I don’t know why I should defend The Villages, other than they’re not here to defend themselves. I don’t live there. I wouldn’t care to. But they are 130,000 vs. my town of roughly 30,000 ten miles down the road. So it stands to reason that there are fewer dining options where I live and more in The Villages.

It is far from homogenous. Pretty much any viewpoint you can imagine is represented there. Would some people be surprised that we dined one night with the Rainbow Club of The Villages? Or that there is more than one political party active in the community? Or that it is not at all age restricted? It has schools at all levels from elementary to high school. That people from all 50 states, and I don’t know how many countries are represented in the population?

Are people having fun there? You bet. Many are retired and when you don’t have to work, you find something else to do. That may be volunteering at charities, woodworking, golf, fishing, quilting, dancing every night at one of the squares. The drink prices are low and the pour is most generous. So, yeah, some people get drunk every night. Who knows what they do when they get home, if they do.

The STD thing is an urban myth. Florida collects health data by county. The Villages stretches over three counties. None of them leads the state in sexually transmitted diseases. The counties that host the three largest state universities have those bragging rights.

The fundamental problem outsiders have with The Villages is they want seniors to act like Grandma and Grandpa. These people are mostly healthy and mostly active and mostly wealthy. You should hope for all that when you reach their age. And you probably won’t give a sh*t about what other people think either.

My issue is with the development company. While the original developer was alive, promises were made and kept. Yes, he made a lot of money developing a community and skimmed his cut off the top of all activities therein. His heirs have demonstrated nothing but greed and like to wield their power to acquire more power and wealth at the expense of community satisfaction. They have added homes much more quickly than they’ve added amenities. They’ve broken Dad’s promise to keep the community north of the Turnpike. They’ve closed the exclusive Villages club and closed country clubs, pools and golf courses and tried to put apartments in their place, increasing population density without the infrastructure to support it. They’ve elected their people in part through their control of the media - they own the newspaper and radio station. Their people have changed Florida law to benefit the developers, making state taxpayers foot the bill for roads and bridges and schools to support The Villages community. The governor and legislature have been complicit in this. One county rebelled and voted out the developers puppets. That has not been forgotten. Phew. I need to take a breath.

Dinner: Omaha Steaks burger on a brioche roll. Cole slaw and ranch beans on the side.