[Serenoa]

We returned home Tuesday from our four day LSV, and we had an absolute BLAST. I believe we saw & did most everything we had planned to on this, our first trip to TV…….but sure wish we could have stayed for a few more days. We didn’t bring our checkbook, since I’m still a few years away from retirement……but this short visit was all it took to convince us of where we really want to spend our golden years. TV, of course!

We drove down a day earlier than initially planned & spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Spanish Springs. Highly recommend this hotel for moderately priced lodging & will probably elect to stay there for any subsequent visits to TV. The staff was very friendly, the room was immaculate & nicely appointed & the complimentary hot/cold breakfast was quite good compared to other complimentary ones we’ve had.

The next morning we checked into our cabana at Creekside Landing and found it to be very nice, with everything we could possibly need for a comfortable stay. The only thing we did not like was the gas-powered golf cart. Extremely noisy with highly noxious fumes, something Alicia will not tolerate. We went back to the Sumter Landing sales center & spoke with a really great guy, Woody….who said he would try his best to get us an electric cart & have it delivered to our cabana. We left & continued on with our planned activities for the day, unsure if we would really get to enjoy traveling about TV in a golf cart. But sure enough when we later returned to our cabana the gas cart was gone & replaced with an electric. Woody came through!!! That was just one example of the top notch hospitality we experienced all during our stay.

I won’t go into great detail about what we did every day, but some of the highlights were: experienced the nightly entertainment at Spanish Springs & Lake Sumter, but never made it down to Brownwood in the evening. the “cruise in” with all the old cars at Spanish Springs saturday night was especially fun ; enjoyed the farmer’s market at Brownwood ; saw the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions show at the polo fields; had a wonderful evening at Savannah Center seeing “Christmas in Ireland” (free tickets compliments of our sales rep, Mike Weatherford); drove thru the neighborhood off of Odell Circle that has the synchronized Christmas lights; and of course we used our free passes to the movies, the boat ride on Lake Sumter, and the trolley bus ride. We dined for lunch or dinner at Lighthouse Bar & Grille, City Fire, Cody’s, Ay Jalisco, & Katie Belles…..and had wonderful breakfasts at Athens NY & Bonifay Country Club. Our sales rep, Mike picked us up at our cabana one morning & took us to see quite a few of the model homes, and we travelled ourselves to tour a few of the pre-owned homes open houses that were listed online each day. Not sure how we packed all of that into four short days, but it sure was a lot of fun.

Oh, & I must add: I could count on one hand the number of cigarette butts we saw on the ground, saw many happy pooches but absolutely no pooch poop anywhere, had no problems navigating the roundabouts, and 99.9% of the folks we encountered were as polite as can be & seemed to be as happy as we were, experiencing TV for the very first time. In all cases, just what we had expected!

Also, to those that haven't yet visited TV: Look at The Villages website, get the free DVD, look at the many videos on YouTube that others have posted and you'll get a good idea of what the town squares, the streets, country clubs, golf courses & the variety of homes look like. As impressive & beautiful as it may look, be prepared to be astounded when you see it all in person. The rolling terrain, the massive native live oaks draped with spanish moss, the thousands of palms & lush landscaping, the design & architectural detail of all the buildings, the interior decorating in the sales centers......I could go on & on. You MUST see it in person!

Finally, I want to thank all of you fine folks here on TOTV, since reading hundreds of threads & posts for the past several months taught us a lot about TV and certainly added so much to our first LSV in so many ways. This is truly a great forum with great people and I strongly encourage all potential TVers to use it as a learning tool prior to your first LSV.

The pic below is one of us posing amongst the huge oaks on Buena Vista, just south of Lake Sumter Landing. I was snapping a few pics of Alicia when some fun folks stopped their golf cart & offered to take one with both of us.

thanks for having us,
john & Alicia
Birmingham, AL

[Cisco Kid]

[Cantwaittoarrive]

What fun our LSV (we had 3) is what sold us on TV, well I was sold before the first (LSV) but they sold my wife. I also highly recommend the Holiday Inn we sometimes have visitors stay at the Holiday Inn Express and they enjoy it.

[gomoho]

You'll fit in just fine - start counting the days!

[Schaumburger]

John and Alicia,

What a nice post to read. So glad you enjoyed your LSV. And I agree with your comment about gas carts -- they are rather smelly -- just my 2 cents. Hope you can move to TV soon!

[Serenoa]

Originally Posted by Schaumburger

John and Alicia,

What a nice post to read. So glad you enjoyed your LSV. And I agree with your comment about gas carts -- they are rather smelly -- just my 2 cents. Hope you can move to TV soon!

I had meant to add that while we were down at Brownwood we stopped in at the golf cart store there (can't recall the exact name) and one of their salesmen spent quite a bit of time with us showing us the different models & features, even though we explained up front that we were in no position to buy yet. He said that approx. 95% of the carts they sell are gas powered. We told him about our smelly gas cart initially given to us for our LSV, & he said they have begged TV to do something about those, since they give gas carts such a bad name with anyone sensitive to the gas fumes. He explained how the new Yamaha fuel-injected carts hardly smell at all, and sure enough while we were still there another salesman started one inside the showroom & drove it out & we smelled absolutely no fumes at all. Alicia would have been coughing & begging for an oxygen tank if it had been like the one first given to us. Now I have to wonder if the new fuel injected carts stay that way, or if they do become smelly as the engine gets more wear & tear?

[Schaumburger]

I have also heard from people who live in TV that the new/newer gas carts have very little smells/fumes. I have only driven gas carts that came with rental homes, and these carts were several years old. I have driven an electric cart that came with one rental home and really enjoyed driving that, but I know that some people will say that electric carts don't have the distance driving range that gas carts do if you use your cart a lot -- especially since TV is now quite large in size and getting larger. Since I'm still a wannabee, buying gas vs. electric is not a decision I have to make any time soon. I would like to drive a new gas cart to see what they are like -- maybe the next time I rent in TV.

[2BNTV]

What a great post.

TV is a place that has to be seen to be believed. No amount of words can describe how beautiful it is but yiou did a great job.

BTW - I totally agree the golf carts on a LSV are smelly and slow.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Serenoa

We returned home Tuesday from our four day LSV, and we had an absolute BLAST. I believe we saw & did most everything we had planned to on this, our first trip to TV…….but sure wish we could have stayed for a few more days. We didn’t bring our checkbook, since I’m still a few years away from retirement……but this short visit was all it took to convince us of where we really want to spend our golden years. TV, of course!

We drove down a day earlier than initially planned & spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Spanish Springs. Highly recommend this hotel for moderately priced lodging & will probably elect to stay there for any subsequent visits to TV. The staff was very friendly, the room was immaculate & nicely appointed & the complimentary hot/cold breakfast was quite good compared to other complimentary ones we’ve had.

The next morning we checked into our cabana at Creekside Landing and found it to be very nice, with everything we could possibly need for a comfortable stay. The only thing we did not like was the gas-powered golf cart. Extremely noisy with highly noxious fumes, something Alicia will not tolerate. We went back to the Sumter Landing sales center & spoke with a really great guy, Woody….who said he would try his best to get us an electric cart & have it delivered to our cabana. We left & continued on with our planned activities for the day, unsure if we would really get to enjoy traveling about TV in a golf cart. But sure enough when we later returned to our cabana the gas cart was gone & replaced with an electric. Woody came through!!! That was just one example of the top notch hospitality we experienced all during our stay.

I won’t go into great detail about what we did every day, but some of the highlights were: experienced the nightly entertainment at Spanish Springs & Lake Sumter, but never made it down to Brownwood in the evening. the “cruise in” with all the old cars at Spanish Springs saturday night was especially fun ; enjoyed the farmer’s market at Brownwood ; saw the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions show at the polo fields; had a wonderful evening at Savannah Center seeing “Christmas in Ireland” (free tickets compliments of our sales rep, Mike Weatherford); drove thru the neighborhood off of Odell Circle that has the synchronized Christmas lights; and of course we used our free passes to the movies, the boat ride on Lake Sumter, and the trolley bus ride. We dined for lunch or dinner at Lighthouse Bar & Grille, City Fire, Cody’s, Ay Jalisco, & Katie Belles…..and had wonderful breakfasts at Athens NY & Bonifay Country Club. Our sales rep, Mike picked us up at our cabana one morning & took us to see quite a few of the model homes, and we travelled ourselves to tour a few of the pre-owned homes open houses that were listed online each day. Not sure how we packed all of that into four short days, but it sure was a lot of fun.

Oh, & I must add: I could count on one hand the number of cigarette butts we saw on the ground, saw many happy pooches but absolutely no pooch poop anywhere, had no problems navigating the roundabouts, and 99.9% of the folks we encountered were as polite as can be & seemed to be as happy as we were, experiencing TV for the very first time. In all cases, just what we had expected!

Also, to those that haven't yet visited TV: Look at The Villages website, get the free DVD, look at the many videos on YouTube that others have posted and you'll get a good idea of what the town squares, the streets, country clubs, golf courses & the variety of homes look like. As impressive & beautiful as it may look, be prepared to be astounded when you see it all in person. The rolling terrain, the massive native live oaks draped with spanish moss, the thousands of palms & lush landscaping, the design & architectural detail of all the buildings, the interior decorating in the sales centers......I could go on & on. You MUST see it in person!

Finally, I want to thank all of you fine folks here on TOTV, since reading hundreds of threads & posts for the past several months taught us a lot about TV and certainly added so much to our first LSV in so many ways. This is truly a great forum with great people and I strongly encourage all potential TVers to use it as a learning tool prior to your first LSV.

The pic below is one of us posing amongst the huge oaks on Buena Vista, just south of Lake Sumter Landing. I was snapping a few pics of Alicia when some fun folks stopped their golf cart & offered to take one with both of us.

thanks for having us,
john & Alicia
Birmingham, AL

Beautiful. You, that part of Lower Paradise. and your post.

Hurry back.
Gracie

[philnpat]

The cart that was supplied to you on your visit had the exhaust pipe positioned to the side. Many gas cart owners have the exhaust pipe moved to the rear. An easy and cheap fix that makes it better if you are sensitive to exhaust odor.
We have a Yamaha gas and love it...some friends have electric, others have gas powered. It's a personal choice.
P.S. I've never been stranded.

[mgjim]

I had pretty much the same experience when I was on my LSV in October. Unfortunately, Brownwood wasn't open yet while I was there and I missed the opening of the polo season by one day. Otherwise, it was a lot to take in and very little time to do everything.

I was equally overwhelmed and now can't wait to sell my house here and start some serious house-hunting in the spring. My 30 year old son came with me on my visit and he wanted to buy something on the spot.

I'm still waiting for anyone to say they liked the golf cart they got during their visit. I think I'll be test driving a fuel injected model on my next visit.

[Serenoa]

Originally Posted by philnpat

The cart that was supplied to you on your visit had the exhaust pipe positioned to the side. Many gas cart owners have the exhaust pipe moved to the rear. An easy and cheap fix that makes it better if you are sensitive to exhaust odor.
We have a Yamaha gas and love it...some friends have electric, others have gas powered. It's a personal choice.
P.S. I've never been stranded.

actually I never got down on my hands & knees to look & see where the gas cart's exhaust was, but I didn't see one showing on either side, or the rear. As stinky as that cart was I don't think a 20' long pipe out the rear would have made much difference!

but when we were shown the fuel-injected Yamaha cart at the shop in Brownwood I did notice that it came out the side just behind the driver. But even so, there was absolutely NO smell, even when it was started INSIDE the showroom. I'm just curious how long the "no smell" would actually last?

[Judith Ann]

We, too. thought we'd wait until retirement to buy in TV, We found we could not wait.We are in our second house now in less than 5 years. We are not fully retired, but we are able to spend our winters in TV now. As a matter of fact, we returned to Wisconsin at the beginning of April and have been back 5 times since then. We return for this winter next week and cannot wait. We did rent out our first house during the high season the first two years, and that helped get us going. Whatever you decide to do, I know you will continue to love it in TV.

Also, we have a gas cart, and there is no odor that we've ever noticed.

[buggyone]

The gas golf cart is most popular due to the fact the distances are long way from the newest sections to Spanish Springs or Mulberry Grove. Yes, gas carts do smell like an old lawn mower and the ride is loud and rough. The turbo charged ones are an improvement but still loud, rough, and smelly. Going through any tunnels will tell you that gas carts definitely are smelly.

I have an electric cart (Polaris) and it is very good. I go to Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing all the time and have plenty of power reserve. If I would go to Brownwood area or south of 466A, I would use my car. No problem.

The distance between the historic side and Brownwood is probably 17 miles and would take around 55 minutes in a cart. However, how many people would make that trip in a golf cart - or in a car?

[Villageshooter]

Glad u enjoyed ,,,,, the reason those LSV carts are so smelly is they have them so de-tuned to limit ur speed ,, they run so rich,,, we r big believer in elect carts to be able to listen to my tunes as we roam around with a full glass of diet pepsi and my bride enjoys a barley pop as we cruise around with jimmy Buffett blaring ,, u have now drank the koolaide just roll with it and live each day to return. Retire early! Every day u work is one less day u will spend here in heavens waiting room!