More of the Keys

A family vault at the Key West Cemetery. On the right side of the door, Charlie took a close up photo of the second plaque down. See two photos down.



These are three more photos of the cemetery we visited in Key West. The object on the top of this second photo is a toy airplane! These photos are taken by Charlie with his cell phone. He now has an cell phone adapter that he can use to load his phone photos to the computer!



We had a laugh over this one!



Charlie and I left Key West on January 9 after a fun, four night stay. Our marina was in a wonderful location; right on the harbor walk. Wonderful but pricey. (We somehow justified the uniqueness of the location when we reserved our slip!)

The weather looked like it might bring in gusty winds later in the week so after the four day stay, we left around 8 a.m. and traveled on the outside in Hawk Channel for 30 miles before reaching our night’s anchorage in Newfound Harbor at Big Pine Key around 2 PM.

Vessels can follow either of two routes while in the Keys. They can go on the Gulf side (north side, also known as the inside route) of the Keys via the Intracoastal Waterway. There are more anchorages on this side but it is primarily recommended for vessels not requiring more than 4 ½ feet of water. Or, vessels can go on the Atlantic side (south or known as the outside route) via the Hawk Channel. We choose Hawk Channel because of the deeper water as our boat draws 4 feet. Also, it was the best way to enter our final destination in the Key of Key Largo’s Marina Del Mar which is where we are now and will remain until February 12.


Leaving Key West we traveled about three miles off shore in the Hawk Channel for three days on our way to Key Largo. We got a decent look at the shorelines along the way, noting the different ports, villages, clusters of homes and businesses and all the bridges that connect the islands. It was a unique view from our perspective.

From Miami to Key West, there are 42 bridges that link all the Keys scattered along the 126-mile, historic U.S 1 highway including the 7-mile bridge that links Vaca Key with Little Duck Key,about in the middle of the string of keys.


Having such a wide open stretch of water ahead of us and to our starboard, the waves built as the days progressed and Charlie said it was like traveling in the Great Lakes again with the wide open water. The weather forecast predicted winds out of the north northeast at 10-15 knots for the first day and what we got were east winds building to 15 knots instantly it seemed. We managed fine, feeling challenged and exhilarated at the same time.
We read about the long and expansive coral reefs that run four miles off shore along most of Hawk Channel which does break up the big water some.

From reading literature about this area, I learned that these coral reefs are America’s only living reefs and are a part of one of the world’s most elaborate ecosystems in the world. These reefs, and the waters surrounding them, are also one of the most highly regulated natural areas in the world.

Strict protection is necessary since life focuses on the water here; many people look to the water in the Keys for their livelihood. Combine scientific research and the huge tourism industry on an international scale, and you get the need for formal codes of preservation.

The National Marine Sanctuary for the Keys was formed in 1990 and began offering a complex and elaborate protection system surrounding all of the Florida Keys. The sanctuary has strict guidelines that preserve and protect specific zones and covers the 2,900 square nautical miles of waters from Miami to the Dry Tortugas on the far west. Specific types of zones define every natural area in the Keys. One type of zone, quoted from the National Marine Sanctuary pamphlet, is the Ecological Reserve Zone, “which is designed to encompass large, contiguous diverse habitats for preservation and genetic protection of all natural plant and animal species.” There are also areas named Special Use Areas for scientific research. We passed by such an area of water marked by four yellow balls about four feet in diameter each placed in a corner making about a ¼ mile square. There happened to be boats with divers there.

There are Wild Life Zones, used to designate highly sensitive areas and the Sanctuary Preservation Area zones to focus on among many things, the coral reefs. We saw many different looking markers in the waters and on our charts indicating these different zones.

According to one of my tourist pamphlets, the Keys are home to some of the world’s sought after game fish from sailfish to dolphin to tarpon and marlin. Commercial boats bring in the most prized shrimp: the Key West pinks as well as grouper, mahi-mahi and snapper. Since arriving in the Keys, we have eaten the Key West shrimp, grouper, Yellow tail snapper, clams, and stone crab.

We can see the appeal for travelers to come to the Keys from all over the world.

There is the unique geography and marine life, the seafood industry, the diving and snorkeling opportunities, the complete line up of water sports, the sport fishing, the subtropical weather, beautiful scenery, and the laid back feeling of the people.

To add to the uniqueness of the area for me, while in Key West I was interested in reading posters advertising Key West Community College. The college specializes in diving technologies, environmental science, and marine science. A perfect place to study those things, I thought!


Back to our first day away from Key West.





The day was extra breezy but filled with bright sunshine. Going into our anchorage known as Newfound Harbor, it was fun for me to photograph an exclusive resort on Little Munson Island where the rich and famous supposedly go. It is called Little Palm Resort and is very expensive (Lodging $500-700/night, dinner $150 per person) and very private. The boat you see in the photo was letting people off as we passed it. It is a transport boat taking people out to the island from Key West. We recognized the boat as we passed it because it was tied up behind us at our marina in Key West! It was a 50 ft. Trumphy with lots of exterior teak. Just beautiful. (We like to think that someone rich and famous was right behind us to add to the ambiance)

Our anchorage for that night had been recommended as the best protected anchorage between Key West and Marathon by several sources. To our dismay, there was not as much depth, 4 ft., as the charts indicated, 9 ft. It was going to be iffy staying here. But after enough wind and seas for the day, we found a spot with enough water even though it did not offer a lot of protection from the prevailing winds. The bay was bigger and more open than we were told and the winds made it a choppy night with waves pounding on our hull into the wee hours of daylight.

I could not sleep so I stayed up for most of the night, plugging the computer into our portable battery inverter and blogged away. Luckily, the Captain Charlie got a good night’s sleep. He has a talent for doing that.

Usually when we anchor, the boat faces the direction of the wind, changing our view as the wind changes. This time, the tides were having their way and our boat faced in the direction of the tides coming and going despite the 15-20 mph winds. But our anchor held steady on the sandy bottom and we were relieved to see we had not moved the next morning. (We used the crab pots that were close by as our markers!)

It is always pertinent to study the tide charts on our computer software as we travel these days. However, it is a science to know about the different tides in regards to many other things like the full moons, etc. Tides are the greatest during full moons and the least during the “dark of the moon”. Most of the time there are two high tides and two low tides each day. In some geographical areas there may only be one of each. Tides on the Gulf side of Florida are typically 1-3 feet; on the east side 2-4 feet. They may get as high as 8 feet in some parts of Georgia.





The photo above is a view of our chart plotter with software showing a typical readout on a selected page about the tidal changes at our anchorage. The blue lines depict actual time, sunrise, sunset, daylight and dusk. The red line indicates the tides raising and lowering. We study these tidal changes on our software chips specific to the place we are traveling through.

The next morning we got back in Hawk Channel for the second windy day. Again the winds were coming out of the east.

Thirty five miles later, we cruised into Marathon which is the biggest city on Vaca Key. It was January 10. One mile out, we called our same boater friends Gene and Kathy whom we saw in Key West. They are wintering in Marathon with Gene’s brother Pedro and his wife Ore. Gene's and Pedro's mother Eloina or "Mema," as she is affectionally called by all who know her, lives with them as well. She is a beautiful lady from Cuba with a beautiful personality as well.





Gene and Kathy guided us into a channel where we were given a place to stay on the fish receiving dock of Ore’s Seafood (Wholesale and Retail Fish House for the keys)

Gene and Kathy greeted us as we approached. They were cleaning the dock for us!

We were honored to receive a free and friendly place to tie up there for a few days. Gene’s family even set out some plants on the dock to make us feel extra welcome.

This wholesale business is owned and operated by Gene’s brother, Pedro and sister-in-law, Ore, who have been in both the restaurant and fish and seafood business in Florida for a combined 28 years. They serve more restaurants and stores than any other seafood supply house in all of the Keys. We had a fine tour of their operation and got a good look at the inside of the wholesale fish business. If you are ever in Marathon, we suggest you look this place up.

Currently, they are excited about their new and expanding retail store. Kathy is helping design this store and with some of the marketing for the business and Gene is doing all kinds of maintenance jobs to help.

We saw the pride on the faces of our friends and the staff of Ore Seafood of Marathon as we learned of their fine reputation of first quality products, and their pride in the hard work they have done to achieve the highest of standards in their industry. The high consumer demand in the Keys for all kinds of fish and seafood takes their staff of 19 to working six days a week all day to receive local fish and seafood, as well as have the fish and seafood sent in from all over the world. We were told that no less than 6-7 local fishermen come to their dock every day, each bringing on the average of 600 lbs. The business handles 30,000 to 50,000 lbs of product each month! All the fish are caught by line and hook. Netting is illegal in this area.

Gene and Kathy made us welcome in many ways by taking us to many places in Marathon. One was Sombrero Beach. See the largest photo at the top taken in late afternoon of Gene and Charlie walking on the beach. We are hoping come back here to see our boater friends from C-Life, Bella Luna and Wanderin’ L & M when they come and stay at the marina here for a one month stay here Feb 1.

We went past an exclusive area called Key Colony West. We saw a couple of lots for sale for our future dream home right on the ocean. The only problem was the asking price of $1,700.00 just for the lot.

This photo is of nearby Tranquility Bay condos. They were still out of our price range! It was fun to stroll through the grounds and see all the beauty here. We could get used to this.

San Pablo Catholic Church

Another interesting place we went was Boot Key Harbor where the city runs a massive mooring ball harbor for boaters passing through or for liveaboards. It is sought out and many times has a waiting list. There are more than 280 mooring balls there where you can pay a nominal fee ($10-20/night) and tie to ball or you can anchor. The price you pay lets you tie up at their dinghy dock to use their facilities and once a week a pump out boat comes to your boat (recently required).

Pedro and Ore and their family have a rich Cuban history, and their staff made us feel like we were very welcome for the entire visit. We were treated to lunch at the International House of Pancakes on our second day.

The Seven Mile Bridge, in the Florida Keys, runs over a channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait, connecting Knights’s Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

We took this photo standing at the east end of of the original Seven Mile bridge in Marathon. (on the right) The vast majority of this original bridge still exists, used as fishing piers and for pedestrians and bikers. The bridge on the left (kind of hard to see) is the present road bridge which was constructed from 1979 to 1982.

The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909-1912 under direction of Henry Flagler of the Florida East Coast Railway’s Extension, and was used as a railroad bridge. This bridge was badly damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and subsequently refurbished by the United States Government as an automobile bridge. Hurricane Donna in 1960 caused further damage.


The night of our second tour day with Gene and Kathy, Charlie and I were invited to join Gene's family again for dinner at a beautiful resort restaurant. Among many types of delicious seafood ordered for us, (all from Ore seafood of Marathon!) we had conch fritters which I love, and most of us even ordered desserts!

When we said good-by the next day to leave for Key Largo, we were also given a gift of fresh fish to take with us (grouper, Yellow tail snapper, Key West Pink shrimp and a delicious seafood dip).

We will never forget the family's generosity and kindness to us.

I almost forgot about the shrimp scampi. Just before going to dinner, Gene and Kathy drove Charlie and I out to see the family home on Grassy Key where we met Mema and had an appetizer made by Pedro.

Earlier in their seafood careers, Pedro and Ore owned and operated restaurants in Florida and Pedro was the chef there. He told me he loves cooking for people. I preceeded to take notes and observe him as he made all of us the most divine shrimp scampi (after my probing questions on how to make it earlier in our visit!) you could ever imagine with the Key West Pink shrimp from their store.

My goal is to make a good shrimp scampi now but I know I will never have the Pedro touch.

At the end of the evening, Mema talked to her pet parrot for us and the parrot gave her kisses!

And from Ore, we learned many fish tips like when buying fresh fish, it will taste better and last longer if the head is left on until you are ready to cook it!

Earlier that same day, we also met up for a beer with some of our boater friends, Mark and Raquel from our Duncan Bay Boat Club in Cheboygan, Michigan. They have the sailboat ‘Marquel.” They were staying at the Boot Key Harbor Mooring Field waiting for a good day to cross over to the Bahamas!

We left on January 12 for our next destination: Key Largo. But the generosity and kindness we were shown by our friends and the folks at our fish dock home in Marathon, still lingers in our thoughts.

Gene's brother and wife, Pedro and Ore, owners of Ore Seafood of Marathon


One can see beautiful scenery, learn and grow in many ways, partake in many fun things, but in the end, it is the opportunity to be with people that remains closest to the heart.

Sincerely,
Linda and Charlie

Welcome to Key West

Sunset at Key West

First glimpse of land! It is Key west!

Before we write about Key West, we want our readers to know that currently, we are in Key Largo.

Freedom’s Turn arrived in Key Largo on January 12, four days earlier than anticipated.
Due to threats of some pretty heavy winds building to 25-35 knots by the 15th Charlie and I decided to get to Key Largo sooner than later; promising ourselves to rent a car at a later date and go back to see more of the Keys that we still wanted to see. You just don’t guess with the weather while boating on the Atlantic Ocean.

And so it is that Freedom’s Turn and her crew are currently tucked into her assigned slip # 8 at a very nice Marina Del Mar until February 12. We realize this is a unique time in our lives to relax in this beautiful place for a whole month.

A synopsis of our trip in the Keys so far:

Arrive at Key West Bight City Marina on January 5
Arrive for anchorage at Big Pine Key in Newfound Harbor on January 9
Arrive at Vaca Key to stay at a private dock in the city of Marathon on January 10
Arrive at Key Largo on January 12


Arriving at Key West January 5

We traveled 75 miles from our Little Shark anchorage off the mainland of southwestern Florida to cross the open waters of the Gulf to Key West. The weather was perfect for a cruise. And the water became cleaner looking, the sand on shore whiter, the water color a beautiful shade of turquoise. It was a thrill for us to see land, (see photo above) knowing our adventure in the Keys was about to begin. (Like a Gilligan’s Island kind of feeling.)







We chose the Key West Bight City Marina and as we entered the Historic Seaport Harbor, we laid our eyes on an exotic and resort looking shoreline.

We felt this was a cornerstone of our entire trip. It was like we were in a novel, not in our real life.

We were seeing first hand the beginning of one the world’s most premier spots; for charter fishing, diving, snorkeling, all the water sports imaginable, and sunset cruises.
We were about to experience a very laid back atmosphere; you don’t want t o be in a hurry or make anyone hurry at any time!









There were boats everywhere, coming and going; mostly bigger and unique than we had seen at any one place.













On our first night, we walked a couple of miles into the heart of downtown Key West to observe the ambiance. The shops and restaurants were all open to the outside air and there were no bugs to see or feel anywhere. The air was fresh and breezy and smelled like the sea.




The festive holiday spirit was still evident everywhere we looked. Here is the Curry Bed and Breakfast.



The next day Charlie and I got on our bikes and went to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. I tried to find my way by land! Charlie swam but I said the sand hurt my feet!





Below, this is not your ordinary beach view!

That night, we had fun at the Lazy Gecko Bar and enjoyed 2 for 1 draft beer and great pizza. We celebrated the fact we had made it to Key West!

Among the evening’s highlights were watching a good MSU victory over Kansas and calling our longtime friends Dave and Marcia. They were just walking into the Breslin basketball field house on MSU’s campus for the beginning of the game when we called them. (We four have had seats together for many years and have had wonderful times there! ) It sounded like Charlie rubbed it in good when he told Dave about our weather at the present and Dave said he was just walking into Breslin, freezing his “blank” off. Dave recently emailed us complaining that he never gets mentioned by name in the blog so Dave, I hope you are now satisfied. In fact, I'll write that this paragraph is really all about Dave. He likes it when things are all about him. :)

We got our picture taken at the bar with our waiter to document the night.

Jimmy Buffett came to Key West in the 70’s and stayed for awhile, helping to create the laid back and according to some, ‘wild and crazy’ image coming out of Key west. His original “Margarita Ville” Restaurant on Duval Street in downtown is still operational. We had another place picked out for dinner so did not eat here. They say this place has really good cheeseburgers. Imagine that.

Visitors get their fill of looking at colorful sights; even fences with painted decorations.

We separated on the third day and each of us did our own thing. Besides some sightseeing, Charlie chose the West Marine store, a hardware store and two ice cream stores (!) I chose shopping for our gifts for our girls, then getting something for son-law Jody’s birthday present, and then I went to the Key West Historical and Art Museum. (of course I did not take pictures of the gifts!)

And my last stop was the home Ernest Hemmingway lived in with his wife Pauline.

Ernest Hemmingway came to Key West in 1928 and stayed for 10 years. The remoteness and freedom of Key West to write attracted him, but it was the fishing that was his passion here, according to my guide.

Below is the Hemmingway Master bedroom. The cat is real! It lives on the grounds.

Here is the living room. The colors are indeed lovely.

Side view of the Hemmingway home.

I spotted several cats with their fancy cat houses on the grounds; supposedly descendants of Hemmingway’s six-toed cat.

Everywhere you go, you will see rooster and chicken decorations and motifs. That is because these fowl are like the unofficial icon for Key West. For hundreds of years they have been roaming freely; protected by the government, pedestrians and vehicles. Years ago there was a movement by some locals to get rid of as many birds as possible so they hired ‘chicken catchers’, until these catchers walked away from their jobs, saying this was not a chicken problem but a people problem! Hearing the roosters crowing was a frequent sound! They are seen everywhere, even at the post office.

We greatly enjoyed visiting with our friends Gene and Kathy who came to visit us for a day from their winter base of Marathon. They are staying with Gene’s brother and his wife and Gene’s mother. We know Gene and Kathy from our home marina at Duncan Bay in Cheboygan, Michigan.

Our friends Jim and Lisa from the boat Kismet are staying in the Key West area on Stock Island for a month and they came for a visit where we four walked through the cemetery. This is Jim with Charlie. Notice the plots for families with above ground vaults.

On our last night here, we joined the crowd gathered along the harborwalk to participate in a ritual here: the “celebration of the sunset” at Mallory Square. Not too far from here is a place along the beach known as the southernmost point in the continental United States!

The food was great, the weather perfect, the people friendly and very laid back. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. No wonder Key West is known as one of the most ultimate destinations in the world.

After our stay, we concluded that Jimmy Buffett song “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude” captured the essence here in Key West!

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Southwest Florida

Hello, hello! Freedom’s Turn just left Key West today, January 9, after a delightful four day stay. The next blog will describe that visit. We proceeded in heading east for an anchorage in a bay inside Big Pine Key. Since we left Fort Meyers, we traveled 200 miles south to Key West in four days. On the enlarged photo of Florida, the end of red line shows about where we are at this writing. We also want to point out the gray line running through the state of Florida. This line indicates an alternative route that people take on the Great Circle route if they want to by-pass the Keys. It is the Okeechobee Waterway. The Okeechobee Waterway is about 150 miles long and is the dividing line between Central and South Florida, from the Gulf side to the Atlantic Ocean. The main river that runs through it is the Calossahatchee River which begins at Fort Myers. The waterway is named for the very large lake located along the route; the Lake Okeechobee. Opening in 1937, this alternative waterway route offers a chance to see rural Florida from small towns to big commercial farms. Many of our fellow “loopers” take this much shorter route due to time constraints or just preference.

The beautiful sunset photo was taken on January 4 while we anchored at Little Shark River in the Everglades. It was the day before we went to Key West; a 75 mile trip south and west. It was kind of eerie going in to anchor; the clouds threatened rain but the sun shone on some dead trees and the trees looked white, as seen in the photo below. And Charlie claims he saw his first shark (with two fins instead of one like the dolphins). We went in to the anchorage and discovered another Mainship trawler like ours only a 430 was in there! (We see Mainships boats about once a month.) The sailboat came in just before I took the photo. I couldn’t resist taking this shot. This Little Shark anchorage is the main gateway into the Everglade National Park; which has 10,000 islands!

It was too bad we could not sit outside at night because the stars were magnificent. At least there have not been any spiders on our boat (due to the salt water) like there are in Michigan!

On January 3 (backtracking now), we traveled to Marco island for one night at Marco River Marina. It was expensive, but felt good to be in a nice place. The Ship’s Store had unusually attractive resort type clothing and I bought my first new outfit on the trip.

One of the drawing points to live in Marco is one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Florida is here; Tiger Tail Beach. There were also pretty homes to be seen all around!

And the condos were everywhere. Now, more than ever, it was evident to us that
the driving force that sustains the Florida economy must be the condo industry: demands for highway building, construction, product distribution, food production, seafood industry, tourism, etc., would have to come from the unbelievable amount of condos we see from the shoreline here.

The main reason we wanted to stop at Marco Island was to meet with our friends Jim and Marie who moved here for the time being from the Pittsburg area. We caught up with family talk and other things over dinner; we had not seen them for five years. Jim used to work with Charlie for Perkin-Elmer.

Below is a photo of what our upper helm looks like while we are cruising; me usually writing with books and pamphlets everywhere, Charlie navigating with his charts in neat and perfect piles.

At this anchorage, we had our first experience with the teeny tiny bugs called “no-see-ums.” Charlie had his cigar earlier than later because the bugs were staring to bite as the daylight hours left.

We closed everything up but needed air to sleep so we sprayed our portholes with bug spray. We cooked a simple dinner on our one burner Coleman stove so we would not make any extra noise with the generator running. It was so calm and peaceful; just the noises of nature. We felt really isolated from the world here because we could not receive any phone signal or get out on the internet! Oh my! By the way, to follow the weather while cruising, we frequently get out our regular road maps out as we listen to the marine radio forecasts because they talk about weather by counties frequently and otherwise we would not have a clue what county we are in!

The last photo is our early morning view of the sunrise at our Little Shark Anchorage.

The beautiful as well as eccentric Key West is beckoning us to come on over for a little visit. And so we did. Key West here we come.

Sincerely, Linda and Charlie

The Edison and Ford Winter Estates

1. Replica of Thomas Edison's first light bulb

2. Mrs. Edison's trellis porch

3. A breezeway at the Edison home

4. The largest rubber tree on the grounds

5. Linda sitting by the Banyon Tree


6. From the right: the Edison Home then a guest house. Past the guest house was the Ford home which was being renovated and not open.

7.a Three uncommon but good friends


7.b From the left: Henry Ford, Harry Firestone, Thomas Edison

8. The Botanical Research Lab





Front row from left: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harry Firestone.
In the background are associates

Today is Monday, January 5 and Freedom’s Turn just landed in Key West this afternoon, coming from an anchorage called Little Shark River in the Everglades National Park in deep southwestern Florida the night before! We have now traveled nearly 3,000 miles and find ourselves at the southern most part of the United States. Getting to the Florida Keys safely is definitely a milestone for those of us on the Great Loop!

We took one day to go from St. Pete Beach to Venice and stayed a the city's free dock, then one day to Fort Myers Yacht Basin City Marina for a two night stay, still on the Intracoastal Waterway, and then one night to Fort Myers Beach mooring field. Then we went to Marco Island for a night at the Marco River Marina, next to to Little Shark River anchorage and today to Key West all on the outside of the Gulf in open waters. We would have like to visit Naples and Everglade City but kept moving to take advantage of the good weather days. We had a beautiful, calm day with following seas crossing over to Key West today. Now we will spend four days of sightseeing and relaxation at the Key west Bight City Marina in the historic ‘Old Town’ of Key West.

Before we write about this past week, we’d like to go back once more to Fort Myers.

Edison and Ford Winter Estates

New Years Day at Fort Myers offered to be a good day for Charlie and me to get up and take a morning walk one mile south from our downtown marina onto McGregor Blvd. to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. The walk felt great and it was fun to see the colorful buildings and vegetation of Fort Myers while walking on land! Charlie and I had previously been in this city back in the mid 80’s when we took our girls to visit my mother and father who used to vacation here every winter. We knew a little bit of the lay of the land from that visit. We had not visited the Edison and Ford Winter Estate and heard and read that it was a ‘must see.’ The weather was perfect as we set out for the walk and we felt relaxed.

Royal Palm trees lined both sides of the street during our walk. Fort Myers is also known as the “City of the Palms.” We learned during our tour of the estate that Thomas Edison had these palm trees brought from Cuba to plant along McGregor Blvd. leading to his home. There were 1.5 miles worth of trees planted originally. Today these palms stretch out for seven miles down the street!

HISTORY
In 1885 the frontier town of Fort Myers became incorporated. The city was named for a fort established during the Seminole Indian War of 1841. It became the winter home of Thomas Alva Edison in 1885 and remained so for almost 50 years until his death. His plan was to enjoy the subtropical climate in the winter here as well as keep up with his research. The bamboo growing in Fort Myers enticed Edison to purchase property because bamboo fiber was a material that he researched as a filament for the light bulb.

Thomas Edison arrived in Fort Myers by boat from St Augustine, Florida and purchased 20 acres of land on the edge of town, overlooking the Caloosahatchee River. He still kept his home and main laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Edison designed the layout for the grounds and buildings and hired an architect in 1886-87. In the beginning, two buildings and a laboratory were built on his land. One building was to be his residence with a guest wing and would be named Seminole Lodge; the other a house was for his caretaker. He had just invented the electric light bulb at his research lab at Menlo Park, thus both the buildings and the lab were electrified. 1* (In 1928, this laboratory was moved to Dearborn, Michigan where it is remains open to the public.)

When Edison returned in the winter of 1886 he had a new bride, Mina Miler Edison. They traveled by rail from New Jersey as far as Punta Gorda, Florida then by boat to Fort Myers. The Edison’s raised a family and through the years, the family enjoyed leisurely stays there until 1947 when Mina deeded the Seminole Lodge to the city of Ft. Myer for $1. Edison died in 1931.

In 1907 a fountain was built, 1910 a pool was built, and in 1928 Mina created a moonlight garden and a trellis porch. 2* Her garden is still in the original spot and we saw her lily pond with iris, water lilies, and papyrus. She also created a friendship stone walkway were she asked guests to send her a stone to commemorate their visits.

GARDENS
Charlie and I toured the grounds and buildings and greatly enjoyed our visit. We were fortunate to be there when the grounds were still decorated for the holidays. We saw beautiful tropical gardens with mangrove trees, an array of different looking palms, rubber trees, brilliantly colored flowers we had never seen before and exotic looking orchids. And there were potted plants everywhere as well. 3* The Edison home was designed to have many windows, wrap around porches and doorways to the outside; to open the rooms to nature as much as possible.

I took a photo of Charlie standing by a huge rubber tree on the grounds. 4* The most significant tree on the property is the historically documented gift from friend Harry Firestone in 1925. Mr. Firestone gave Edison a 4 foot Banyon tree from India which is now over an acre in diameter; making it the largest Banyon tree in the U.S. 5*

HENRY FORD
As a young man, Henry Ford worked in an Edison Power Company in Detroit, Michigan. He and Edison met and became friends and Henry and his wife were invited to Fort Myers for a visit.

In 1906 Edison sold the property adjacent to his home (including the guest wing which had been remodeled into a separate house) to a friend of his but in 1916, this property and building was up for sale again. Henry Ford bought it and it provided him the opportunity to vacation with Thomas Edison. 6* The good friends and their families enjoyed camping, fishing, boating, and square dancing.

BOTANICAL RESEARCH LAB
Along our walk to the estate, we took a photo of three statues in a park. There were three men, relaxing in what appeared to be a campground setting. The statues were of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harry Firestone. 7a and 7b*

At the time of the Edison’s Banyon Tree gift from Harry Firestone, Edison, Firestone and Henry Ford had been working on research in the pursuit of a domestic source of natural rubber. The Banyon tree, they discovered, ‘Ficus benghalenis’, produces a white milky sap (latex) that can be used for rubber. During World War I, Edison, Firestone and Ford became aware that the supply of rubber in the U.S. was in short supply. They formed the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in 1928 so that Edison could find a source of natural rubber from a plant that could grow in the U.S. They found that a common weed, goldenrod, had a 5% yield of latex. Edison developed a strain that grew to a height of 12 feet and produced a yield of 12 %. Charlie in particular enjoyed seeing the lab and talking to our tour guide here, a retired chemist who use to work in latex research with Dupont. The lab and it’s contents have not been moved since the death of Edison. 8*
(This information about the estates in this blog is taken from the pamphlets given out on the tour)

Finally, we thoroughly enjoyed the museum next to the research lab. There were seven galleries that related to the lives and associations of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. We saw exhibits of Edison inventions including the phonograph and light bulb as well as Ford automobiles and many photographs of the men at different times in their lives. 9*

I learned that Henry Ford and Thomas Edison shared many things in common. One thing that stands out to me is their great curiosity and inquisitive minds as to how things work, even from an early age. Another is their great desire to create things to enhance the quality of life for people. And last, for me, is the notion that in their later years, the men were still active in their professional lives, forming the Botanical Research Lab for extensive study; continuing on to help their fellow man.

They were always curious, always learning and exploring.
There is a lesson here for us!

I will write the next blog to catch up as soon as possible. We have been out of phone and internet range for the past two days so we have emails as well to catch up with. After seven days on the go, we’d like a little rest and I'd like a little retail therapy! Our marina doesn’t have a pool but we were told upon checking in to our slip that if we buy a drink at the Tiki Bar next door, we can use their pool. Sounds good to me.

Charlie says hello. He sat in his captain’s chair for eight hours today traveling 75 miles in the open waters of the Gulf dodging crab pots most of the time. Soon he will check out the open air bar he just spotted called ‘The Turtle Crawl” on the water’s edge.

They let you smoke cigars there.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie