I say go for it, visit the Villages, you won’t regret it. I do not live in the villages but have visited a few times. I am a very active 60 year-old, in excellent health, who loves most outdoor activities especially biking. I also work in healthcare so I understand the virus and while I respect the virus, I don’t fear it. I also realize because of my good health, even though I am 60, I am probably in a low risk category. I also happen to live in lockdown hell of Pennsylvania and completely agree with the previous poster about how our governor is trying to bankrupt small businesses. People in Florida are so lucky to have a governor who understands all the destruction and trauma being caused by complete lockdowns, to businesses as well the effects of social isolation, especially to senior citizens, like my father, who live alone. I visited Tampa for a bike trip in November and couldn’t believe how life was almost normal in Florida, with lots of outdoor activities, seeing people walking, jogging, biking, boating, outdoor dining, etc. living as safe as one could under the current circumstances, yet taking precautions with wearing masks when indoors. The great thing about Florida is if you’re into outdoor activities, there are 1 million things you can do outdoors at a time when people in the northeast are being locked down and living with crappy weather. I had an unexpected opportunity to visit Florida last month, in mid December, at the time our governor was locking us down once again and creating fear for anyone who even thought to fly by plane. I needed a break from the lock down and so I booked a one week trip to the Villages. Couldn’t pass up those $70 round-trip airfares. I didn’t regret it for a moment. Once again I was amazed how life was so different from back home, so much to do outdoors. I biked every day, took walks, played the long putt minigolf near Fenney, spent time in the hot tub every day at our rental home, dined outdoors at Edna’s on the Green under the most gorgeous oak trees with their live music but preferred not to dine in a restaurant for safety reasons.
I did several indoor exercise classes, Walk Away the Pounds, for the first time. I was very impressed with the safety measures that were taken. I also attended an indoor line dance. Everybody wore masks inside and for the exercise class, once the exercising started, people had the choice whether to keep their mask on or not. I chose to keep my mask on, as did about half the people. We were spaced out very far apart, the ceiling fans were going, I felt very safe. I loved my week there.
I loved it so much that I just re-booked another week in February. Airfare is now $90 round-trip so prices are slowly creeping up.The only thing that really concerns me about visiting the villages is the airplane. I take my precautions, I wear 2 masks and a face shield, the same protection I were at work. While I feel very safe, I realize it is not 100% guarantee of not catching the virus. Go for it, take your precautions and you won’t regret it.
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