What Retirees Do When They Are Bored

Sarsota, FL       High:  70      Low:    47

How can you be bored at Sun 'n' Fun? Well, you can't unless it's Sunday. Not much happening on Sundays, it's a day for church and a day of rest, especially for Sparky who biked 21 miles yesterday. The knees are much better, thank you....No yardwork to do even if it is a balmy 68 degrees at the moment. We're in an RV park, we have no grass to speak of, no chores to do, no laundry...Let's go look at condos and villas, says E.  JUST FOR FUN! he cautions....Well, sure, why not? Sparky has crafted up a storm these past few days, and was ready for a little car ride today....Photos today are from Lakewood Ranch model homes...

Checked out Lakewood Ranch today to look at model homes...JUST FOR FUN! No intentions of coming off the road for a LONG time....Just like many other areas of the country, Sarasota's real estate market is just starting to recover. Lakewood Ranch is a beautiful, "green" (= energy efficient homes, recycling a priority, conservative water practices, etc.) master planned community of about 8500 acres. There are lots of different types of residential communities within. We looked at one today called the Esplanade. It was a residential area that was an active lifestyles community--it had a state of the art fitness center, a swimming pool with a circular resistance lane, lap swimming, a very young, (to us!) full time activities director, pickleball courts, and lots of beautiful homes. It has only been open for about a year, so it's still under development, but it looked fabulous. Starting price of homes in this community were from the mid two hundred-thousand dollar range on up.

None of the communities in Lakewood Ranch are 55 and over, so it attracts all ages and family types. There are lots of condos, villas and single family homes to choose from and lots of price ranges. There are gated and non-gated communities.

The price range goes from the seventies for previously owned homes and some foreclosures to several million dollar homes, so something for everyone....Many of the homes we looked at were in the low 100,000 dollar range and were built by local builders who have been in the area for many years.

We just had a lot of fun looking today and seeing what the decor looked like in the model homes.....Sparky LOVED the "Florida" colors--teals, yellows, and bright cheery colors.....She loved the ceiling architectural details in so many of the modern homes....the drop down moldings and trim....

Sparky even loved the laundry room colors and decor in some of them....

We'll start a file of ideas and places we see along the way in our travels....Sparky kiddingly told Eldo, "I'm not going to look at any more homes for awhile, it makes me want to come off the road!" Eldo apologized for being the bad guy today for taking Sparky around and letting her see what's out there. (SHE was the one that encouraged me to take her out looking! fusses E.) Yep, she did say she wanted to look. It was fun seeing how 1400 square feet can seem like a MANSION after sharing 400 square feet of living space for almost three years! You need to know Eldo NEVER makes an impulsive decision. It will probably be YEARS before he's ready to settle down somewhere. We just are thinking that Sarasota has so much to offer, that we would seriously think about settling down here some day. Sparky wouldn't even mind missing the four seasons to live here in Sarasota.......Sigh.........

Patio garden, anyone?