Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take the kids somewhere that I haven't been to in years, probably since late elementary school (and I'm not saying how long ago that was).
Jeremy had to work in Ft. Myers for the day, so the kids and I decided to explore the Winter Estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Although their permanent residence was elsewhere, they built beautiful homes and gardens in the heart of Ft. Myers over 100 years ago. Edison had laboratories and workshops for his inventions and beautiful gardens filled with exotic flowers and plants. Edison, Ford and Firestone were trying to find a plant that could produce a good rubber so we could stop outsourcing it to other countries. So, they brought in a variety of plants and did lots of research and tests. They finally discovered that they got their best rubber from the golden rod plant.
The Winter Estates welcomes you with giant banyan and ficus trees.
I'm not sure if the kids have ever seen a tree like this before.
They enjoyed running from plant to plant, looking at the sign and hearing what the name was.
We bought an audio tour which meant we got to carry around these cool devices. When we found a numbered sign, we would type that number in and listen to a bit of history. The kids thought it was pretty cool.
Nicole discovered that Henry Ford loved music and liked to dance. They enjoyed wandering around the property, looking at unusual plants, and taking pictures with statues of the Edisons.
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| I know that I shouldn't be shocked to see a palm tree growing from a coconut, but I was. How cool is this?!? |
Did you know that Thomas Edison didn't just invent the light bulb? He invented lots and lots of things. He held a zillion patents (well, not quite that many...but a lot). He invented the phonograph and was the first person to record a human voice. He spent his childhood selling newspapers on a train and learning to operate a telegraph. He was a hard worker, who saw a problem and tried to fix it. He is quite interesting to learn about.
So, there was a lot to look at in the museum.
We got to hear a real phonograph that was 110 years old! Amazing!
We learned the reason behind the saying "put a sock in it" (they used to put a sock in the opening of the telegraphs to help mute or quiet the sound).
The labs offered a replica glimpse of the tools and inventions Edison had. I thought I remembered a light bulb that has never gone out there. One that Edison himself made (but I never saw it on this trip).
Oh, I also found out that it was Edison's idea to line McGregor Blvd. with Royal Palm trees. It's a beautiful drive, and all these years, I had no idea that it was because of him. Ft. Myers is often called "The City of Palms", another mark that Thomas Edison made in the SW Florida area.
To finish up our trip, we enjoyed a fun lunch on Sunday at Ford's Garage, a new hamburger joint in the Ft. Myers area. Much to my dad's dismay (he's a chevy guy), we are partial to Fords. We really enjoyed the details of the decor at the restaurant, and it went well with our recent visit.
Everything from a hanging Model T Ford,
Fry baskets to hold our french fries and imprint of Ford's Garage on our burger buns,
To sinks in the shape of tires and gas pumps to replace water faucets and door handles.
They even offer a burger the size of a model T's wheel and buns the size of seat cushion. It is only $125 and feeds 15-18 people I believe, hahaha (we passed on that for now).
I was a bit shocked to hear this because I wasn't in the best of moods on the day we visited the estates, but as we left Nicole said, "This was really fun mommy. I liked it a lot". So, two thumbs up from us! (I hear it's amazing to go at Christmas time!)
