2 minutes ago, Junger said:

I get less tolerant of winter every year in the DC metro area. We spent a month in Sanibel, FL to do virtual work and school for our kids. Her family is in NJ, and mine is in MD. It's sad to say, but I think when our parents are no longer with us, we'll have a serious discussion about moving down there.

Sanibel is awesome!

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

They make plenty of drunk juice in 55 gallon drums in East Tennessee too haha

You’re moving?? Wheeler could rent you his guest room in hixson haha

 

Lol - talked to him yesterday. I have an open invite to hang there, and being close enough to meet up for fishing trips throughout the year is definitely a consideration in the location decision, but too early to say yet.  

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Sanibel is awesome!

Yes it is, I could really get used to this, flat fishing off the Causeway with a stogie and my youngest boy.

I did move south... after living in Alaska for over 30 years I moved to Virginia. I would rather have temperatures on the cool side than blazing hot. With that said, I fish for bass year round, non-stop or until a rare ice-over. Catch some of my biggest bass in the winter and look forward to it. Just look at my swollen, wind burnt cheeks in this cold winter photo. Hey it's rough but someone has to do it.

Every year I hate the winter more and more, even the mild MD winters are killing me.  Sadly, my wife has a business in the museum/fine art industry, so that drastically limits where we can live, more or less the mid-Atlantic or Chicago.  As much as I love an Italian beef, I have spent enough time in Chicago in winter to ever want to live there, so I am trying to find ways to be happy here.   

 

I think a lot of what bothers me is how wet the last few winters have been.  Wet and hot are fine, cold and dry are fine, but wet and cold makes any outdoor activity a lot less enjoyable for me.  Like today, I have the day off and could do most anything I want, but it's going to be raining/sleeting all day, so here I am, on the couch, drinking coffee and pontificating on the internet.  If it was a nice dry snow, then I would be out hiking.  

5 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

They're looking at 40s next week - time to break out the swimsuits.

That chubby gal in the sombrero is my kind of gal. Just wish I was 25 years old again.    

 

Any kind of gal is my type, I'm old.

2 minutes ago, Spankey said:

That chubby gal in the sombrero is my kind of gal. Just wish I was 25 years old again. 

Except for one instance, I always dated that kind of gal...and eventually married one.

Just now, MN Fisher said:

Except for one instance, I always dated that kind of gal...and eventually married one.

You and me both. And she’s still around. She’s home working from home. I’m at work and we are getting slammed with a snow storm. 

   My wife and I have both thought of going South, but I lived in both Texas and Florida during the summer. I'm not crazy about it. There are some places where it's not too expensive, but generally, the cost of living there is beyond our means (social security x 2). So .... we stay here.       jj

No, I'm doing the opposite.  We're buying a summer/retirement home in Northern Michigan in another 5 years or so.  May to late October will be glorious.  While the weather is tough now, I don't enjoy the 100 degree stuff down south throughout the summer.  When I am retired I plan to take an extended Florida or Texas trip every February to shorten the winter.   

4 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

May to late October will be glorious.  While the weather is tough now, I don't enjoy the 100 degree stuff down south throughout the summer. 

 

While I generally agree that May - October is pretty comfortable, the middle of summer can get extremely hot/humid just like it can down south.  I think that a lot of people who live in the south think that its always cold and snowing in the north.  The reality is that we have sweltering warm days too just like the southern states do.  The only difference is that it usually only lasts for a day or two at a time instead of weeks on end.  I live in Central Minnesota and I can tell you with 100% positivity that there are days so hot and humid here that I really don't leave the comfort of my air conditioning, much less consider going fishing.

Just now, gimruis said:

 

While I generally agree that May - October is pretty comfortable, the middle of summer can get extremely hot/humid just like it can down south.  I think that a lot of people who live in the south think that its always cold and snowing in the north.  The reality is that we have sweltering warm days too just like the southern states do.  The only difference is that it usually only lasts for a day or two at a time instead of weeks on end.

Even my wife agrees with that, and doesn't want to move further south even if we could afford to.

 

Her first winter here (1989-1990) was hard on her, but since then she's come to love it.

 

I moved her here from SE Florida (Boca Raton area) where she'd lived for twenty years.

Just now, gimruis said:

 

While I generally agree that May - October is pretty comfortable, the middle of summer can get extremely hot/humid just like it can down south.  I think that a lot of people who live in the south think that its always cold and snowing in the north.  The reality is that we have sweltering warm days too just like the southern states do.  The only difference is that it usually only lasts for a day or two at a time instead of weeks on end.

 

True, but where I go is almost always cooler than the Chicago suburbs where I live.  Numerous times I have been 2-300 miles north in July and August on a Great Lake and it was beautiful while back at my home it was humid and 90 degrees.  

49 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sanibel is awesome!

Marco isn’t bad either

Any suggestions Still snowing in NJ.

12 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

No, I'm doing the opposite.  We're buying a summer/retirement home in Northern Michigan in another 5 years or so.  May to late October will be glorious.  While the weather is tough now, I don't enjoy the 100 degree stuff down south throughout the summer.  When I am retired I plan to take an extended Florida or Texas trip every February to shorten the winter.   

 

That's a great plan!

 

It rarely gets above 95 here, most years it doesn’t go much above 88. I think it gets much hotter in parts of The Midwest than around my house. There have actually been people get hypothermia in August in the smoky mountains. Also my brother lives in philly and it can great really sticky hot there.

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

It rarely gets above 95 here, most years it doesn’t go much above 88. I think it gets much hotter in parts of The Midwest than around my house. There have actually been people get hypothermia in August in the smoky mountains. Also my brother lives in philly and it can great really sticky hot there.

I've been eyeing property in your neck of the woods. I have to get back to Appalachia, it's home. 

13 minutes ago, PourMyOwn said:

I've been eyeing property in your neck of the woods. I have to get back to Appalachia, it's home. 

Come on back!! So you’ve got coal dust in your lungs too??

We always poke fun at the state of Kentucky but it is quite lovely as far as scenery and definitely has a nice cold winter to remind you of home. It also doesn’t have much human activity, The guys that live there might be trying to keep it a secret Haha. You can probably get a lot nicer house and way more land for your money there 

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Wife and I have started looking at retirement locations that are all located further south than we already are (Midwest), but I’m guessing that ends up being more central than southern, say along an AR/TN/NC line to avoid terribly hot summers, but still have more mild winters.

Hey you can't leave without telling me where your ponds are and how to get permission.

And I guess it's interesting in that I rarely hear the opposite of this . . . 

"I just can't take this brilliant sunshine for another day ! 

We are moving way up north and that's the end of it ! "

Said no one ever.

?

A-Jay

 

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Wife and I have started looking at retirement locations that are all located further south than we already are (Midwest), but I’m guessing that ends up being more central than southern, say along an AR/TN/NC line to avoid terribly hot summers, but still have more mild winters.

Nice. All of those seem to me like a great happy medium!

1 minute ago, The Bassman said:

Hey you can't leave without telling me where your ponds are and how to get permission.

 

I’ll do you one better - sell you my house for guaranteed access to the ponds AND leave a few of all the best baits hanging on the garage wall ?

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, we have a lot of fishing options in the region. If you want "big city" amenities, 

Nashville might be a consideration.  Also, TN has no state income tax. 

TN is certainly something to consider! Gorgeous state. I'll have to do some research on the climate there.