Saturday, November 14, 2009

Retiring in the city!


I finally have the time to take advantage of the cultural resources of Philly. When I was working, I was usually too tired to go to all the wonderful programs at our library, at our Constitution Center, the exhibits at our museums, the many forums sponsored by our civic organizations. Our city may not be rich in per capita income, but we are certainly rich in civic life and cultural institutions.

My husband and I have always tried to take advantage of the cultural resources of the city (e.g., our orchestra and theater subscriptions), but exhaustion often got in the way. Sometimes we just didn’t have the energy to go down town to the concerts we had already paid for. Sometimes we forgot we had tickets and so missed the chance to give away or donate our tickets.

Now I no longer fall asleep at plays and concerts. Thanks to all those Philly Funsaver discounts much of this cultural life is very affordable. And we have all these seriously good, affordable BYOB restaurants

I can’t imagine why anyone would want to retire somewhere out in the boondocks without access to concerts, theater, a wide range of ethnic restaurants. (My good friends who fled the city for rural Vermont can’t imagine why I would want to stay.)

Finally I have the time to enjoy the city I love! And it's not just within the city limits. There’s much in the Delaware Valley that I have never explored. Last week, my husband and I finally got it together to go the Barnes Foundation

Friends have traveled to Philly just to see this collection and could not believe that my husband and I had never been to the Barnes. (I’ve lived here all my life and my husband since his mid-20’s.)

Next week, it's the Brandywine Museum, another cultural resource that despite our many years in the Delaware valley, we have never visited.

3 comments:

  1. I can't believe you've never been to Barnes or Brandywine either! Love them both. Especially good idea to get to the Barnes now before it moves to the Parkway. I love having out of town guests come, as that is often the motivation I need to see the cultural events and institutions I take for granted. Enjoy all these new opportunities.
    Kathy Black (as usual, I can't remember how to log in here.)

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  2. Yes I agree Philadelphia is rich in cultural and I am enjoying . Franchesca

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  3. I can’t believe I have never been to the Barnes, especially as when we are traveling in foreign countries we track down every little museum. At home, we get really lazy.

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