Pi Day Is This Sunday. Who Has The Best Pie In Rockford?

Sunday, March 13 (3/14) is a special day for math dorks all around the world. 

NOTE: I know that they "celebrate" Pi Day in Europe as well but it must be a little confusing for them. If I'm not mistaken, they write their dates differently than us. So for them today is 14/3 and not 3/14 like it is for us.

NOTE on the NOTE: Their system for dates isn't metric system "better" than the imperial system better than ours, but it's close. It just makes sense to go from most to least precise measurement. I understand the argument that month first is easier for sorting but that's not why we're here.

Note (separate): If you're just here for the pie, feel free to skip ahead to the bottom.

We're here to figure out how to celebrate Pi Day here in Rockford.

First, let's remember why we're celebrating Pi and why it's special.

Here's a crash course for kids on what Pi is. If you know it's a circle's circumference divided by its diameter then you can skip ahead.

Pi is a transcendental number. Meaning it never ends. This is a good video to learn about the different types of numbers.

Pi isn't awesome because it's transcendental. It's awesome on its own, and then throws being infinitely long on top of it. Pi shows up in the oddest places when people try to break nature down to mathematical models. It almost brings a religious aspect to math when you see just how interconnected everything seems to be on the most basic level.

If you've made it this far I might get you to watch one more math video. This one is a bit long (14 minutes) but totally worth it.

So now you're in the mood for pie. Where should you go? I'll be honest with you, I'm not much of a fan of pie. Desserts don't really move my needle, I'm a taco guy. I will say that there are two places in town that I know has (had) excellent pies.

• Kate's Pie Shop. She closed up her brick-and-mortar shop in 2019 and was selling her pies out of Magpie. It appears to be no longer the case. If someone knows more, let me know. I now really want one of those pies. Vodka in the crust? I think that was the secret.
• Sheri's Place in Loves Park. Full disclosure. Sheri is a close family friend. She also happens to make incredible pies. The menu changes daily so give them a call to find out what Sheri just made.

Where are you guys headed this Sunday?