A Visit from Best Friends

On Thursday, we looked forward to the visit from our friends, Don and Linda. Don was the very first person we met in our neighborhood while our home was being built in Wesley Chapel back in 1999. He was passing by, walking his beautiful male Shelty, Cheyanne one day as we stopped by to check out the progress on our new home. We were pleased to learn that we would be neighbors and it wasn't long after that we met Linda and ...we have become very good friends.

They arrived early on Thursday and Don and Rich took off for Pimlico to play pickleball, while Linda and I shared some coffe and caught up on what's been going on with family and friends. Don got to meet Coach Mo and even got some one-on-one training tips from him so now he's ready to go back home and get that 21 Clinics DVD out and watch it again.

We grabbed some lunch and then decided to show them a little bit of The Villages, since they had not been here before. It's always nice to see the residential sections, the different homes and the beautiful landscaping, but we decided to start at Sumter Landing, one of the town centers.

Don wanted to stop by the Sales Office and chat with one of the realtors, and since the tour bus was going to be leaving in just a few minutes, the four of us jumped on the bus for a guided tour of The Villages. Above, Don escorts Linda off the bus, after the tour. So they got to see some great views of the golf courses, coutry clubs, landscaping, homes, adult pools, family pools and recreation centers, and to learn about all the activities and groups - including The Village Idiots! ( You'll just have to come here to learn more about them)

The sky was very threatening - but we decided despite the thunder and lightening off in the distance to make a quick tour around the town center. Above is a picture of Lake Sumter. If you enlarge the picture, you can see a little better the lighthouse on the right. That is the Lighthouse Restaurant.

And so we headed that way to talk a walk along the boardwalk that runs along the edge of the lake and Don and Linda stop to pose for another picture!

As we walked a bit further you could look over the edge of the rail into the water and there we were entertained for quite a while by several turtles..........

And so we moved on......It was definately beginning to look more and more like rain, so we continued on around the center and made our way back to the car and back to the Villa.

We had tired Linda out, but couldn't get her to take a quick nap. We had a couple of hours to just relax and talk before getting ready for dinner.

Tonight we would be taking them to one of the favorite dining and entertainment restaurants in The Villages - Katie Belles.

It was still threatening to rain, and had just started to sprinkle a few minutes after we arrived at the other town center, Spanish Springs but we got a chance to check out the golf carts on display. Can't imagine spending over 20 thousand dollars on a golf cart!!! But Linda found the one she liked best - and it was only $15 thousand!

Dinner was a little dissapointing. Rich and I have eaten here four or five times and have always found the service and food to be excellent. Tonight the service was really quite bad. The soup, salad and bread bar was excellent, and Linda and I enjoyed a glass of White Zin, but it took better than an hour four our meal to arrive. Radio Flyer was the entertainment tonight and we had a perfect view of the stage and the dancers on the floor below from our table on the second floor balcony. Even the food tonight was far below norm - very small portions, and a couple of our meals were just barely warm. Unfortumate.

By the time we ready to leave, the rain was falling. Rich left us under shelter and went to get the car and we headed for home. Unfortunately the day had come to an end. We made sure they could find there way out and said our good-bye's. Despite the dinner - we had a wonderful day visiting with both of them. Hope they come back again soon.