[graciegirl]

New friends.

We have returned to Ohio after having settled into our new home in Hadley a couple of weeks ago. We are still settling in mentally, shopping for furniture, accessories and thinking about it all of the time it seems.

Yesterday we went to yet another furniture store and the person asked what we needed and we said..we are getting ideas for our new Florida home in The Villages.

It seems that almost every person says, "What or where is THE VILLAGES???."

Has this happened to you? How do you respond? Sometimes I sound like a commercial.

It isn't advertised a lot on billboards or even road signs as you approach the area.

Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe we should try to just keep it a secret.

GracieGirl

[njgranny]

This is a little off-subject - My daughter went to a party yesterday and, while talking with a woman, the lady mentioned that her parents had moved to the Villages. My daughter told her that her parents wanted to move there, too, and asked their last name so we could look them up. It seems the woman is very resentful that her parents moved away, and didn't even want to talk about it. She couldn't understand how they could be happy "playing" all day.

Anyway, we, too, "advertise" the Villages whenever we meet someone who hasn't heard of it.

[nONIE]

Graciegirl,

I have the opposite reaction. Everyone I mention "The Villages" to seems to either know someone that lives there or has seen the commercials for it on television. Im with you, I worry that TV may grow too fast. Mabe we should tell people what an awful place it is to live, just awful!! Not fit for man nor beast!

[Russ_Boston]

Nonie.

I can't sit in a restaurant or play a round of golf without overhearing someone mention TV.

Looks like I'll be buying a resale since all the new ones will be gone before I get there!

[swrinfla]

graciegirl:

I think TV's reputation is best known in the Northeast (New England, N'Yawk, Joisey and such places).

I never met any one in St. Louis who had even the remotest idea of what/where I yammered on and on about, once I'd decided to move here. They all just thought I'd really, really lost my marbles!

I met an English couple on a trip I took to Costa Rica in Feb '04 who not only knew about TV, they'd actually stayed here! That startled me quite a bit!

Some places seem to keep TV a secret, maybe. For instance, the Saint Louis Club here has well over 200 members, I believe. Surely they've passed the word 'round town?

I have lots of fun on cruises, telling anyone I meet about TV. 99.5% of them don't believe me! ;D

SWR

P.S.: If you see my marbles, let me know! :joke:

[redwitch]

TV is definitely a mystery in the Bay Area. When I told my friends I was moving here, they all thought I was nuts. When I talk to them and tell them what I've done during the week, the things I've smiled about, etc., they think I'm making things up to make them feel good about me being here. Sadly, I can't convince them to come visit. So, for now, they just refuse to believe how great TV is.

[barb1191]

We had neighbors in NH who approached us in the condo complex parking lot saying that they saw TV vanity plate on the front of our car. They used to live in TV and moved back to NH, having missed the g'kids and family. They chose to not be snowbirds because of the expense.

We sold the NH condo and built a one br, lr, kitchen, bath, laundry inlaw onto my daughter's home in MA which serves us well as snowbirds.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

New friends.

We have returned to Ohio after having settled into our new home in Hadley a couple of weeks ago. We are still settling in mentally, shopping for furniture, accessories and thinking about it all of the time it seems.

Yesterday we went to yet another furniture store and the person asked what we needed and we said..we are getting ideas for our new Florida home in The Villages.

It seems that almost every person says, "What or where is THE VILLAGES???."

Has this happened to you? How do you respond? Sometimes I sound like a commercial.

It isn't advertised a lot on billboards or even road signs as you approach the area.

Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe we should try to just keep it a secret.

GracieGirl

gg,

You are in Cincinnati now. That's why this is happening to you.

Mark Twain is credited with having said something to the effect of, "If the world is coming to an end, go to Cincinnati. Everything there happens 20 years later." (Or maybe it's 10 or 15 years later. Can't remember. But I know how it goes around these parts sometimes. I guess Twain did, too.)

Boomer

[jadebox]

Going to Ohio we stopped in North Carolina and met someone whose aunts live in TV. In Virginia we met a man whose parents lives here. Met another person who has seen the commercials and could not believe they were true. These people we met on the way were the only ones we had mentioned TV's too so it was 100%!

[johudd]

We are in the process of selling our home in MA and moving to TV - my son (19) isn't too thrilled - he had some kids over and when we told them we were moving to Fla. he said his grandparents live in Fla. in a place called the villages. He told my son he had a blast when he went to visit the grandparents - then he told us that his aunt also moved there. Small world - hearing that it was fun was huge for my son - can he bring his college friends to TV for semester break!

[gfmucci]

In the northwest corner of Florida, the Panhandle, 250 miles from TV, 3 out of 4 people are familiar with it or know people who moved there.

[jadebox]

I have met several kids here on Spring Break. Last year I met 3 girls who were 21 or older who told me they had been coming to TV every year since they were around 12 yrs old. Just before that there was an article in the paper about a group of teenagers who meet here every year for Spring Break.

[Russ_Boston]

My son's new girlfriend has grandparents that live in Tall Trees. Small world!

[barb1191]

Driving from our home in TV to MA last month, we were in the hotel elevator with another couple (strangers) on our way to the lobby. Got to briefly chatting and come to find out they too live in TV and are headed to MA for the summer. I recall this was in DC.

yes, small world

[barb1191]

I just realized that this subject became reversed somewhere along the line here. It seems that most, including self, ended up writing about all the peeps who HAVE HEARD of TV.

:dontknow: 040 024

barb