[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Stickball is kind of like baseball except it's played with a rubber ball and a broom stick as a bat. The field is on a hard top the bases are made with chalk. As kids in The Bronx we played in the street

Do you play in the streets of TV? Or a parking lot? Must be hard to hit the ball with a broom stick?

When I was 9 we had a large back yard where we were living. I had a baseball diamond set up on the back lawn using real bases. I had a baseball-themed 9th birthday party with enough kids for two teams...and hot dogs, of course.

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by clekr

BTW - for your preview they will make the arrangments for you, pretty much on a course of your choosing. They reserve set times for preview people. You'll probably be playing with someone else also on the tour.

According to Laura Carver, the Rep. I've been dealing with, you can make the tee time and I can use a Lifestyle "voucher" (I'm calling it a voucher because I don't know if it is ticket,or a pass,or a chit, or a certificate, or what.)

I'll get Golfnut's personal info and your personal info and we'll go from there and see what we can set up.

I very much appreciate that you are willing to take the time to play golf with a TV wannabe.

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by Dirigo

Do you play in the streets of TV? Or a parking lot? Must be hard to hit the ball with a broom stick?

When I was 9 we had a large back yard where we were living. I had a baseball diamond set up on the back lawn using real bases. I had a baseball-themed 9th birthday party with enough kids for two teams...and hot dogs, of course.

Parking lot. The broom head is cut off

[Dirigo]

The thermometer on our front porch read 28 below zero this morning just before dawn. TV is looking pretty good right about now...no indoor pool and bad driving included.

[Dirigo]

We will be in TV for the first time in nine years this Tuesday for our Life Style Preview! We are very excited!

I have a golf game set up with Golfnut and Clekr, we're going to seek out the Swing Band later in the week, we're going to eat BBQ at Sonny's and/or Oakwood, we're gonna drive around in a golf cart looking like a couple of star-struck tourists, eat at Katie Belles, get some sugar-free ice cream, look at bunch of houses and neighborhoods, and hopefully meet some TOTV'ers.

So if you see a chunky guy with gray hair with a slim blonde lady both with no tan, looking like they are lost, studying a map and shooting video with a camcorder: that's us! Stop and say "Hi"!

We're like a couple of little kids the night before Christmas!

[njgranny]

Have a wonderful time!

[Canwego2]

Hi all,
We are heading south for a preview next week and can't wait. We haven't been there yet, but have been doing our homework for weeks. I just finished the book Leisureville and found it very informative and well written. I learned a lot about TV and thanks to the book, I can't wait to get there. After teaching for 26 years, raising a family, enjoying my grandkids, I am sooooo ready for adults. The book really made TV sound great. Even though he ended it with complaints, I believe he will be buying a home in TV in about 15 years. We can't wait to look around and hopefully buy something. Karen

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by njgranny

Have a wonderful time!

Thanks very much...we plan to have an absolute ball!

[PJOHNS2654]

Hi Dirigo,

Just now read your posts and am available for golf on Wed. Feb. 25. If you still need a fourth. I am a 16 handicap. I have spent the Last four summers in Maine and play golf in North Conway N.H. Recently moved to the villages from a nearby R.V. park. Been wintering here for 12 years and finally made the move to TV in Dec.

[katezbox]

Hi Dirigo,

Safe travels to you (and your lovely bride) tomorrow. We hear much of the state of Maine got 15 inches today - 6 inches for our family along the coast.

Have a wonderful time.

Kate

[Dirigo]

Our flight home was pushed out from Monday the 2nd to Thursday the 5th due to the "mega storm" on the east coast, so we got a three bonus days in FL.

We made it home OK after missing one of three flights due to a delay in Orlando. Trying to get caught up and ready for the work week ahead.

Will post a visit report soon. We loved TV and plan to move there when finances allow (which will be within three years, we hope).

Here's a special shout out to M/M Clekr, Graciegirl (and family), and Golfnut for sharing their time and experiences with a couple of wannabes. Thank you all for being so gracious and welcoming. It is the Villagers that make The Villages so special.

[73Goat]

Hope you enjoyed your visit. My wife and I are coming for ours the first week of April.

It's funny how you found TVs. We also 'found' it almost by accident. We made a trip to Fl in the Ocala area in 2004 looking for potential retirement areas (I was taking some IT Security training in Tampa) but did not know about the Villages and ranged up and down the Ocala area for about two days. My wife was VERY down on moving to Fl for retirement because 1) didn't want to be that far from the kids (3), 2) was terrified we'd end up in an isolated community with nothing to do (my parents did this in Southern VA and moved back after 3 years in isolation).

My wife heard about TV through a friend at work and in 2006, when we had a Cruise leaving out of Tampa, we came in early and started looking around. TV was the last place we hit. We were at some of the communities around TV, which had very nice, relatively less expensive homes, but activities were few and far between. My wife remarked during one visit that "We've been here 45min and I have yet to see another woman." I was beginning to despair of any chance to settle in FL for my retirement, then we found TV. As we drove into TV we ended up at Spanish Springs, my wife looked around as we drove by the Town Square and said, "I love it! I'm here." The rest is history - the only thing that kept us from buying then was the beginning of the housing bubble bursting, by the time we got home, and had the house ready to go on the market, the values had dropped to make it impractical to sell.

Now we'll be buying late in 09 or early in 2010 carrying both mortgages until we officially retire in late 2012 (Too bad the world end Dec 21, 2012 - at least according to the Mayans - this would be a huge ripoff).

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by 73Goat

we officially retire in late 2012 (Too bad the world end Dec 21, 2012 - at least according to the Mayans - this would be a huge ripoff).

We hope to retire in late 2012 as well and spend the winter of 2012-2013 renting in TV. It would really SUCK if the world ended just as we finally got to TV!

[Niels]

Personally, I don't think the world will end in December 2012. However, I'm not taking any chances. I plan on retiring this fall so I can move to the villages and enjoy some time there just in case I'm wrong.

[Dirigo]

Originally Posted by Niels

Personally, I don't think the world will end in December 2012. However, I'm not taking any chances. I plan on retiring this fall so I can move to the villages and enjoy some time there just in case I'm wrong.

Congratulations! I envy you...

I keep looking at finances to see just how soon we can comfortably retire. It is hard to leave two jobs that pay so well after working a lifetime to get where we are. But money isn't everything. Life is short.