[bfdretired]

the villages is so large and there is so many options to choose from town centers,golf courses,places to eat,shopping etc ......but day to day do you use the same pool or rec center? or is every day an adventure?....are you welcome at other rec centers?...do you only visit the nearest town center?....do you shop with the golf cart or use the car.......
thanks for any help

[jnieman]

Hi:

We tend to go to the neighborhood pool closest to our home and many of the parties we go to are at the regional rec center nearest our home, but you are welcome at any of them except the priority pools where you need a membership. We shop at the Colony shopping center because it is closest to our house. We travel by golf cart to get our groceries. Sometimes we eat at the restaurants there also. We travel to the square a couple of times a month in our golf cart (used to go more often, been here 6 years). We will travel all over the villages to a restaurant whether it requires a car or not doesn't matter where the restaurant is, it doesn't deter us from going. We also visit several restaurants outside the Villages. We shop for most everything on line (Amazon) except for clothes and we drive to Bealls or Belks. Sometimes we go to Orlando for something special. We eat at the country clubs nearest our house Mallory and Hemmingways more often than the others, but we do go to the others quite often especially when there is a special like lobster night at Glenview. We also eat at the restaurants in Sumter landing and we go by golf cart. We belong to a few clubs that meet once a month and entertain in our home once or twice a month. We play golf approx 3 days a week and go to lunch or dinner afterwards. Hope this helps.

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by bfdretired

the villages is so large and there is so many options to choose from town centers,golf courses,places to eat,shopping etc ......but day to day do you use the same pool or rec center? or is every day an adventure?....are you welcome at other rec centers?...do you only visit the nearest town center?....do you shop with the golf cart or use the car.......
thanks for any help

Do you travel outside of your immediate neighborhood now? It will be the same here. Of course we travel out of our village and all over the state. Do we mostly do things closest to home? Of course. You will likely find that most activities take place in private homes and fewer at rec centers. As far as golf goes... .you play wherever you can get a time you want and that means all over.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by bfdretired

the villages is so large and there is so many options to choose from town centers,golf courses,places to eat,shopping etc ......but day to day do you use the same pool or rec center? or is every day an adventure?....are you welcome at other rec centers?...do you only visit the nearest town center?....do you shop with the golf cart or use the car.......
thanks for any help

Every day is an adventure. If I see something in the newspaper about something special going on, I might decide to go to it. But my favorite square, which happens to be the closest, is Lake Sumter Landing. I like the theater and the boardwalk.

As far as transportation, I always use my car because I like being comfortable with the air conditioning in summer and heat in winter. Plus it's safer with seat belts and airbags etc.. I would hate to be traveling in a golf cart during a thunder storm. Yeeoow!

[Wandatime]

We stay close by for the day to day stuff, walking, swimming, groceries, but go from one end of The Villages to the other if there is something special we'd like to enjoy. We'll go "off campus" as well for a couple of restaurants or for some of our shopping.

[cbh1975]

I guess we like adventure!

We tend to go to the same pool, but only because it's right down the street. We go to whichever rec center has activities we want to participate in. We usually take our golf cart for grocery shopping, but will take the car if we're going to multiple stores. We go to whichever town square has music/activities we want to attend. We'll take the cart to restaurants, unless it happens to be one that isn't golf cart accessible, or rainy, or cold. We'll take the car in that case. We're all over the place, and really...The Villages doesn't seem that big once you get here and learn your way around! :-)

We also travel outside of The Villages, usually either to the Gulf coast, or Orlando. I'm a huge Disney fan, so we'll head down there occasionally, as well.
There are tons to places to visit and things to do--both inside and outside The Villages. I intend to enjoy every bit of it!

[bfdretired]

thanks to all the posters.....somewhere in totv i saw a comment about some villages being quieter or not as social.....or are all of the villages equally social?

thanks again

[senior citizen]

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[jblum315]

New Villages tend to be social - garage parties, open houses, etc. Then people start to make friends in other villages as well as their own. But many villages or neighborhoods have "clubs" that hold regular events in their rec center.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by senior citizen

Although we are not there yet, I totally agree with your second paragraph,
100%. We also used our car daily.......both to explore, shop, visit the model homes, etc. and eat at the restaurants at Lake Sumter Landing where we also, like you, enjoyed the boardwalk. Very much so.

However, for the most part........during our October/November there, we never went to the pools as the home we rented had one and it was just nice to have the privacy (on the golf course).........ditto for when our son, daughter in law and grandbaby visited........obviously we were bound to her napping and feeding schedule, so it was perfect. Serene and quiet.

After reading earlier about the rude people in the one pool (rudeness to the hearing impaired woman; bunch of "ladies" acting like immature schoolgirls) I totally KNOW we want our own pool.............for sure.

My husband has said all along, that probably we'd end up staying in our own neighborhood "generally"; the one we were in was quiet, small but had whatever we needed.

We also are big Amazon shoppers, in addition to using other big name online shopping venues which are definitely our "cup of tea" as opposed to hoofing it through shopping malls.

We are creatures of habit, so I'm assuming that will not change much after almost 50 years of marriage. If anything, we would drive to the Gulf Coast and also the Atlantic Coast.......to the beaches.

p.s. Husband (and son as well) did enjoy driving the golf cart around the neighborhood but it would be much too hot to use it for any great distance.

Guess we are spoiled by the comfort of air conditioning, our automobile and as you mentioned, the safety of airbags and seatbelts.

We saw too much speeding plus ambulances running constantly when we were in the Lifestyle Visit home on Merryweather Way, facing the lake where the sun set each evening.......not sure what that main road was called.

We could see through the white picket fence to several roads and the emergency vehicles, with their sirens blaring.....constantly on the run to rescue someone.......I think they were green....but maybe not.

This is not a big issue in The Villages! And certainly not a constant event.

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by bfdretired

thanks to all the posters.....somewhere in totv i saw a comment about some villages being quieter or not as social.....or are all of the villages equally social?

thanks again

Some posters here try to paint those of us who live in the historic villages as more quiet and less social.

The quiet nature of our villages lies in the fact that we do not suffer from the traffic that one finds in other neighborhoods. I doubt you would ever find anyone standing in their drvieway with a radar gun as happens in another!

Another factor re quiet is the respect most of us have for our neighbors and visitors - you won't usually hear tvs/radios blaring from outdoor lanais and pool areas...partying - for sure, but not necessarily anything over-the-top. And while we have our share of dogs throughout the neighborhoods, they seem to happy pets and do not spend the day or night barking about anything; even they don't complain!

Not as social? HOOEY! We were the new kids on the block several years ago so first off we introduced ourselves to the neighbor on either side of the house. After the house was furnished and welcoming - we threw a 'come and meet us' driveway party! I walked up/down the street to deliver computer printed invites, met most everyone that way and then enjoyed hosting a well-attended event in our driveway - complete with house tours. If for no other reason, folks came to see how we furnished the house!

5 years later - most ever nieghbor watches out for our property while we are away and we get reports from them, too! They are the sweetest neighbors!

What have I had reinforced for me each winter in the villages - that whatever you give you will receive two times over - at least!

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by bfdretired

the villages is so large and there is so many options to choose from town centers,golf courses,places to eat,shopping etc ......but day to day do you use the same pool or rec center? or is every day an adventure?....are you welcome at other rec centers?...do you only visit the nearest town center?....do you shop with the golf cart or use the car.......
thanks for any help

This is an active lifestyle community..........................not an old folks home!

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by bfdretired

the villages is so large and there is so many options to choose from town centers,golf courses,places to eat,shopping etc ......but day to day do you use the same pool or rec center? or is every day an adventure?....are you welcome at other rec centers?...do you only visit the nearest town center?....do you shop with the golf cart or use the car.......
thanks for any help

are you welcome at other rec centers? Absolutely. All rec centers are for the benefit of all residents.

do you only visit the nearest town center? Nope, visit them all.

do you shop with the golf cart or use the car? Depends on the weather and/or distance. Too hot, too cold, too wet, we take the car. If it is more than a thirty minute drive by cart we take the car. The longer we live here, and the older we get, we use the car more and cart less. We don't drive the cart after dark.

[NotGolfer]

I have to ask the OP....do you stay in your neighborhood w/out venturing out, where you live now?? The Villages is made up of neighborhoods with names...hence the name "villages". When it was 1st created it was small w/out a lot of amenities. From what I've heard, back in the day, folks had to go to Leesburg or Ocala to do ALL of their shopping (groceries etc). Now we don't need to do that. Certainly each neighborhood has it's own pool and district rec. center with it's pool that's devoted to families (for when the kids/grandkids come to visit. We also have sports pools that are for residents only. The squares (I think) were built to give us a "home-town" feel. IF you haven't visited...then you must as we just can't describe it here in a way that gives it justice. You "have to" experience it for yourself!

[senior citizen]

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