Boat Ride - Lake Sumter

A boat ride, complete with guide and narration on Lake Sumter, will cost you $2.00 USD.

Luxury Golf Car

Coming into Market Square - Lake Sumter Landing

Merry Christmas from The Villages

The Nolen's golf car...

...decked out for Christmas.

You may remember a previous photo of this particular golf car when it was decked out for Halloween.  The Nolens do know how to celebrate!

Our thanks to Kathy Nolen for this photo.

Gone Fishin'

Brownwood - another look

We are reopening this blog to insert a few favorite photos from time to time.

This is a series of pictures taken a couple of months ago just after the Grand Opening of the new hometown of Brownwood. 

The first gives you an idea of the main street, and the second features the iconic multitude of golf cars so representative of life in The Villages.

The third photo shows the interior of a "gift" shop but is focused on some beautiful and expensive women's cowgirl boots!

And finally, what would a hometown be without a bank? 

There are now three "hometowns" in The Villages:  Spanish Springs (the original), Lake Sumter Landing, and Brownwood.  Each is distinctive yet retains the special atmosphere so familiar to The Villages. 

Pet Sitting

Please note that after today this blog will become inactive.

However, we invite you to visit our website, L & L Photography and especially our new blog which you can reach by simply clicking on the "Blog" tab on the menu or, if you prefer, just click here. We will be posting what we consider to be our best, most interesting and, of course, our favorite photos on that blog.

Lutheran Church on 466

Canal locks - Lake Sumter Landing

Young people enjoying Spanish Springs

Because The Villages is a 55+ community, I'd assume these are grandchildren visiting their grandparents and enjoying the beauty and natural amenities of the Spanish Springs area.

R & R area, 2nd floor, La Reina, Spanish Springs

Cheerleader(s) - Spanish Springs

TooJay's - Lake Sumter Landing

Crash - into the dock

Here's another view of this infamous crash and the sinking of a sailboat.

Hagen Daaz on the boardwalk - Lake Sumter Landing

Smart car in Lake Sumter Landing

There are a few Smart cars in The Villages. Fortunately, they are not allowed on the golf cart trails. I say "fortunately" because there are thousands of golf carts in The Villages and many of them are very fast and tend to take over whatever road they're on. A Smart car wouldn't have a chance! :-)

Golf course & bunkers along Lake Sumter

Gator's Dockside - Lake Sumter Landing

The Nolen's Skeleton Cart in Brownwood

In Brownwood, there are no cabs, so skeletons have to hitch a ride to get where they're going!

Here are more photos of Brownwood, the new "hometown." All three hometowns (Spanish Springs, Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood) have downtown squares where people gather to listen to music, drink, dance and have a good time. Brownwood's square is called Paddock Square. Instead of a gazebo, Brownwood's square has an open building facing an open area and two large bleacher sections.

Brownwood - The Villages newest "Home Town"

Brownwood, which is the newest Home Town in The Villages, is now open for business, although it is still in its initial stages.  Many of the shops remain under construction and the outlying areas, which will contain some "big box" stores, have not been started.

Brownwood is designed around a "western" theme.  The theater (which contains 8 different movie showings), the Paddock Square, Sales Office, The Villages Logo Store and a few other places are ready to go.

Again, while many structures are designed to look old, they are not.  The Villages, remember, is pretty much a Disneyland for adults.

We'll post additional photos in the days ahead.

More scenes from the new park in Lake Sumter Landing

New park in Lake Sumter Landing

Fiery hot rod - Spanish Springs

Flower power(ed)

1957 Ford Convertible

In 1957, after we were married, we bought a 1957 Ford 4-door hardtop convertible. A hardtop convertible has no center post so when all the windows are rolled down, it's a free space from front to back. A very cool car. It looked just like this, but with a hard top and different colors - salmon and white. Unfortunately, while it was "new" (a demo), we soon found out it was also a "lemon." The front windshield leaked, and the dealer wasn't able to fix it. The front seats began to wear out almost immediately. We traded it for a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, blue and white.

Evening on the Square - Spanish Springs

Model A's at the Spanish Springs Car Show

1948 Lincoln Town Car

Last weekend Spanish Springs hosted a large classic car show. This was one of our favorites and we'll be showing more of these classics in the coming days.

Guarding Spanish Springs

Grandpa dancing with his girls