[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

We have spent winter months in TV for nine years, but had never spent a day between May and January until this year. We purchased a CYV in March and decided to spend at least a month in the summer this year. Having been a long time TOTV member I had of course, read lots of comments on the issues caused by snowbirds in the winter. Here are my opinions on some of those issues.


1. Weather: The weather is undeniably hot, however it is actually somewhat less oppressive than our summer weather, particularly this summer, in Missouri. The regular afternoon thunderstorms are interesting, but haven't caused us to alter plans for the most part.

2. Traffic: I have to say I have not really noticed a big difference in the traffic through TV this summer as compared to usual winter months. This is not a scientific conclusion, just my sense of what I see.

3. Restaurant access: Again we have not really noticed a huge difference in getting a table at our favorite restaurants. Yes, at the peak dinner time we may have to wait a bit more often in winter, but not to a troublesome extent.

4. Golf tee times: I like to play early (before 8 am) in the winter and summer, and actually have found it harder to get tee times on the executive courses now than in the typical winter. There are extenuating circumstances for that, including golfers trying to beat the heat, and recent golf course closures, leading to fewer available tee times. I get on the system three days out and, as a single, find very few of the courses close to 466a available till afternoon. I always find something to my liking but it is slim pickins. When I go for two with my neighbor, it is tough getting anything before noon. I usually carry 7-8 points so I don't use the system for assignments.

5. The squares: We still enjoy going to the squares in the evening, and consider it part of the TV experience. We go once or twice a week on average and have found the crowds to be similar in size to those in Jan. to April. That was a big surprise, and we don't just go to the "big names".

6. I expected the pools to be more crowded in the summer, but the Sanibel and Captiva pools have been less crowded than in the winter.

Again, these are my unscientific personal observations, so try not to point out how delusional I am if you see it otherwise. We have greatly enjoyed all our winter stays here and equally enjoyed our summer stay. I am sure we would also enjoy fall here, though that is a treasured time in Missouri and we will return to our Kansas City home for that time. Clearly, The Villages is a fine place to be any time.

I could not agree more. Especially about the weather. Always get a kick out of people from the midwest saying they hate Florida because of hot summers. I have spent part of the last 4 summers in TV- and it is on average cooler and less muggy than home due to the afternoon rains that come every day. Thanks for a great post.