Over the weekend, a friend from Chicago flew in for some business and to gain a respite from a brutal Midwest winter.
He spent the weekend alternating between Boca and Delray—entertaining clients at Max’s Grille and Villagio in Mizner Park and enjoying some down time in downtown Delray catching a Billy Joel Tribute Band at the Delray Center for the Performing Arts Friday night before spending some time at the Green Market. Super Bowl Sunday was spent at the beach before he settled back and watched the game at Caffe Luna Rosa.
Quite a weekend; his take on things.
“You live in paradise.”
Along the way, my friend grabbed every real estate publication he could find. He vowed to be back in a few weeks with his wife to look for a home, probably in Boca Raton where he’s attracted by A-rated schools and sports leagues for his young family.
He said he could easily imagine a life without snow, ice and bitter cold and said he was pleasantly surprised at real estate prices, compared to his tony suburb just outside the Windy City.
Mix in no income tax, affordable college tuitions and plenty to do and you have an approximation of paradise. He said he would gladly trade tornadoes, taxes and traffic for heat, humidity and hurricanes.
Sometimes it takes an “outsider’s” perspective to make you feel good about where you are living.
When I told my friends that South Floridians complain about traffic, he smiled and invited them to deal with gridlock leaving O’Hare Airport at rush hour. When I told him, we sometimes gripe about growth, he said visit some depressed towns in the Midwest who would give anything to see some investment.
Everything is relative.
So when my A/C conked out on Sunday and it was 82 degrees outside, I fought the urge to be aggravated. I called Island Air and within an hour everything was fixed and cool, literally and figuratively.
And I thought of my oldest friend in Milwaukee. We’ve known each other since we were 6.
The temperature was a balmy 17 degrees, which was actually an improvement over recent days. It will also be the high for the week.
I called to rub it in, as only old friends can do, in a good-natured way. But when it comes to lifestyle, it’s getting harder and harder to beat Florida.
Think of the wind, ice, snow, sleet, slush and cold next time you feel a gripe coming on. You’re bound to feel better the next time you have to wait for an extra light while on Glades Road or it takes an extra minute or two to find a parking spot in Pineapple Grove.