[MSchad]

Coming for life style visit and wondering what we should do/see that are not sports related?
Walks, tours, etc.
Thanks!

[VApeople]

Look at all of the old people around The Villages.

Go to Lake Sumter Landing and look at them hanging out at Paneras, Starbucks, City Fire, etc. Have dinner at a country club like Evans Prarie and look at all of them in groups talking and laughing together. Go to the Sarasota golf facility and see all of them practicing golf and happily waiting to tee off.

Talk to a few of them. Are they a bunch of tired old codgers or are they senior citizens who think they are teenagers and want to enjoy every day of their life? Do you want to be one of us?

[Rango]

Visit Eisenhower Rec Center

[John_W]

You're obviously not moving here for the golf, pickleball, shuffleboard, bocce ball, bowling, softball (largest league in America). So what is it that you want to do with your remaining years? That's what you should be experiencing.

On a LSV you'll have a golf cart, a lot of people spend their days driving around in a golf cart. Myself, there's no radio or A/C, so it's not for me, but for thousands of others they find it fun. There are miles of cart paths. Drive around in a golf cart, although the ones TV give you are very slow.

Walk around the squares. Since you have a cart, drive around Brownwood. Take a car to LSL and SS, park your car and walk around, those two squares you have many more sights.

You should get a free newspaper in your driveway, look in the lifestyle section and see what band is playing that day. The photo could give you an indication of what style, you can also come back to this site and search their name. Go to the square that has the band that's most appealing and sit, listen, drink draft, dance, go eat. It is hot this time of year. Monday and Wednesday are vendor nights at SS and Tuesday and Thursday are vendor nights at LSL. Those nights they usually book a better band and the crowds are bigger. Brownwood they don't have a vendor night, they do have a farmer's market on Saturday morning. The best bands are usually at Brownwood on Friday and Saturday.

Go see a movie, LSL and Brownwood have the best theaters. Prices are decent, when we took a LSV we had passes to one free movie.

If you're into exercise gym style, go over to MVP, it's very near the Alden Bungalows which is where you'll be probably staying. Also go to some Rec Centers, Eisenhower is a regional center as well as Lake Miona and they have activities going on most of the days. There are also neighborhood rec centers, the Thursday edition of the newspaper will have activities listed in a separate section. Also the lifestyle section will have selected activities for that day that may interest you.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by MSchad

Coming for life style visit and wondering what we should do/see that are not sports related?
Walks, tours, etc.
Thanks!

Here is a list of the clubs in TV. May not give you something to do on your visit but gives you an idea of what is going on...….not sports related.

http://districtgov.org/images/ClubsListing.pdf

[geofitz13]

Originally Posted by VApeople

Look at all of the old people around The Villages.

Go to Lake Sumter Landing and look at them hanging out at Paneras, Starbucks, City Fire, etc. Have dinner at a country club like Evans Prarie and look at all of them in groups talking and laughing together. Go to the Sarasota golf facility and see all of them practicing golf and happily waiting to tee off.

Talk to a few of them. Are they a bunch of tired old codgers or are they senior citizens who think they are teenagers and want to enjoy every day of their life? Do you want to be one of us?

Wow! We did our Lifestyle in Jan 2016. Totally drank the kool aid. It wasn't the squares, or the golf courses, or the rec centers. It was exactly what you said. The people. I remember on the third day, we were watching about eight teams playing water volleyball. I mentioned to my wife "these people are geezers!" She pointed out that so are we. But my point was that they were playing "in your face", "take no prisoners", acting like they were 30.
I wanna be just like them!

Our move in date is April 1, 2019.

[Sgroemm]

The trolley tours are free and a nice overview of the areas. Don't take them all on the same day. They leave from the sales centers. Call ahead and make a reservation. Brownwood tour focuses on the new "frontier" Fenney and new homes to be built. Lake Sumter tour focuses on the lifestyle and you will see many resale home styles as you ride. Spanish Springs tour focuses on the history and you will also see the historic side in the tour. All three tours stopped at at least one rec. center. They are not high pressure sales tours and very enjoyable! The guides are knowledgeable and friendly. Pay attention to the home styles and neighborhood feel as you ride...my CYV in Spanish Springs has a totally different "feel" than the CYV my parents stayed in on the lifestyle visit.

The golf cart that comes with the lifestyle visit is restricted to 12 mph.....don't think you are doing something wrong when most carts pass you....just enjoy a slow ride on the multi-modality path and try at least one tunnel. Note how in Brownwood (Alden Bungalows is usually the lifestyle location) you have a MM path that is away from the cars....but notice in SS, carts drive right next to cars and often merge into the same lane. DUI is enforced on golf carts as well as automobiles....so monitor your cocktails at the square or at home before you get behind the wheel.

If you are not familiar with traffic circles ( NJ) or roundabouts, take a moment to study the procedures! They are often an area of challenge to most!

Browse the shops at the three squares. The Rustic Rose and Kylies Kloset in Brownwood are two of my favorites. Van Heusen in Lake Sumter is very nice also!

A word of caution....the Villages restaurants are not often consistent on quality of food or service....prices are good...let's just say that in this amazing place to live, the restaurants are not a strong point. Evan's Prairie steak night and Arnold Palmer are two country clubs that are worth a visit....the rest (sadly) not so much. Most CC are good for a nice cocktail/beer and music.

Your lifestyle visit will probably be at Alden Bungalows. Note that there is no visitor's gate at this location. You will have a gate card. It gives the impression that we are "gated" and most of the other villages do not work this way. As you travel, you will notice that there is a visitors and residents gate at most entrances. Visitors can go into any village without question....hence we are not a true gated community. Bring your gate card with you when you travel. You can go into any village with it ...look around!

There are 'gyms' with equipment at a few of the rec. centers. These are included with your lifestyle preview. It is an extra expense for you when you live here. MVP is a sport/gym club that is also paid privately (although some health ins. cover the fee).

If you love wildlife (birds, alligators, turtles, occasional bobcat) drive to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. Open Fri-Sun. sun up to sun down. Its free. You drive your car on a hard sand packed road 5-10 mph and view wildlife out your car windows. Very beautiful! It is about 30 min. from the Villages.

[Bogie Shooter]

A word of caution....the Villages restaurants are not often consistent on quality of food or service....prices are good...let's just say that in this amazing place to live, the restaurants are not a strong point. Evan's Prairie steak night and Arnold Palmer are two country clubs that are worth a visit....the rest (sadly) not so much. Most CC are good for a nice cocktail/beer and music.

(Sugget you try any of the Country Club restaurants and decide for yourself, even on this site there is constant disagreement about the CC restaurants.)

Bring your gate card with you when you travel. You can go into any village with it ...look around!

(Any gate; both visitors and residents can be opened by pushing the red button at the gate entrance)

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by VApeople

Look at all of the old people around The Villages.

Go to Lake Sumter Landing and look at them hanging out at Paneras, Starbucks, City Fire, etc. Have dinner at a country club like Evans Prarie and look at all of them in groups talking and laughing together. Go to the Sarasota golf facility and see all of them practicing golf and happily waiting to tee off.

Talk to a few of them. Are they a bunch of tired old codgers or are they senior citizens who think they are teenagers and want to enjoy every day of their life? Do you want to be one of us?

That is just how I see it too

[twoplanekid]

Originally Posted by MSchad

Coming for life style visit and wondering what we should do/see that are not sports related?
Walks, tours, etc.
Thanks!

I was never an athlete or sports playing person. Rented one year and then purchased a home late in 2014 to become seasonal visitors. Didn’t play golf or participate in any other sport activity during those times. We are now full time and I am hooked on pickleball. While not yet a professional player , I can’t play enough of the game. My skill level is significantly higher now than when I first started playing some two years ago.

I tell people that I am in the best shape of my life and about to turn 70. I never had any suspicion that this would happen to me before moving here. Life in the Villages can and does change people for the better.

[SIRE1]

Since this is apparently your first visit to The Villages and since sports isn't high on your list (yet), get a map and just take the golf cart for a ride. Go to all 3 town centers, both in the day and in the evening. Look at how well the entire area is landscaped and how much fun everyone is having. And then remember what it is like in Rapid City, especially in the winter. If that doesn't make you want to drink the kool-aid (which is what all the Villagers say when they decide this is the place for me) nothing will. Also, get in the car and drive through the new areas around Fenny and through the historic section across 441. Finally, stop in as many of the rec centers as you can and see all the "old" people socializing with people they have just met. Because, remember, everyone in The Villages is from somewhere else and they enjoy meeting new friends. Even if you don't know someone before you get to The Villages, you will have plenty of life long friends in a very short time.

[Dgodin]

we went on two lifestyle visits. just bought and closing on Jun 18. We got lost several times on the golf cart paths as we did some serious exploration. I used the villages app GPS but it couldn't keep up with my wife's driving. I then bought ($9) the paid villages GPS app and it worked a bit better. Word of caution. The paid app does not play well with my new phone, a Samsung galaxy 8.


We do play golf but that wasn't what sold us as we aren't golf fanatics. It was the number and quality of clubs/activities. We talked to a lot of people and found hardly any that were dissatisfied. We began to suspect it was a cult but decided it would be a nice cult to join in on.

[MSchad]

Thanks for all the responses! At dinner tonight at Brownwood and enjoyed the people and music. I apparently gave the wrong impression. I’m an avid avid golfer, bowler and love most sports. So definitely will use those facilities. Just interested in other things a family or “couple” can do or enjoy.

[sbarron01]

Thanks for posting this topic, and for all the wonderful comments it generated! Coming down in Sept, staying at an airbnb, didn't know there were several trolley tours - will definitely make reservations! Hope to find time for a drive to Lake Apopka. Weather today in DC is exactly the same as TV; wish there was a 135 pg list of clubs to go along with it. ; )

[John_W]

Originally Posted by sbarron01

Thanks for posting this topic, and for all the wonderful comments it generated! Coming down in Sept, staying at an airbnb, didn't know there were several trolley tours - will definitely make reservations! Hope to find time for a drive to Lake Apopka. Weather today in DC is exactly the same as TV; wish there was a 135 pg list of clubs to go along with it. ; )

You had beautiful weather for the parade this week, I watched it on Washington/NBC Sports on Directv. The Caps were great fun to watch this year. Here's one of the Villages "Virginia Trace" and a collection of links you might find useful.

******************************* VIRGINIA TRACE,* THE VILLAGES,* FLORIDA