3 night/4 day visit - must do list
 

I'm heading to Florida for work soon and have planned a 3 night/4 day quick trip around work. Staying at Towne Place Suites. I've arranged to rent a golf cart from Grampa & Gramma's.

This will be my 1st visit to TV. So my question for TOTV, what should go on my 'must do' list? We will obviously be checking out Spanish Springs & LSL (Brownwood, time permitting). I'd love to hear if anyone has any other suggestions. Would we be able to eat at any of the Country Clubs?

Thanks in advance :wave:

Go to the Sales Center and take the trolley ride. It takes you all over The Villages. That way you can get the full picture. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Yes, you may eat at any of the Country Clubs! The Trolley is an excellent way to get a quick overview of TV. Don't miss Paddock Square in Brownwood!

Katie Belle's for the afternoon or evening just to get a feel of Spanish Springs.

If I understand it correctly Katie Belle's is a Club which requires a resident's ID or a guest card showing you are a guest of a resident.

Will you have a guest card? If not you will also be excluded from events and meetings at the recreational centers and from the swimming pools.

I agree that the Trolly ride is a must. It gives a good overview of the area.

The trolly leaves from the sales center. While there ask about the week-long Life Style Visit for some time in the future.

There aren't really a lot of touristy things to "see" here. We go to the town squares in the evening for free entertainment, we eat out, we go to meetings of interest in the rec centers, we go to paid entertainment, we play golf, bocci ball, pickleball, tennis, shuffleboard, horseshoes and all kinds of indoor games.

For me simply riding around up and down the golf cart paths is a joy. You get an entirely different perspective of the place from a golf cart.

Enjoy!

from looking at your avatar, is that you? how old, how soon retiring, possible plans for moving to totv? if you want good advice, what are your intentions?

That's not me. It's Will Farrell from a Saturday Night Live skit (More Cowbell). I'm 50 and love the idea of TV, retirement still probably 7 years away. I spend a lot of time on this site and thevillages.com so my friends tease me about never visiting. So after consulting here whether 50 was too soon, I got a resounding "No, not too young". Can't say definitively I will someday move to TV as I have never been. But the long term (5 yrs) plan is to absolutely strongly consider purchasing in TV.

I will not have a guest card. If I like TV as much as I think I will absolutely look into doing the "Lifestyle Preview". In fact I would have done it this time but just didn't have the time to stay a week or more. :sigh:

As others have posted, take the trolley tour from the sales office at either Lake Sumter Landing or Brownwood. It takes just under an hour, and it is narrated by a guide who lives in The Villages, so you can ask questions during the tour. Yes, go to as many country club restaurants as time permits. If you go on the restaurant section of TOtV, there are reviews on just about every restaurant in and around The Villages. I have eaten at most of the country club restaurants during my visits to The Villages, and there was only one cc restaurant that I would not go back to.

And there are open houses held every day in The Villages for both new and pre-owned homes. You may want to go to a few of them if you have time, just to see what is out there. If you grab the Daily Sun newspaper, the open houses are listed there (both through the MLS real estate agents and The Villages real estate agents). The Villages web site also lists the open houses daily.

If you get lost in the golf cart, no worries. If you pull off to the side of the path with a map, chances are a helpful village resident will soon drive by and stop to see if you need directions. If you meet people on the squares or in restaurants, don't hesitate to ask question about their experiences living in TV. Most villagers are happy to answer questions.

Have a great time during your visit to TV. :wave:

P.S. I have stayed at the Towne Place Suites in TV -- good choice. You are right in Spanish Springs next to the movie theatre. Restaurant recommendation -- eat breakfast at Athens Restaurant in Spanish Springs -- mmmm good.

try posting on under 55 thread
 

Suggest you obtain an official TV realtor. get the best orientation they can give you and look at a few properties
It the realtor can't get you in Katie Belle's, it's nothing more than a dance floor with rock and roll 365 days of the year.
Anybody who lives here can get you in, so just yell on totv if you want passage.
If you have favorite activities, let us know. there's recreation news of 60ish pages every week. VCDD recreation news..website.

You didn't say when you will arrive. POLO begins Oct. 4. Every Friday and Sunday thereafter. Well worth a visit.

thanks re polo. i'm new.

I recommend that you get a guest pass and visit the rec centers and Katie Belles' Look at the rec guide (you can get one at any rec center or on-line from the daily sun website) for the time you are here and visit some classes/groups, etc.

I have never, ever, ever been asked to show a Village ID at Katie Belle's. Thought that only applied to the Cattlebaron upstairs.

We have also stayed at the Marriott, forget the breakfast suggestion....after all, it is free in that hotel. We love to eat at TooJays and a must see is the Hacienda (memory fails if this is not the right one name....it begins with an H and you can see if from the hotel) rec ctr....very beautiful and the lake/pond around it. Pick up the Rec news while there and you will find many suggestions of what is going on- it comes out on Thursdays but the rec ctr will still have many copies whatever day you are there.

You can get a free newspaper (Daily Sun) while staying at the hotel and we plan our days from that.

Don't just stay in that area though....there is so much more to see and do...hope this gets you started.

I have always been carded by the gatekeeper outside the front door.

The gatekeeper is just making sure you're over 21!!!!!:wine:

:wave: Thanks to all. :ho: Funny the trolley was something I had no interest in at ALL. Ironic that moved to the 1st thing I'll likely do.

What a great site....always get fantastic 1st hand help/advise!!!

No matter what town hubby and I visit, if there is a Trolley available we ALWAYS take it! As someone stated, it is a great way to get acclimated!:welcome:

Thanks to all :bigbow: Back from my trip......TOO short but had a great time. Didn't get to even half the things I had hoped. Absolutely the trolley should be the 1st thing on any newbies list :coolsmiley:. Just wanted to put a big thank you back out here to all for the help. I'll be referring back to this thread for the next visit, hopefully I can get to some of the other stuff on here. I can tell you I won't be making any more visits that short :icon_wink:

I hope you enjoyed your visit. Please tell us about it.

BTW - I would have said, "don't blink your eyes or your visit will be over before you know it".

Try renting a home for a month if you have the time. Also, visit the rec centers just to see how beautiful they are.

I did the Lifestyle Preview and was only here for 4 days, not a week?

:BigApplause: So, I had an absolute fantastic time. Agree with some things I've read here. It's just impossible to describe. Did it meet my expectations? Well not really cause it's just so different than I could imagine. The 1st thing I would say is it is so much bigger than I expected. I was just so impressed with all aspects!!!! As I said we stayed at TownPlace Suites. Great location for a 1st visit. We rented a golf cart from Grandpa and Grandma's. We never used the car the whole time there. We went to the town square concert every night and caught the sales event at Spanish Springs one night and LSL another. For sure the Trolley ride was the most informative thing we did. I loved getting my Dunkin Donut coffee every morning and grabbing the paper. Made it to Cal's the 1st morning for a haircut. Wow that was a hoppin' spot. We did a few open houses on 2 of the days. And we did a lot of just driving around exploring. My girlfriend loves to lay out by the pool and we were just running too much so she only spent maybe 2 hours out by the pool the whole stay. We will be back 100% for sure and it won't be for 3-4 days. So many things I thought we'd do that we just didn't have time for. Didn't eat at a country club, didn't visit a rec. center, and didn't eat at one of the restaurants over looking Lake Sumter. Think the girlfriends Mom is coming for the next visit. Thanks again to all for all the recommendations!!! We just had such a great time. Until next visit :wave:

Do not come here. If you do you remaining years of work will seem to be an eternity.