From cruises to social events, Charlee O’Reilly enjoys having a good time with friends. The Village of Belvedere resident said participating in various activities in The Villages has led to her to forming close friend groups whom she has traveled with since 2018.
“What makes The Villages such a beautiful place is you see people of every nationality from different walks of life,” O’Reilly said. “We easily mix and mingle with one and other. We form relationships that grow to where we love each other.
“I went to the gym and I saw a friend that I hadn’t seen in a while,” she said. “When she saw me, she just put her arms around me and gave me a big hug because she was so excited to see me. We don’t do anything together except exercise when we do Zumba. But it doesn’t matter if you’re doing mah-jongg, Zumba or playing golf, you can make friends. In The Villages, you make friends or get close with your neighbors and look forward to seeing them. It really is wonderful.”
After moving to Florida from New Jersey in 2006 to help take care of her mom, who lived in Ocala, it didn’t take long before O’Reilly and her husband, Paul, moved to The Villages.
Almost immediately after moving to The Villages the couple became involved members of clubs, including The African American Club of The Villages.
“Our friends said, ‘This is a piece of paradise,’” she said. “They were right. Not only are there all kinds of activities and things to do in The Villages, but you can also enjoy the community in the surrounding areas and enjoy a lot of the clubs. I love genealogy, so I’m a part of the local Genealogical Society. My husband and I also belong to the The Villages BMW Z Club.”
Along with enjoying spending time with friends and family while in The Villages, Charlee ‘enjoys to travel and listen to jazz.
The couple recently returned from The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2026 and have plans to attend the Clearwater Jazz Holiday in October.
“With jazz, I think it takes you to a place that is spiritual and moves your soul,” she said. “It’s comforting, quiet and relaxing. We went on The Smooth Jazz Cruise for Paul’s 80th birthday and our friends went with us. Glenna and Jerry Brown came and were celebrating their 46th anniversary. John and Nadine Moreland attend the cruise annually, but this year their son surprised them and came with us.”
It was the third time Charlee and her husband has attended the seven-day cruise that features star musicians. She first surprised her husband with a trip on The Smooth Jazz Cruise for his 70th birthday in 2016.
“My husband doesn’t like to do a big party, but he’s very personable and enjoys people, so I surprised him with a cruise,” Charlee said. “You had all these professional artists from all over the world who play music to entertain or give workshops and seminars. There were artists like George Benson, Boney James, Richard Elliott, Marcus Miller, Norman Brown, and the highlighter was Kenny G. You wake up in the morning and after having breakfast, the first thing you do is go to a session with the artist. Then, at lunchtime, they have poolside entertainment by the professional artist. Then when you have dinner, there are nighttime concerts.
“It’s a wonderful experience where not only do you get to meet other jazz enthusiasts, but you get to meet the artist and have a conversation with them as well,” she said. “There were times they had personal conversations with you or they are telling you the history of smooth jazz. When we came back in 2016, we were telling people how much fun we had and what a fantastic time it was. They said to let them know when we were going again.”
Two years later, 50 Villagers signed up to go on the cruise.
Brenda Boyd, of the Village of Virginia Trace, volunteered to organize the 2018 trip that required two buses to get passengers to the dock.
In 2020, more than 100 people signed up for the cruise, but the trip was canceled when ports closed in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“My husband and I were educators. I taught history and English,” Boyd said. “One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do was visit places I’ve taught about. Throughout our marriage, we’ve traveled all over the world. When I retired, I thought about becoming a travel agent. I didn’t want to work full time, but I enjoy organizing groups to travel with us. For me, it’s really a lot of fun.
“In 2011 we started The Best Ever Senior Travelers,” Boyd said. “It started out as a group of 12, but we’ve gone as high as getting 100 travelers. We started out with just weekend trips to places like Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, Orlando, and then it grew. We decided, ‘Let’s do some international travel.’”
Since their first international trip to Greece, the group has traveled all over the world.
“We’ve since been to Venice, Athens, Haifa, Nazareth, Jerusalem, South Africa, Cuba and Bermuda,” Boyd said. “We also did a river boat cruise that went from Normandy Beach down to Paris, France. We’ve done a trip to China and all the U.S. National Parks. We’ve gone so many places and just have had a blast.”
Although Boyd doesn’t travel as much now, she agreed with Charlee — the memories from the trips will always be cherished.
“One of the enjoyments of these trips is being with people who you know and like,” Boyd said. “All of us got along and everyone pitched in to help as it was needed. We were there to help each other with the luggage and things like that.”
“Just by being together for a short period of time you get to know people even better,” she said. “Because you get a chance to sit down and actually talk to find out things you didn’t know before. We found we could bond and build relationships even more.”
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
