When I moved back to Chicago from Atlanta about 2 1/2 years ago, it was primarily to be closer to family. I also wanted to live in a city with more of a “big city” feel, rather than a 4 million person suburb. What I didn’t even realize at the time, was what an incredible city Chicago is during the summer. There is a reason that Chicago has no equivalent of the Hamptons to which everybody escapes for the weekend.

Yesterday was one of those amazing — yet plentiful — days in Chicago during the summer. I began the day meeting my grandfather for breakfast before we walked through the Old Town Art Fair, one of the highest quality art fairs in the country. There wasn’t time to see the Wells St. Art Fair, also in Old Town. While now quite as impressive, it’s still a nice art fair — maybe I’ll hit that today.

After a short mid-afternoon nap, I headed down to Grant Park for Blues Fest, Chicago’s free annual outdoor blues festival.

The music ended at 9:30, perfect timing for those of us at Blues Fest to join a friend at the nearby Chicago Yacht Club, where he was winding down after a day on a friend’s sailboat. What could be nicer that sitting on the deck of a boat with some friends and a few beers? How about watching the Navy Pier Saturday night fireworks from the deck of the boat!

While in some ways yesterday was a unique, amazing day, it’s not that difficult to experience similarly amazing days in this town, with the extensive schedule of city-sponsored events, the hundreds of neighborhood festivals and the city’s parks, marinas and beaches. There truly is no better city in which to spend the summer.