June 20, 2015
"A drinking community, with a golfing problem" - Anonymous
Right in the heat of the summer 2015, JT and I went to visit my parents and grandparents in THE Villages, Florida- emphasis on THE because there is simply no other place like it. The Villages is a "retirement" golf community about an hour north of Orlando, but it's far from what you'd expect. You don't just see a bunch of old people sitting around playing bingo (although they still can), but you see a lot of people young at heart playing Pickleball, golfing (over 52,000 tee times a day), playing tennis, volleyball, and more! The Villages is named "Florida's Friendliest Hometown", and they live up to that name (unless the golf ambassador thinks your shorts are too short for the course).
First things first- a lovely video for your enjoyment. Here, you see me trying to take a video of JT teeing off. What I didn't notice (and he definitely didn't notice) is that my step-dad, Brad, started dancing behind him to "video bomb". But-it didn't just stop at that. He also coerced my grandpa into joining him! Typical Villagers.
One of the main attractions in this gated community is Lake Sumter Landing, one of the three town squares. Here, you will find many restaurants, shopping areas, and nightly entertainment from 5pm-9pm IF the temperature is above 40°. Anything colder than that and no one leaves their house down there. Around dinner time, the square fills up, especially if Scooter the DJ is there! All seats will be filled and the dance floor will be flooded with people of all ages doing the Cupid Shuffle, Dougie, Electric Slide, and more. Also, you'll have to ignore my sunburnt nose; it won't disappear throughout the rest of the blog.
I know this is Beth's blog, but I (JT) have to butt in, because this is my story! A few days into our trip, we decided to leave The Villages for half a day to go fishing with Beth's Grandpa on Lake Dora. I will say, a trip to the Florida to fish is not for the faint-hearted. While the sunrise on the lake was very serene, we navigated over murky water, and swampy channels, never knowing what exactly was below the boat.
Later in the morning while casting off of a point full of reeds, we saw what lurks in the waters of south Florida’s lakes and rivers. A large 10-12 ft. alligator swam just a few hundred yards from the bow of the boat. While it didn't disturb Beth's grandpa, it made this northerner a bit nervous. The only thing you have to worry about in the water in Indiana is the occasional cotton mouth snake.
Nonetheless, we continued fishing with Beth's Grandpa and I only managing to catch a few decent bass here and there. However, as we motored over to a long point with reeds off of the end, I cast and hooked a fish. From the get-go, I could tell it was a large fish, as the rod bent over like a sapling in a wind storm.
As the fish got closer and closer, we could see it was a sizeable Largemouth Bass. As we pulled it in, Beth’s Grandpa yelled "Get the net, get the net!" And that's exactly what they did. As quickly as the fight with the fish had begun, we had scooped my prize up in the net and then weighed it. The scale read 6.18 lbs. Not a world record, but the biggest bass I had caught (coincidentally my second biggest bass right at 5 lbs. was caught in Pensacola, FL).
I admired my prize fish as if I were Bill Dance hosting my own fishing show. However, after one last look I released it back into the water to be caught another day. Ok, tossing the reigns back to Beth to finish the blog!
Back to The Villages. The rest of the trip was filled with golfing each day, trips to one of the hundreds of public pools, and relaxing. As you can tell by the above picture, we don't like to have fun at all. (Also that's now my hat since I stole it, yet for some reason he still thinks it's his). Also as I promised, the sunburnt nose never went away.
Our last night in The Villages, we played a championship course-Tequesta. JT and I agree that it is hands down the prettiest course we've ever played, and the most fun. We played it with my step-dad, Brad, right as the sun was setting. All of us played really well for our last round of the trip, and I was the only one to hit the island green (pictured above). Brad and JT went plop. I captured this picture on my iPhone, so it's not the best.
To watch an HD hyperlapse of a tour of The Villages that I made from a golfcart perspective, click here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHvCp_QuLcE
All in all, it was a great trip and everyone had a blast! If you ever get the chance to visit someone in The Villages, don't be like JT (before he ever came down there with me) and say "Have fun with your old people" and stay home. Take advantage and at least go golfing! If your golf game is weak, they even have some courses with 6" holes on the greens now. Hit 'em straight!
Location: The Villages, Florida
Service: Gated Golf/Retirement Community
Price: Free if you can stay with relatives!
Website: http://www.thevillages.com/
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