Footnote: The Villages

The Villages
The Villages (sorry to repeat myself from the previous journeys blog) is a community which has been designed and built for the over 50’s. It’s population is now about 100,000. It features such things as a network of golf buggy roads, so you don’t need to drive anywhere, it has a very active social programme, there are more than 250 clubs and associations. It also has the town square (well 2 actually, but we only use one at a time). We were visiting Lake Sumter Landings. The town square is the focal point of The Villages. It has the surreal feel of being a cross between Main St Disney, The Truman Show and The town center set for Back to the Future. Streets and pavements are immaculate, lots of trees and flower beds, The shops and houses are pastel coloured shutter board construction, with veranda style frontage over the sidewalks, the Villages Radio is played from speakers mounted in lampposts, there are very few cars, but dozens of golf carts, everyone you meet makes eye contact and says ‘hi’, which is an invitation to stop and spend a few minutes passing the time of day. There are expensive shops and reasonable restaurants. There are 2 main streets that are not much more than 100 yards long, which come into the square. On one side is the lake (large, but quite artificial), boardwalk, pier, non-working, but visually attractive sail barge and lighthouse ( at about 50 miles possibly the most distant lighthouse from the sea). The town square itself is surrounded by trees, little raised areas, with chairs on, bordered with flowers and greenery and some booths where you can get a drink. In the square there is a band stand and a couple of hundred patio chairs strategically placed so that you can just sit and relax. Many of the buildings round the square are cafes o r bars which have outdoor seating anyway. When you enter the square you feel that the pace of life has just gone down below walking speed. This is a natural meeting place, encouraged by having a band play on the bandstand. Everyday between 4.00 and 9.00 you can go down and listen to the band, have a drink, dance (couple or line dance, or just do your own thing), chat, or just watch the sun go down over the lake.