Main Street across from the square, Lake Sumter Landing

Young love

Oh, to be young and in love and eating ice cream on the dock at Lake Sumter Landing!

Country Living

Another entrance to the very large furniture store in Lake Sumter Landing. Rather attractive, I thought.

Train station in Spanish Springs

No trains run here, but there are some railway artifacts at the old train station in Spanish Springs. It's quite attractive and this is the place to purchase a ticket for a van to take you to the Orlando airport. If you're flying out of Orlando, of course.

Waiting for the music to begin

At the Spanish Springs square in Town Center, a man and his dog await the nightly musical program. The dog, I believe, is a country music aficionado.

On the boardwalk

Grab an ice cream cone and set yourself down in these quite comfy chairs to watch the sun go down over Lake Sumter at Lake Sumter Landing.

La Reina - side entrance

La Reina, in Spanish Springs, now houses a variety of businesses, some of which can be reached by this side entrance. The photo was given a comic effect.

Back stairs at La Reina

What can I say? I love staircases!

Detail of La Reina

La Reina, you may recall, is located in the Spanish Springs downtown area, and housed the sales offices for The Villages. The sales offices have moved to a new location and La Reina is now home to a variety of businesses as well as a large Mexican restaurant.

This photos shows some detail of the southern side of the building.

On the waterfront

On the waterfront at Lake Sumter Landing.

The late, great Dominig's Ristorante

Isn't this a beautiful ristorante? One of the chefs, perhaps the chief chef, was our neighbor until he moved away a couple of years ago.

Dominig's Ristorante in Lake Sumter Landing is no more. We had always planned to eat there but when we visited Lake Sumter Landing one evening a few months ago, we found the ristorante was shut down.

We went back to Lake Sumter Landing recently, and lo and behold, there's another restaurant in that same space with a large outdoor bar where you see tables and people in the photo above. It looked very nice so we will give that a try in the near future.

RJ Gators in Lake Sumter Landing

It's on the waterfront and a nice place to eat...relaxed, earthy ambiance and the food was quite good.

Open air market in Lake Sumter Landing

These open air markets are held frequently in both downtowns - Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing. This one was in Lake Sumter Landing. Wares for sale include all kinds of trinkets, household items, sporting goods, watches, glassware, etc.

Walking the boardwalk to the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse has a light. It also houses a casual-style restaurant. We have not yet eaten there, but will at some time in the future, as it affords a fine view of the lake at sunset!

Things were ducky on St. Patrick's Day

On or about St. Patrick's Day, we visited Spanish Springs in The Villages. A large number of people filled the town square for the usual evening concert. The Villages, being a fun place, dyed the waters surrounding the square a St. Patrick green.

They even brought in some Mallard ducks.

Or did they?

Are they real or is this another Disneyesque creation?