THURSDAY NOVEMBER 14
3 pm – Meet and Greet is where we will have your name-tags, guest passes, and welcome package for you. This takes place in the breakfast room and patio of the Marriott Towneplace Suites Hotel, 1141 Alonzo Ave, The Villages.
Sign up Sheets: We will have sign up sheets for the optional events happening Friday evening and Saturday daytime, so that you can arrange to be with others if you wish to participate in these.
Snacks (sandwiches, cheese, veg and fruit platters, cookies etc.) and drinks (wine, beer, hot tea) we’re providing in room. Coffee, herbal teas and lemonade free in hotel lobby.
You may like to pop out to the square (2-minutes walk) to enjoy some live music and dancing, and then return to the room if you’d like. We need to vacate our hospitality room by 9 pm.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 15
Breakfast at the hotel from 6.30 am to 9 am (for those staying at hotel)
10 am – Meet at Tierra del Sol Rec Center, 808 San Marino Drive, The Villages, (8-minute drive from the hotel) for a morning of shuffleboard, bocce, corn toss, swimming. (Tennis available from 11.30 am on). Be sure to wear your name tags and bring your guest passes for this, even if you only intend to watch and not participate. All equipment is provided free of charge, but if you want to swim you need to bring your own towels. There will be sheets of instructions provided by The Villages on how to play these games if you’re not sure.
We have the picnic table pavilion booked for our exclusive use, so if you want to just sit and chat you can do that too. Bring your own snacks and drinks (alcoholic is allowed), or else there is a restaurant there if you want to eat a light lunch there (we do not have any reserved seating there) or you can do take out. We have the facilities and picnic area till 1 pm.
2.45 pm – Meet at the Glenview Country Club Restaurant, 3194 Glenview Road, The Villages (10-minutes drive from the hotel). You take a long driveway and then the restaurant is the building at the far end of the parking lot. We have our own room reserved for this event. Be sure to wear your name tags.
Friday Buffet dinner will be served at 3.30 pm but you can arrive at 2.45 pm and have drinks which you can order on the patio or in our room.
Buffet dinner included in the price you paid (including taxes and gratuity): Caesar salad (no bacon), Chateaubriand, Salmon, Chicken Marsala, Mashed potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, Dessert, Tea, Coffee, and Non-alcoholic drinks. Cash bar – we cannot bring in our own drinks. We need to vacate the room at 5 pm.
Friday evening is free time. Options you may wish to consider:
- The Sharon Morse Performing Arts theatre located in the Spanish Springs square, is featuring a concert of 60s music by violinist Mads Tolling. This starts at 7 pm, so best to get there for 6.30 pm. Book ahead. Tickets are $35 and up and at time of writing, tickets are still available. To book, go to TheSharon.com and either search for the date Friday November 15, or search for Mads Tolling. OR
- Go to Lake Sumter Landing Town square for the Electric Light show party, music and dancing. (10-minutes drive from the hotel). Free event. OR
- Visit one of the other town squares for the free live music and dancing. Either walk to Spanish Springs Town Square, or drive to Brownwood Paddock square (26 minutes from the hotel).
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16
Breakfast in the hotel 7 am to 9.30 am (for those staying in hotel).
Saturday is free time until 4.00 pm. Here are some suggestions. Sign up to go with others:
- Stroll around the Mercado Market at the Spanish Springs town square that you can walk to from the hotel (2-minutes walk). Live Music, Handmade crafts. Art, local produce. Open from 9 am to 2 pm. Free event to browse. Have lunch at one of the restaurants around the Spanish Springs town square. (We do not have a group lunch arranged)
- Classic Car Cruise-In on the Spanish Springs square. Cars gather around 2 pm in the parking lot off Del Mar Drive, and they then enter the square by 3 pm. Free event! 4 minute walk.
- Visit the square at Lake Sumter Landing (10 minute drive from the hotel) where you can walk along the lake front, browse several shops, take a stroll along the “canal” and grab a coffee or light lunch at one of the many restaurants. (Or an ice cream while sitting by the lake!)
- If you are a pickleball player there is Open Play in the morning until Noon, at the Hacienda Courts across the road from the Hacienda Rec Center. 7 minute walk. You will need your guest pass in order to play, and it is free to do so. You just turn up. Equipment is provided free.
- You can play billiards at the Hacienda Rec Center any time of the day. Again you will need your guest pass, and it is free. 7 minute walk.
- Visit some of the other Regional Rec Centers. These are all uniquely themed. In particular we would recommend the Eisenhower Regional Center, and you could drop into the nearby Brownwood Paddock Square to get a lunch. Lots of nice restaurants there. See Map in your Welcome Package. Brownwood is a 26 minute drive from the hotel.
- Sabbath Bible Study 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. Contact Guy and Jennifer Swenson for details and location.
4.00 pm -Meet at the La Hacienda Rec Center for Our Group Photo Gather on the terrace at the back of the La Hacienda Rec Center (7-minutes walk from the hotel). Address is 1200 Avenida Central. Go in the front door, walk through the lobby and out the back door onto the terrace. We’d like to take some class photos too. Be sure to wear your name tags.
5 pm – Our Group Dinner in the Julio Iglesias room at the La Hacienda Rec. Center. Cash bar opens at 5 pm followed by our Tex-Mex buffet dinner at 5.15 pm. Buffet dinner included in the price you paid (including taxes and gratuities): Chicken and cheese enchiladas with red sauce, Seasoned Ground Beef with soft tacos, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans, Guacamole, Garnish tray with sour cream, diced tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. Iced tea, Hot tea, Regular and Decaff Coffee. Cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert. A bottle of red and a bottle of white wine will be on each table included in your meal. Additional alcoholic drinks you can purchase from the Cash bar. We cannot bring in our own drinks. We need to vacate the room by 9.30 pm.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17
Breakfast in the Hotel 7 am to 9.30 am (for those staying in hotel)
Travel home safely, with new memories to cherish!