Thursday, March 14, 2013

Friends in Low Places

Sarasota, FL         High:  73     Low:  48

Or high places, or rolling places as was the case with our visit to Nick and Ritchie Boersma today, our friends from Michigan. They are staying at Rolling Ridge RV Resort in Clermont, FL...a park and surrounding area marked with rolling hills all over the place. It looks so different from the rest of Florida! It's beautiful! Sparky and Eldy were really glad to see them and we got so busy talking, going out to eat, and catching up, that Sparky forgot to take photos. Rolling Ridge is a smaller resort, 154 sites, an average sized pool, it has very nice lots, pickleball courts, paver driveways, and it's owner owned. It's about 600-650 a month... 

After visiting with Nick and Ritchie for awhile, we decided to check out an "active lifestyles" residential community on our way home. It's called "Trilogy Orlando". Trilogy is a 55 and over community situated in central Florida, 35 miles west of Orlando. A gated community, Trilogy has a 57,000 square foot clubhouse with a restaurant and bar, fitness center, craft room and other amenities. The community is an active lifestyles community, which means it's not your usual sit- at home -and- play -cards -with- your -neighbors kind of place. It's a community of people who want to stay healthy through regular exercise, walking, biking, swimming, working out, dancing, etc. etc.

The restaurant and bar were beautiful, and the whole decor was very modern--silver, yellows, lots of chrome....
The clubhouse contained a wonderful fitness studio....
A GOLF SIMULATOR....which knocked Eldy's socks off.....
A demonstration COOKING KITCHEN where they have cooking classes...Before Eldy can jump in and say he would be signing Sparky up if we lived there, know that Sparky would probably sign herself up, she needs all the help she can get!

We took a tour of the fitness center...which was state of the art, rivaling Sun 'n' Fun's five million dollar fitness center, the pools--an indoor pool that flowed into the very large outdoor pool......

Here's a better shot of the outdoor pool....

In addition to the usual billiards room, poker room, a Wii room, and they had a wonderful craft room...The floor was cool...Guess the construction/design team had a paint war after they completed the room and they liked the look so much they kept it! 
(Tell them about the homes, Sparky! says E.) They come with solar panels-- STANDARD! Andersen windows--standard, Trane furnace--standard...Jenn Air appliances--standard. They seemed like a quality home and are built by a big builder in the U.S.--Shea Homes. How about a practically ZERO electric bill, even in the hottest summer months!? 

We didn't look that carefully at the homes today, but after looking the community over, we'd like to go back for a second look. It's not Sarasota, no beaches or big water, just a lot of lakes. But they certainly have a terrific choices of amenities there at Trilogy, and some amazing facilities!

We wore ourselves out today, so back home we came and relaxed and took it easy...Until next time......

6 comments:

  1. I love the hilly part of Florida, it is so different from the rest of the state. Mt Dora is really beautiful as well, you might slip over a little bit east and check it out too.

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  2. Have you been up to Bok Tower Gardens? Love that place. But watch out for friendly squirrels...they have sharp claws!

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  3. After living in Tampa for 30 years, I had never discovered the hilly part of Florida until we came back. It's very pretty, isn't it? That place looks very nice and maybe a little cheaper than the Sarasota area??

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  4. We spent a couple weeks in Clermont area and enjoyed the hilly countryside.
    Looks like full service resort for sure.

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  5. Sounds like an interesting place for a home base.

    Now, will let you in if you lay on the couch like a potato and watch soaps and eat bonn bonns all day long? LOL

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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