Fay's Florida Villa

01/27/2018

A great event to visit if you are staying in the villa.

Safety first! Lord Stanley's Cup is wearing a tiny life vest onboard the Jose Gasparilla pirate ship! Photo courtesy of on Twitter.
See what else is happening at Gasparilla here: http://live.tampabay.com/Event/Gasparilla_Pirate_Invasion_and_Parade_of_Pirates_2018?nocache=1

12/31/2017

Tampa Bay Times

More great things to do as a break from the theme parks. Tampa is an hour away from the villa by car or allow another thirty minutes to get to the Skyway or Clearwater.

There is plenty to do over on the Gulf Coast so why not make a day of it?

Looking for things to do and things to see around Tampa Bay as your holiday vacation winds down?

12/23/2017

Tampa Bay Times

Rural Florida is within minutes of the villa and there are many opportunities to see the real state outside of the theme parks.

Sometimes you forget how breathtakingly beautiful Florida can be.

11/23/2017

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

10/15/2017

Discover Crystal River Florida

More things to do in Florida when you need a break from the theme parks.

how to Do florida does the Homosassa River waterfront and Monkey Island🙈🙉🙊🐵 Homosassa Riverside Resort

10/10/2017

Thanks to Hurricane Irma stealing one or two of my shingles and bending a few more my owners have given me a complete new set. Don't I look smart!

09/29/2017

Doug Spears - Florida's Native Troubadour

News from Florida's native troubadour.

After the Hurricane and On the Road in Florida

Hey Guys,Well, I was in West Virginia on my way to play a couple of shows there and in northern Pennsylvania when Irma took aim on the Sunshine State. So, I cancelled the shows, threw some gas cans and a chain saw in the truck and high tailed it home. What a weird storm! In general, the wind speeds were not off the charts, but the sheer size and timing of the storm, as well as the unusual path, resulted in a lot of tornado activity within the hurricane itself and far more flooding on the east coast than was experienced with hurricanes that more directly struck us. However, we made it through relatively unscathed and now I'm getting back to business.

Since I was back in Florida early, Bob Patterson invited me to join him, David Watt Besley and Katherine Archer for Songwriter's Night at The Corner Bar (Gypsy Cab Company) in St. Augustine on Monday, September 18th. They do this monthly and you should get it on your calendar. Really a terrific night swapping songs with these great writers!

I was able to keep one of my dates over on the west coast of Florida after the big blow - I had a wonderful evening in the Hope Street Patio house concert series with gracious host, Carrie Page. Carrie's backyard patio setting is one of those truly unique and welcoming places that is a joy to experience. Grant Peeples will be there next month (October 9th I think), so check out his web page or Hope Street Patio's page for more info.

Now, I'm going to be haunting the southern part of the state for the next couple of months. Next Friday, October 6, I'll be in Ft. Lauderdale as the featured performer at Broward Folk Clubs monthly gathering at Gigi's Music Café. I hear great things about Gigi's. Not only is it a premier music venue, but the food is reputed to be absolutely wonderful. I hope any of you in the area will come join us. Click on the show in the calendar below for all of the details.Then also check out my November schedule. On Friday, November 3, Ron and Bari Litschauer will join me for my show in the Under the Moonlight concert series at John D. MacArthur park in West Palm Beach. This is another one of those unique atmosphere experiences and I'm really looking forward to it. The following night Ron will join me again for a return to one of my long running favorites, Luna Star Café in North Miami. Alexis has recently celebrated 20 years providing this eclectic, retro, original music experience to the south Florida community and its a privilege to be invited to take her stage again. Then I cross the state to Ft. Meyers and Alice Schaefer's Music4UandMe house concert series. This will be my third appearance with Alice and her wonderful southwest Florida crowd who weathered the hurricane much better than was originally projected. Hope you'll contact Alice for reservations and directions.

That's all the news that's fit to print for now. I'm happy to be out of Orlando and living in Flagler! See you somewhere soon!

All the Best,

Doug

09/12/2017

As always Florida is quickly bouncing back from nasty weather.

We are pleased to announce that The Mall at UTC will open at 10:00am, with usual business hours tomorrow, Tuesday September 12th.

09/11/2017

Clermont Police Department (FL)

A word from our local Police Chief. Thanks to all of the emergency and clean up services for their work on our behalf.

Good Afternoon, this is Chief Charles Broadway once again from the Clermont Police Department. I would first like to thank all of the Clermont Police Department staff, Clermont Fire Department and EMS, City of Clermont Services and city work crews who worked tirelessly during the night and continue to do so this morning to ensure the safety of the citizens of Clermont. I again remind everyone that there is a curfew in place for your safety until 2:00 pm. This is in place for safety reasons as first responders are assessing the roadways for damage. However, if you require any police services we encourage you to call us as we have returned close to normal operations. In addition, I would also like to remind you to please contact the police department for any suspicious incidents or activities. Thank you for being patient during this time as we all work together to help our city recover from Hurricane Irma. City work crews, power companies and emergency personnel are working diligently to help this process in an efficient and effective manner. I am not only proud of our city employees but also the strength and commitment demonstrated by the members of our great community!

09/08/2017

Fingers crossed for

09/03/2017

It's Labor Day weekend!

08/22/2017

BuzzFeed Books

This is totally us! We almost always head straight to the nearest Barnes and Noble from the care hire lot whenever we visit the US.

Me at Barnes and Noble every time

08/02/2017

Discover Crystal River Florida

We talk about Crystal River often here and these fly over shots perhaps show why. The theme parks are great, but there is a lot of nature to enjoy in the state too

Incredible fly-over shots of Crystal River Archaeological State Park and everything you need to know!

07/18/2017

Orlando Sentinel

Only at the planning stage, but we know a few of our regulars would love this if it comes to be.

The owners are now seeking a noise variance for the attraction, which is planned for the southwest corner of U.S. 192 and State Road 429.

07/04/2017

Wishing all of our friends and guests a happy 4th of July.

06/27/2017

We are pretty well booked up for July now and have a number of regular guests booked in through to next Easter, but we do have slots available for the second half of this year. Are you looking for a central Florida base for a break?

05/29/2017

More local things to do for our guests. There is much more to central than the theme parks.

Summer is here, and so are tons of activities and events !!

Don't miss out on all the fun things to do this month in Clermont !

02/05/2017

One of our favourite places to eat. From the villa turn right on to 27, head up past the junction with 50 and make a right by the Citrus Tower. Should take around 15-20 minutes driving.

Seafood Mix Grill

02/05/2017

Discover Crystal River Florida

A Florida top ten things to see and do. Many are within easy reach of the villa.

Newsday: Thanks for recognizing us as one of Florida's top 10 can't miss destinations in today's edition!

01/27/2017

Tampa Bay Times

If you are staying at the villa you'll pass a Texas Roadhouse on your way to and from the Orlando attractions. Try it out to add an American dining experience to your vacation.

"There's nothing special about them, it's just a good, honest, American steakhouse," one restaurant analyst says of Texas Roadhouse. "They aim and shoot right down Middle America. It's about meat and potatoes and ice cold beer. Now will they attract the health-conscious, city-living millennials? Probably not, but the 30-somethings with a mini van and two kids? Absolutely."

01/27/2017

Spectrum Bay News 9

Tampa is around an hour drive from from the villa and there is a lot to do there any time of year, but Gasparilla is a very special festival and well worth seeing.

GASPARILLA 2017: Hundreds of thousands of people will be in attendance so there are plenty of things to keep in mind if you plan on attending.

01/21/2017

If you are staying with us why not try and catch a Rays game? You could be at the ball park in a couple of hours and see what the game is all about.

Happy Gasparilla! 📿

01/19/2017

Discover Crystal River Florida

The central Florida theme parks have their draw when you are here for your vacation, but the area has much more to offer. Crystal River is well worth adding to your vacation schedule as described here.

Hello America!
Great article on Florida's Citrus County from Family Vacations US.
Thanks Allison!

12/25/2016

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad; however you say it have a lovely time.

12/07/2016

Remembering Pearl Harbour, those we lost and those that survived.

11/24/2016

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our US friends.

10/20/2016

Tampa Bay Business Journal

We love and prefer to fly in snd out of Tampa when we visit Florida. We're looking forward to seeing all of the changes next time we come over.

The concessions keep on coming at Tampa International Airport.

10/07/2016

Thanks to our city people for all that they have done and we too are grateful that Matthew has passed by without causing us too many problems. Our thoughts are with those less fortunate.

The city emergency management team demobilized as noon. We finished our assessment, and no major damage is reported. We will continue to monitor the storm and encourage people to stay off the roads if possible due to the weather. *** WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL because this storm could have caused lots of damage and threaten life had it come on shore as originally predicted. *** WE ARE THANKFUL *** for the public safety servants and hospital workers who continued to watch out for us throughout the storm. We also are thankful to Lost Lake Elementary School for providing shelter for some of our residents. *** WE SAY A BIG THANK YOU *** to the media who helped get important information out to the public. *** WE ARE VERY PROUD *** of our residents who paid attention to warnings, were kind to each other and helped us get through the incident safely. One of my favorite anecdotes was a man who was filling his car and then filled up the car of the stranger behind him. That's what we mean, when we talk about Clermont being the Choice of Champions.

09/29/2016

Aventura Mall is on our must visit list whenever we are in

How we celebrate in Miami ☕️😎

09/28/2016

We love Coldstone Creamery

Cookie Doughn't You Want Some™:

Do I want some? The answer is always ‘Yes.’

08/31/2016

Looks like it could get wet and windy around our part of Lake County for a few hours. Stay safe everyone.

Here is a quick update for the watches in our area:
Hurricane Watch- Coastal Citrus, Coastal Hernando, Coastal Pasco
Tropical Storm Watch – Inland Citrus, Inland Hernando, Inland Pasco http://bit.ly/2bWQhIE?cid=facebook_Bay_News_9

08/21/2016

We love Cold Stone Creamery!

All great birthdays start with a fabulous plan! Show us how you would throw the ultimate birthday party by creating a Birthday Pin-Spiration board on Pinterest.

Four lucky winners will receive a $100 Cold Stone® gift card, plus a $400 Visa® gift card to buy all the supplies to make your birthday party a success! More info: http://bit.ly/2aBWgD2

08/11/2016

Orlando Sentinel

Orlando International (MCO) is the nearest airport to us so this expansion is big news for future guests.

It is just over half an hour away so it is close enough to be convenient, but far enough away that we don't have noise issues.

It is an easy airport to use and is served by the major national and international airlines, but many charter airlines from Europe use Orlando Sanford a few miles to the North East. Sanford is about a hour from the villa.

Another alternative is Tampa International which is just over an hour away. It is our favourite amongst the local airports.

Miami is around a 4 hour drive away and we often come through that way when we visit as we can spend a little time there on the way in or out.

Orlando International Airport has all but rubber-stamped the $1.8 billion south airport terminal below the current airport, but residents can be assured: it's coming.

08/10/2016

Great news for our city! Why not stay with us and watch the fun?

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! USA Canoe/Kayak, a member of the U.S Olympic Committee, announced they have picked Clermont to be the host of the 2017 USA Canoe/Kayak National Championship, Aug. 2-5, at Waterfront Park. Past cities include Oklahoma City and Seattle.More details below. We're counting on you to help us welcome these athletes, coaches and spectators! The canoe and kayak races are part of the Olympics at Rio.

08/09/2016

Discover Crystal River Florida

If you are looking for something to do away from the theme parks then Crystal River is well worth a visit.

Citrus County has many art galleries to check out when you visit like the Pepper Creek Potter in Old Homosassa! http://visitcitrus.com/play-here/arts-culture/art-galleries/

07/04/2016

Hoping that all of our American friends are having fun on independence day.

06/28/2016

Another place to eat if you're staying with us. Classic family dining chain.

Welcome, Arby's, to Clermont! Now open at 2255 US Hwy 27.

06/11/2016

One from the vault; ours is the one on the left and back in June 2002 we were the only inhabitants of once the sales office team had gone home.

06/06/2016

News 13

Important advice for driving in

Lots of rain expected over the next 24-36 hours. Remember, it's ILLEGAL to drive with your emergency (hazard) lights on in the rain in .

Also, put your headlights ON. Be safe.

06/06/2016

News 13

It has been a while since a big blow has passed across the state. This one is tracking north of the villa and each update moves it a little further away.
Our fingers are crossed for those who will catch the brunt of the storm and hope that they are not too badly affected.

Here are the latest updates for Tropical Storm Colin. Please share with family and friends.