[graciegirl]

In January of this year, I really knew very little about a place in central Florida called 'The Villages'. A spontaneous invitation from old friends to stay overnight there as we were returning from a trip around Florida to fly out of Orlando and back to Cincinnati was our first opportunity to really see TV. I still was not entirely convinced that 1. I wanted another home. 2. I wanted to live in Florida. I stumbled onto this site and asked a million questions, most were answered pretty patiently but I did aggravate a few people with probing questions about the developers. I think a few people thought I was a "troll". I didn't know what that was six months ago either.

Since then, the people of TOTV have become a real group of peers to me, a real community of friends. In a very brief meeting at the time we came for our lifestyle visit in April, I did actually meet Village07, Kathie, Redwitch, Chelsea and Vetman, Dicky,Rick?, and two other delightful folks that I can only remember their "real" names and two others who sat down a bit from us at Whiskeys and I didn't get to talk to..

Now in the interim, I have partied with a bunch of people I have never met, I have read and written for the NEVER ENDING STORY, and felt like I was back in college again. (NO, even better, I was too serious to act like that in college) I feel like I have known for years all of the people I have met here in TOTV. My husband and I and our sweet daughter Helene, have actually been to the Villages a total of less than two weeks, and we were either looking for a house or settling into the one we bought. Only Village07 stopped by and reaffirmed my initial impression of her, which is she is one nice, neat, smart, person with a great personality and one who hopefully will be our friend.

Now I have worried about downspouts, insurance, snakes, age difference, furniture, temperature, amenities and a number of things but the real thing is.......................

Here is my question. When I finally live there in Paradise, are the people that I have met here on TOTV, and frankly love, going to somehow be part of my life?.....and if they don't particularly like us, will there we other wonderful people like them, kinda, to be friends with.

For those of you who live there, do you find the people on your street and those you meet to be as friendly and helpful as the ones I talk to everyday here in this wonderful site???

[redwitch]

Simple answer .... YES.

[Rokinronda]

YES YES YES and YES! OK?? :-* Rhonda

[mom2five]

Gracie

We closed on our house in Amelia last October. Everyone in the neighbourhood was eager to make friends. When we visited the Amelia pool everyone was very friendly and eager to start relationships and organize neighbourhood parties both at the pool and at street parties in the various parts of our village. I also met people at line dancing classes who invited me to other activities and helped me to find my way to the things i wanted to explore in The Villages. I spent my first stay in Florida furnishing the house so was very busy that I feel I did not develop all these opportunities as much as I should have but the opportunities were certainly there,. I then went home to Canada for a few months.

When I came back after Christmas I had many visitors from home and again got very busy but still found opportunities to meet new people as I tried new activities etc.

The few weeks I was there on my own I tried some new things like golf ad pickle ball and every where I went many people were eager to get together and invited me to join them to get together so we could develop these new skills and socialize.

TOTV also organized activities that allowed me to meet some of the people I had talked to on line.

In conclusion there were more opportunities to make friends then I could keep up with. I am sure you will have the same experience.

I just hope that when I get back in the fall I can pick up where I left off.

Keep a place open for me all of you who are lucky enough to be there all year. I will be back in just a few short months.

[swrinfla]

with redwitch

with rokinronda

My street of 16 houses, 28 residents is The Best! Sure, it helped that virtually all of us moved in at about the same time, so there were bonding opportunities over questions about, "Where do you get this? Do you know someone who'll do this for me? What are the rules about . . .?" Now, we have a street-wide get-together every month, and sometimes more often. A directory shared with everyone includes birthdays [not necessarily how old, but when ;D], family contact(s) in case of emergencies, etc.

And, now, after three years we have friends from other parts of TV, too. We opened our street to several neighboring ones for a New Year's Eve party, and I think there were over 100 folks there. [Of course, 99% of them were gone by 12:05! ;D]

SWR

I have great neighbors here in TV relative to the ones say in Palm Harbor where there had been a Coast Guard helicopter pilot who used to buzz his own house to check up on what he thought was his cheating wife. Next in the same house was a couple who turned out to be on the lamb from mail fraud charges and whose welsh corgi used to get out of the house and run all over the neighborhood. The next group in this house were OK but after that we got a guy who dragged his 2 pit bulls with his car while trying to teach them how to run. Suffice is to say the Tampa Bay media and the Humane Society came down hard on this guy.

It was never boring in Palm Harbor though. Advice would be never move into a house whose landlord is a criminal defense attorney who seems to have his clients as some time renters.

The TOTV people seem quite representative of how nice many Villagers are.

[islandgal]

Of course, 99% of them were gone by 12:05!]

[quote It was never boring in Palm Harbor though. Advice would be never move into a house whose landlord is a criminal defense attorney who seems to have his clients as some time renters.

swrinfla and Tal: Hysterical!!!!! 1rnfl 1rnfl 1rnfl 1rnfl