Y'all. I've had one day to tour this place in the daylight, and I'm really starting to get it. The Villages are a whole unique world, and they are frankly awesome. Is it for everybody? No. But for those who are interested, it is really darned cool. For one thing, I am fascinated by the complex network of golf cart lanes, paths, and rules. Beyond that, they have so much to keep people entertained and active and social. This place is enormous. I'd have to plot it out on the map to be sure, but I think it covers an area equivalent to the eastern half of Boulder County, from the Weld County line in the east to the Flatirons on the west edge of the city of Boulder. It's one thing hearing "largest senior living community in the world." It's another thing entirely driving around in it (especially facing backwards on a golf cart--which was a whole other experience for me.)
My dad took me and my older daughter for a golf cart tour, teaching us where we could go and how to maneuver between the lanes and paths in traffic. My daughter took a turn driving it. I had the chance, but I was worn out from being out in the sun, and I needed a rest before I tried any of that. On our tour, we stopped at a place that sells street rod style golf carts, which is a whole world I never knew I needed to learn about. There are endless ways to express your personality through golf carts, and now that I think about it, it must make it a lot easier to figure out which one is yours when there are thirty of them in the Publix parking lot.
We took a drive with all of us later in the day, looking at several of the neighborhoods (the actual "villages" of The Villages). We walked a short nature trail through a wetland area where alligators do exist. We were stopped, watching fish jumping and eating bugs on the surface of the water, when there was a much bigger splash towards the waters edge. We saw the water disturbance, but didn't actually see the gator himself. We just assumed it was him. We had a lovely dinner at the restaurant right there by the nature trail, and zero gators were involved after that initial appearance.
I learned a lot about the origins of this place, how it began from one guy owning a trailer park back in the 80s, expanding and being inherited by his family, until it grew into this unparalleled colossus. The real estate nerd in me was glued to this part of the story most of all from today's tour. That family still has control over the overarching community that is the Villages, even as each homeowner has their own piece of ground. I think I need to do some research into what that structure looks like before I describe it further, so I'm not just playing telephone trying to regurgitate what my parents told me as we drove.
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