Do You Know Where "The Villages" Are?

Florida, the Sunshine State and Home of the Biggest Retirement Center in the World!!

  Cousin Lloyd invited his brother and I to visit him here before our big trip to the Holy Land. We both came into the airport three days before we were to fly into Israel.  We went non-stop from dawn to dusk, enjoying what "The Villages" had to offer!

The Morse family founded The Villages over 30 years ago, with a vision to create a warm, secure and friendly hometown, where all  retirement dreams come true.

 Situated less than 15 miles northwest of Leesburg, it's only about an hour’s drive from Orlando,


Here is my bedroom.  Lloyd bought his condo home two years ago and loves living here.

His own pool in the backyard

Sweet Joanne will be going with us to the Holy Land

This is the church Joanne & Lloyd attend - known as "the beautiful church"

At the heart of the community lies three old-fashioned town squares where there was plenty of fun for three days. The founders felt strongly that every hometown needed a special place to gather and socialize with friends and neighbors.  The town squares feature FREE nightly entertainment, modern movie theaters, and a colorful assortment of shopping and dining opportunities.

Fun theatre with great decor

The Villages spans more than 20,000 acres. There’s tons of stuff to do there, including over 60 places to dine and drink, all sorts of cultural and entertainment offerings, countless social clubs, golf courses, fitness centers, and more.

We went to Cody's for lunch and had some wonderful food as well as a good time.

It was 2 for 1 fajita Wednesday .  I didn't get a photo, but believe me....they were great!

Let's go on a boat ride across Lake Sumpter, says Lloyd.  It's a beautiful afternoon so we did!

Now here is a foursome out for a good time on a sunny day!

The guide was a great storyteller.  I think some of them were fish tales, however!

Can't remember the name of this bird, but he was holding down the ship.

Looks like an old ship from the past

The inside at one of the theatres

You are really "in" if you have a golf cart to strut around in

This one was really unique

Time for some Haagen Daaz ice cream - yum!

The Villages Community is the only place in the world where you can play complimentary golf for the rest of your life

Arnold Palmer Center

The following photos are some of various rooms in the three town squares.  Brownwood Paddock Square, Lake Sumter Landing Market Square, and Spanish Springs Town Square.

The Eisenhower Room

We went to Eaton's Beach the second day.  What a pretty day it was!  Cute little beach with swimmers.  I would have gotten in, but there are alligators in there.   auughh!

They had shrimp and I had a mahi mahi fish dinner with green beans.  GREAT!

Here is a huge alligator that hangs over the front desk!

For Thursday night, Cousin Lloyd fixes a beautiful table with grilled steak, salad, and baked potatoes. 

Note all the matching dishes and placemats and everything.  It's so perfect!

After-dinner entertainment for "the boys"

Listen to the state bird - the mockingbird who sings all day and wakes us up each morning.  I just love their songs!

I love to exercise in the water.  Lloyd drove me to a pool each day for two hours of classes.  Now I have even more ideas so, when I go home and teach, we'll have new moves!!  Here I am standing by Lloyd's pool

We ate at "Katie Belle's" with singing waiters for our last . together in Florida

We went to the salad bar with all the trimmings and then I had lobster tail and grilled ahi tuna. ..WOW!

Gold Cart City!

Before we get up at 3 am to drive to Orlando to catch our 6:30 flight, I took a walk at dusk and took some photos of the oak trees dazzled with their special moss.  The colors were spectacular!

Good Night from Florida!

The next posts will be from our Holy Land- Israel trip for two weeks.  I hope I don't get too far behind.  ENJOY!  It will be a trip of a lifetime for all of us!