The Villages in Florida

Monday
January18

Yikes!  I'm about a thousand pictures behind in posting.  Better get back to it.

A visit to the Villages in Florida showed it to be about as much like our Villages in San Jose
 as a turkey is to a baby chick.

The concept is the same;  active retirement community for people  65 and older.
 But the Florida Villages is located in the center of the state which is largely devoid of any topography on its over 50 square miles. Its boundaries are 13 miles long.
 

 

 So it doesn't have hills.

  What it does have is 630 holes of golf and 65,000 golf carts for its 100,000 residents.  It's huge!

80% of the residents live here full time.

I met high school chum  Sharon and her husband Bud who toured me around the beautiful area.

 There is plenty here to keep busy with 
2300 clubs and organizations, one of which is a softball team for those over 80. Yes, they allow designated base runners.
 Bowling, not golf, is the main activity.

 There are 79 swimming pools in over 80 villages, one pool for children, and no one under 30 is allowed in the main pools.

 There are 10 shopping plazas, all accessible by golf cart.
Within the Villages are 15 grocery stores, 100 restaurants and 5 health care centers. 

One of the 12 main clubhouses, this one, the Eisenhower Center, is dedicated to all branches of the armed services and is loaded with memorabilia donated by residents.  
All 12 are open to everyone to use for card playing, etc.

Five of the clubhouses have fitness centers.

Every neighborhood has live entertainment in the evening as I found when I came out of Margaritaville Cafe after Happy Hour and ran smack into this live band at a gazebo. 

This couple was dancing with their little dog. So cute!

Socialization here takes many turns.
At the Redsauce Bar in Sumter Square a drink was named after a couple caught making love in the park late at night. The drink was called Sex in the Square and was made of wine and cordials.

 And now I've saved the best for last. What does all this cost?

Home prices run the gamut from $160K to over $1M.

Monthly HOA dues are $145/month for everyone because everyone maintains their own home.

$15 to $65 for golf.

It's a great place to retire with only one drawback.  
It's not in California.