Another month, another visit to 55+ communty at the lake.  Life is good.  This time Mary Ann and I visited the Del Webb community at Lake Oconee Georgia that was started about two years ago.  We did the vacation getaway for two nights staying in one of their villas. I think the price was about $190 including tax for the two night stay.
We arrived Sunday at about 3pm which is their check in time.  Sandy greeted us with big smile and good conversation at the sales center.   We met George our sales counselor and set an appointment for 10:30 the next day to meet with him and get the tour.  We followed Sandy over to check us in the villa model where we stayed.   It was clean and looking good.  The villas seem bigger once you actually stay in one. We jumped in the golf cart in the garage and headed to the lake front.  There was several boats at the community docks including 5 or 6 pontoon boats.  It seems everyone has one. We walked up to the covered pavilion which was large, including a fireplace, many sets of tables and chairs, an outdoor grill and a nice view of the lake and docks. On the way back, we saw the 80 sots for boat and RV storage with an automated gate and some of the walking trails.
Next we took the golf cart up to the clubhouse, oops I mean the Amenities Center.  Bob met us at the door (expecting us?) and gave us a tour of everything. Tom lives at the community and works part time, moving from Michigan via Canton GA.  The indoor pool was lovely, outdoor pool and spa also, giant ballroom with kitchen, game room, exercise room, pool room, craft room, etc.  But where was all the people?  It seems Sunday night is a slow time at the amenities center which is expected.

We head back to the villa and then head out to one of the restaurants mention by George, the Big Catch.  Mary Ann had a fish sandwich and I enjoyed a fish reuben sandwich, which were good.   Sleep well.

Next morning we made coffee and had cereal and toast.  The villa has all appliances, micro and toaster.  We meet up with George and after chatting got the overview.  This community will have 850 properties and about 130+ have already sold.  The sign in the lobby says 11 sales in the last 40 days.  We let George know Bob already gave us a tour of the Amenities Center the day before.  Most of the people who bought homes come from all over.  I was surprised to see so many states represented by yellow pins in the map of the US where people are from.  Must have been 25+ states or more, mostly in the Eastern half of the US (and some from overseas).

Next we toured the models. George got us started with the first one to show us what was included and what was an upgrade.  It starts with the smallest and then every model gets bigger.  Must have been 7 model homes we toured.  At first we thought we needed a basement, but after touring the models, we changed our minds.  You can get a loft and upstairs bath if you need more space, and at a lot better price.  George offered to show us a home with the loaf and Mary Ann said she would like to see it.  George really was very helpful and not pushy at all.   I think Mary Ann was ready to sign up for the Vernon Hill with the Loft.  I agreed that was our favorite.  Another feature we really liked for the sunroom and why not add a screened porch to boot?   Yes, that would do it.

We spend about 2.5 to 3 hours and before leaving George presented us with a card for $50 credit at Filet’s, the fancy steak house at the corner of Linger Longer Road, and two tickets to the movie theater.  We had our evening planned.

So we drove hwy 44 up to the town of Greensboro which I don’t think we have ever visited.  It has interesting little downtown of antique stores, sidewalks and restaurants.  We asked a local for a place to go for lunch and she pointed across the street to Yesterdays.  Since we were going out for steak later, we both got vegetables.  We loved this place.  Southern style food, fried okra, squash casserole, fried green tomatoes, collard greens, etc. Of coarse they had meats and fish also.  All at a very reasonable price. Out tab was $10 for both our meals.

Back to the villa to take a nap.  Then to the Amenities Center where a group was out playing Pickleball.  You play with paddles kind of like ping pong but on a court smaller than a tennis court.  There were maybe 15 people at this outing.  Inside I check my email one of their computers.  That night we did visit Filet Steak and Seafood at Lake Oconee Village. Mary Ann got the encrusted salmon and I got the filet. This is a top notch restaurant and we both enjoyed our meals.  Thank you George.

Overall I was very impressed with Del Webb at Lake Oconee.  No they did not pay me anything. They didn’t even know I have a web site and are not a paid advertiser.  We just try to visit with the eyes of someone looking at 55+ community to live in and at age 62 and retired, that just comes naturally.
More retirement homes at Lake Oconee Georgia.

Reynolds Signature Communities and Linger Longer Homes, the same people who developed the hugely successful Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee GA, are the developers of Achasta, a mountain retirement community in Dahlonega.   My wife spotted the ad for the 2009 Southern Living Idea home that is in Achasta, and we took a ride up from Atlanta to give it a tour. The price is only $5 per person and well worth it.  Besides the Idea House, there are three vacant model homes you can tour as well to see how informal mountain living can be.

The Southern Living Idea House was beautiful as you might expect.  Designed by Stephen Fuller.  It was full furnished and decorated.  We liked the openness of the home.  The master bedroom is on the main level on this house and all the models we visited.  The master bedroom, called the retreat, is open to the outside tower deck. Call tower because fo the 15ft high ceilings. The other bedrooms are on the lower terrace (basement) level.  Both level were very open to the decks outside which were covered, plenty of stone, an outdoor fireplace,  and nice views of the mountains and natural wooded areas.   The kitchen was really unique in that the whole wall was a retractable sliding door that open to the outside deck.   It seemed your kitchen was outdoors.  I guess you could have a sliding screen door.  The family room open up also to the outside deck with a nice seating arrangement around the outdoor fireplace.  Same on the lower level with access to the lower terrace.  That openess to the outside was the main unique feature of the home it seems to me.  It was nice and a feel good experience.  There was also an inviting living room.  The house flowed well from room to room. The lower level had two bedrooms, an family room, bath and another room.   All with high ceiling and nice carpet. There was an upstairs as well with a family type room and again opening up to the outside deck with great views to the mountains.

The Idea House didn’t seem too large but offered many spaces so as not to be crowded.  The two other model homes we visited were very nice as well.  I asked the attended the asking price of one of the model and she replied $975,000 with the accessories.  There were some middle aged couples but most were around my age early sixties.  There was a large clubhouse and excellent golf coarse in the community.   Achasta is in Dahlonega.  From Atlanta take GA 400 north to Dahlonega, turn left on Hwy 60 and go about 4.5 miles and you will see Acasta on the right. For the Southern Living Idea House the  HOURS:  Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.  No reservations needed.

This new community is between Dallas GA and Kennesaw. New Model Homes Now Open & Ready to Tour! Residences now have special pricing, $ 10,000 off standing inventory & ownership includes 2 years club membership dues & 1 year HOA fees.

It is worth a visit to check out if you are looking for 55 Plus communities in the Atlanta area.
Check out at their web site.

When living in a large city or metro area, I think it makes sense to stay close to the area you already live in, when looking for a retirement home.  You get used to the amenities in a metro area that would be hard to find in a mountain, lakeside or other resort areas.   A 55+ community in a smaller town on the edge of a metro area is what most folks come to realize is the perfect solution.

A luxury 55+ community in the Atlanta Georgia area that sounds perfect is The Enclave at Pinetree Country Club. It is close enough where you can still lunch or visit with your long time friends and relatives in the metro area, yet enjoy the country club and on site amenities that 55+ like to enjoy.  It is located in Kennesaw GA up near I-75 and I-575, so it is part of the metro Atlanta area, but maybe not in the hustle and bustle your current home is.

New model homes are now open and ready to tour. Contact Robyn at the link above.

The Enclave at Pinetree County Club on SmallTownRetirement.com

I received a copy of The 50 Best Small Southern Towns by Gerald Sweitzer and Kathy Fields that has just come out.  Living in Georgia, I was very interested in seeing what towns the authors chose. Almost as interesting, was a section in the back of their book titled “Additional Small Southern Towns of Interest” where they listed 4 runner up towns from each state.  In Georgia these included Cartersville, Sandersville and Thomasville.  I have been hearing good things about these very towns, so this immediately validated my interest in this book.

The authors visited each town listed in the book (more than 150 towns!) and spoke with many regular lay people as well as professionals in each community.  These really are small towns in that their scope was towns with a population of at least a thousand but no more than 25 thousand. They list many other criteria in their book, too many to list here.

After their evaluations, they list 5 or 6 best small towns in each states (and the 4 runners up towns as mentioned above).  In Georgia, for example, they list Carrollton, Covington, Dahlonega, Perry, St. Marys and St. Simmons Island.  Being in the Atlanta area, I like Dahlonega and St. Simons Island best from this list from first glance, but maybe I should visit the other towns listed.  I do like Sandersville and Carterville from the runner up list they provided.

I found this book interesting, especially since at age 60 we plan on visiting as many places as we can to see what is out there beyond the rat race we just left behind.  We plan on visiting in our own state first then maybe working in some towns in neighboring states as a combination vacation and research trip.

Thanks to Gerald Sweitzer and Kathy Fields for providing such timely information for me and my wife Mary Ann.

PS: I will try to find out if Kathy Fields is still teaching the Simple Living classes in the Atlanta area that was mentioned in the bio of this book.

Sandy Springs was once a small town north of Atlanta GA.  As the area grew, Sandy Springs became part of the Atlanta metro area but managed to stay unique with it’s own identity and the long term residents stayed.  Now Sandy Springs has become it’s own city and is under going rejuvenation. Then new city managers are doing a lot of positive things. It is almost like the old song Doraville, a little bit of country in the city.

Many of the long time residents are now empty nesters and entering retirement age. They are stepping down from their large homes but want to stay local, as they like living in Sandy Springs.  We visited one new community, City Walk Heights in Sandy Springs,  recently and the manager tells us many of the new owners are locals stepping down from their large homes but still want a quality home in Sandy Springs. We we quite impressed with the location, next to the new City Heights shopping area off Hammond Drive. The community has town homes and condos.  We looked at a town home with an elevator. The condo we viewed was one level. All had high 10 foot ceiling, hardwood floors, open kitchens and we very sound proof.

If you haven’t been to Del Webb at Lake Oconee lately, we have a lot of news to share with you. As the nation’s only Del Webb community with direct lake access, Del Webb at Lake Oconee’s amenities are underway, homeowners have moved in and the lifestyle is in full swing!Amenity Update

Construction began last month on the Club at Lake Oconee, the $9 million amenity complex. Scheduled to open this December, the Club at Lake Oconee includes a 21,000 square foot amenity center with an indoor pool, fitness center, ballroom, billiards room, arts-and-crafts room, tennis pavilion with six clay tennis courts, bocce ball, croquet court, pickle-ball courts, grandchildren’s park and a resort-style outdoor pool.Also, development is in full swing on the Lakeside Pavilion which is expected to be open in time for boating season this May! From the community docks, to grills and an outdoor fireplace, it will be here for your year-round use. The Lakeside Pavilion will also offer unique opportunities for onsite boat and RV storage.Lifestyle Update

The first homeowners have moved in and have already started enjoying the Del Webb lifestyle! JT, Del Webb at Lake Oconee’s full-time Lifestyle Director, has put together some amazing activities and has worked with the residents to start over 10 active clubs. Some of the most popular include the walking club, travel club and ladies club. Don’t miss out on any of the exciting activities and new friendships at Del Webb at Lake Oconee. It’s the perfect time to check out all that has happened since grand opening last summer.Call 706-454-5430 today and schedule an appointment to all see the progress for yourself!