Ahh Florida!

I bumped into a local character, Eric, who I hadn't seen in a while. He's worked at the big theater in downtown for ages. Really nice guy.

My wife and I are looking at retirement communities in North Carolina and Florida. We each have a few more years to go, said Eric, ignoring my dog who was sniffing his Topsiders.

Running this theater is your passion, your art. You don't really want to leave, do you? I asked.

I don't wanna be like Britt Montana, he said.

Who's Britt Montana?

He was an inventor and became head of development at Brigg's. His wife begged him to retire and he kept going and going. Finally he did retire and then a few months later she died. He's kicking himself. He could've had ten years with her.

How could Britt have known his wife would die? I thought.

So we were in the Smoky Mountains staying at a house owned by Joe Noseworthy. You know, the Jiggly Wiggly founder.

Ah, I've heard of Noseworthy.

We stayed for three days and there was no Internet service. The best most relaxing three days I've ever had.

But that's the honeymoon stage of retirement, I thought. You can retire there but life will catch up with you.

We also checked out a place in Florida. They have everything there, golf, pickle ball, and lots to do. Music clubs up and down both sides of the street. And everything is incredibly clean like Disney world!

He's not letting me speak, he's on a roll. Let it go, I thought.

On our last night we went to pick up a bottle of wine for our friends and ran into Marlene and Jack from Rhode Island. Small world. They've been down there for years. They love it. They were sipping wine as they shopped. I couldn't believe it. There was a full bar in the middle of the grocery store. Ahh Florida! The way life should be.

We said our goodbyes, and I continued along the sidewalk. I was trying to imagine deciding to move someplace because alcohol was served in the supermarkets.