The Villages In Florida - Adult Disney World?

If you are a retiree and have been anywhere near Florida, you've heard of The Villages. It is a 55+ age restricted development that has exploded in population and it all began as a trailer park.

In the 1970s a business man from Michigan, Harold Schwartz bought land and established the Orange Blossom mobile home park. About ten years later he lured his son, H. Gary Morse, away from his Chicago advertising firm to come and join the venture. The two built a golf course and didn't charge the residents to use it. It began to attract more people to purchasing in the park.

By 1986 they were selling homes, building more golf courses, recreation centers and even a hospital. Since then the growth has been phenomenal. And why not? The over 60 population has grown immensely with the baby-boomers and a generation to follow that.

The population in April of 2016 was said to be 156,000 and has surely grown since then as new "villages" are breaking ground. Each section of the over-all development which is about 31.2 square miles has its own town center including a recreation center where there are planned activities all day long. Golf courses abound. For the monthly fee paid by residents, they can participate on the nine hole courses. The larger courses require an additional fee.

Line dancing, Pickleball, tennis, swimming, billiards, track and field, polo, arts and crafts, music, the list goes on and on. Residents share their talents and interests with each other so the activities are quite varied and there is literally something for anyone.

Shopping is close by and oh, did I mention that the best way around The Villages is by golf cart? Maybe this is where the Disney comparison comes in because there are trails and tunnels everywhere only for golf carts so it looks like one giant amusement ride. Golf carts are personalized and may look like a Rolls Royce or a Mercedes Benz in miniature.

Houses range from $150,000 to the millions of dollars. The Villages is located 20 miles south of Ocala and 45 miles northwest of Orlando--where the real Disney World is. The difference is that the activities are for seniors at The Villages. As a matter of fact, children are only allowed to visit for 30 days.

It is clean and relatively safe from crime although there have been some nasty rumors about black market viagra. But that's only rumor, right?

Futile Fridays

It's not just wandering the world that makes me a writer wandering. I also do a lot of ruminating. Writers need that. It develops plot lines, characters, and quandaries for characters. It also leads to thinking more deeply about life and the journey--or not. Take the case of Friday.

Friday used to be a great day. It was something to look forward to each week. It signaled the end to a lot of chaos created by kids, school, work, schedules, etc. On Friday everything seemed to ease off and even though there might be some things planned for a weekend, it still meant some time of rest or at least a break from routine was coming.

The kids grew up, left home, and routines changed--a bit. There was still a hubby to get off to work and Friday was still a time to look forward to. The weekend meant a couple of mornings to sleep in and time to spend together. And then came retirement.

Don't get me wrong. I love that we are retired. I love that we have all of our days together now--well, mostly I love that. Sometimes I do miss a little "me time" and pushing my own grocery cart around the store. But retirement has made Friday just a day like any other. Actually, it is less attractive because many of those working people are out and about and making popular places a lot more crowded.

Gone are the days of the Friday movie date. Instead we enjoy Senior Mondays at the movies. We sleep in whenever we want to although we do keep to a routine somewhat. Like Bob's favorite saying," When you're retired you can't tell when you are on vacation," it's hard to differentiate between a weekday or a weekend.

So you see Friday is kind of futile except for football season when it signals a football Saturday and usually a football Sunday. Go Bucks! Go Browns! Maybe Friday's not so futile after all.