As those of you know who've bought a villa/house new (and empty); or a resale unfurnished; the first two weeks in residence pass by in a blur of activity. :dontknow:
We arrived from Canada two weeks ago, having taken the route suggested to us in another post (77/79). We followed the directions a poster gave us and the trip took 26 hours which we did in two days. It was a great trip down, the dogs are fabulous travellers and we were looking forward to seeing our Villa for the first time!!
We intended to shop during the day, and play at night. Well, not a heck of a lot of playing goes on when you're so exhausted all you have the energy for is to make up new "to do" lists. We've spent most of our time shopping and running errands to the point of exhaustion. Every day we visit golf cart stores, garage sales, furniture stores, Walmart, the Bank, Circuit City, grocery store, the Villages Offices to get passes, post office keys, and my personal favourite, the Consignment stores. You gotta be there when the truck unloads (twice daily) to get the good stuff, as it sells within hours (if not minutes). We spent three whole days doing nothing but golf cart shopping, testing and comparisons. But last night we took our new Par Car to Happy Hour at LSL, about a 20 minute drive, and did we ever feel like "real' Villagers. What a great feeling!!! :bigthumbsup:
A few people have asked me to report on buying sight unseen!!
We were quite excited and apprehensive during our drive from Canada, not knowing exactly what to expect. Not only did we buy sight unseen, but I had a construction company remove part of a wall in the kitchen before we even saw the house (and painters come in to paint the entire Villa). I got estimates via phone from Canada from painters and constructions companies, (left a key under the front door mat), and just trusted in the Divine Goddess that everything would turn out perfect. And it did. The construction company was wonderful, and the painter was not only fabulous but his wife actually drove to the Villa with the three paint colours I suggested and picked the one she felt would best match the carpet. Now that is service!!! Southern Lifestyles delivered a king size bed and set it up in the bedroom the day before we were due to arrive, it was in place waiting for us!
I am happy to say we love our new Courtyard Villa, and better still, Biggins and Brutus love it too. We back on a little bit of Churchill Downs Golf Course (no water because I have a gator phobia). The first night we arrived, we sat out on our lanai, having a drink with the limes from our back yard lime tree .. priceless!! ;D We are in Belvedere Village and we love the location, close to Southern Trace and Publix and the library and the new Walmart. I think everyone in TV treasures their own neighbourhood and thinks it's the best place to live. When we drive around to garage sales in different neighbourhoods, I am constantly impressed and amazed at how beautiful every single area of TV is.
Here are two examples of what a great site TOTV is (not that you need them, I bet you're addicted just like me). I've met my next door neighbour, Kate, through TOTV, but not in person yet! She is arriving for ten days in November and I am really looking forward to finally meeting her. In a population of over 60,000, it is pretty amazing to meet your neighbour through this site.
I was driving along in our golf cart and I heard someone calling my name (which is odd, because I don't know anyone yet). I stopped the Cart and a woman came running over and introduced herself .. it was Happy Villager. She said she recognized us from our posts.
So I want to say once again, how happy I am to be a Villager and how much I love TOTV. I feel like I already know so many of you "personally", yet we've never met. I've had a lot of PMs from people chatting with me about stuff or asking questions or giving me great information. Thank you all.
