  Kornheiser said "Let me guess what's first" and Wilbon shouted "Chicago, of course". 

He's right.