DAY ELEVEN .. THREE TERRIFIC PLACES IN ONE DAY!!!

Thursday, February 20 ..

We were up bright and early .. lots of things to see .. lots of things to do .. could hardly wait to get going!!!  We're on our way to one of Pat & Rich's favorite places to eat .. "The Perfect Cup" in Matlacha, Florida ..

I have forgotten where we were here but the blue rail, the blue water and the blue sky make a pretty picture!!!

 

 

Hey Rich .. there's a parking spot right in front .. Heeyyyy Rich!!!!

 

Rich knew what he was doing .. he parked out back so we could see the water and the wildlife behind the restaurant!! 

Notice the Pelicans on the dock!!!

 

Now what did he say was the name of this bird?????

 



 

First you grab a mug from the Coffee Corner Bar and choose your flavor of Coffee .. I chose Butter Toffee ..  and then you sit down at a table and the waitress comes over and takes your order

 

I don't remember the name of the Omelet that Rich ordered but as you can see it was very cheesy!!! 

 

And he really enjoyed it!!!  

 

Looks like Ken is enjoying his breakfast too!!!

 



This is a very small .. very unique little restaurant .. a place I will want to revisit when we come back .. we are coming back, right Ken????   Notice the painting on the front wall!! 

There was only 1 teeny tiny bathroom .. Rich and Pat were saving my place in line while I snapped a pic .. LOL!!! 

We thought this poster was neat since we had actually toured the Kauai Coffee Company in Kauai, Hawaii!! 

They have more room than it looks like they do .. there is another room off to the side from where we were sitting .. these 2 "treasures" are in that room!!

Back to the car .. our 2 Pelicans have been joined by a few friends!!!

Looking on down the canal .. creek .. river .. whatever body of water this is!!!

More blue sky and the beautiful blue of the Gulf of Mexico!! 

A bit of a touristy area here .. my son Billy would love that camper .. it looks like it's tie-dyed!!

Rich has taken us to a look-out area .. for the life of me I can't remember the name of it .. Kenny can't either!!  But there were lots of sights to see!! 

These Pelicans sit in the water below the dock keeping an eye out to catch the fish that the firshermen throw back in because they are too small!!! 

FUNNY STORY .. as we watched the people fishing a woman who was standing at the bar fishing snagged a fish and when she reeled it in .. a Pelican hurried over with it's big mouth open and snagged it right off her line .. LOL LOL LOL!!!  Of course I didn't move fast enough to get a pic or a video .. wasn't expecting something like that .. LOL!! 

I swear they're not doing what it looks like they're doing .. they're just watching the Pelicans!!

On the road again ..



 For more info on The Shell Factory click on the link above.  It was a neat place to see .. shells .. shells .. everywhere .. any kind of shell you could possibly want .. and of course lots of other neat things to buy for souveneirs!!! 

 

They even had Fudge .. and .. Ice Cream!!! 

 

Chuckling .. I just noticed you can see me in the mirror holding the camera waaaayyy up there to get a pic of this sign!!! 

 For more information on  The Shell Factory click on this link .. The Shell Factory

 

And now we're off again ..

 

Caloosahattchee River (I think!!) .. 2:55 pm .. 87 degrees!! 

At last we reach the Edison & Ford Winter Estates ..

 

 

 

 

We're not even out of the parking lot yet and I'm taking pictures!!!  





I really liked the fact that they had signs by the various plants giving their names .. and in some cases they also had frames with interesting information and stories about them.

Thomas and Mina Edison walking on the property among the trees!!! 

 

Before going out onto the property we were asked to go to through the museum to an area where we would recieve "radios" to use to listen to information about the many plants and buildings we would see on the estate. 

 

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates boasts over 20 acres of botanical gardens, nine historic buildings including Edison’s Botanic Research Laboratory and the Edison Ford Museum which contains an impressive collection of inventions, artifacts and special exhibit galleries.

 

The present site dates from 1885, when Edison first visited Florida and purchased the property to build a vacation home. His home, completed in 1887 and dubbed "Seminole Lodge", served as a winter retreat and place of relaxation until Edison's death in 1931. Edison’s good friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property in 1916 where he purchased "The Mangoes" from Robert Smith of New York. Ford's craftsman style bungalow was built in 1911 by Smith. In 1947, Mrs. Mina Edison deeded the property to the City of Fort Myers in memory of her husband for the enjoyment of the public. It was opened for public tours in 1950. By 1988, the adjacent Henry Ford winter estate was purchased and opened for public tours in 1990. In 2003, the governance of the site was transferred from the City to a new non-profit corporation, Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc. (dba Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Inc) whose mission is to protect, preserve and interpret the site and future growth and development. The new corporation successfully completed a $10 million restoration project in 2006. A separate fundraising arm, Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation, Inc., was created to assist the restoration project with no function in governance, programming or development but rather to assist the governing board with the initial restoration.

Edison's study .. it was also called his "little office"!!!

 

 

 

Ken and Rich taking a break and a "sit-down" in a beautiful peaceful spot in Thomas and Mina Edison's back yard!!

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

Could this be a bow-legged Rich????  LOL LOL LOL!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

AH HA .. look what we have found at last ..

Another penny smashing machine!!  Where's that bag of quarters and pennies Liz??????

 

Thomas Alva Edison

His lovely wife, Mina!!  

The Botanical  Lab .. 

Can you just imagine Edison working here????

 

And now to the museum .. 

 

For more on the Edison & Ford Winter estates click on the link below and watch the very informative video ..

EDISON & FORD WINTER ESTATES

Look what we found as we were driving back to Pat & Rich's condo!!  Sure made us think of home and wonder how the rest of the "Bread Company Bunch" were doing in colllllllddddd Missouri!!! 

 

Wondering why I posted THIS picture?????  This car has a sun roof .. the guy driving it had something in a lonnnng cardboard container sticking  out the sun roof .. as we pulled up behind the car the guy was also sticking out of the sun roof .. what a sight to pull up on .. LOL LOL LOL!!  Of course he ducked back down in the car about the time I got my camera pointed and focused in so I missed it!!! 

Back to the condo for a  little sustenance and a short break on the lanai ..

And then we're off again .. to the Six Miles Cypress Slough ..

 

A very very interesting place .. a boardwalk was built through the slough so you could walk though and see the wildlife!! 

 

I was hoping for an Alligator or two but they didn't seem to be around .. maybe it wasn't dark enough or the water wasn't the right temperature!!!  Maybe it's best that they weren't around .. LOL!!

Waiting for the sunset .. what a peaceful spot to wait!!! 

These birds are actually roosted in these trees for the night!!!

Rich got a really beautiful picture of the sunset .. I'm gonna' have to do a little begging and see if he'll send it to me .. LOL!!

 

 

Last stop of the day .. Safeway!!!  Tomorrow is going to be "beach day" and we want to have a BBQ on the beach .. time to stock up!!! 

 

What a great day this was .. and our tour guides did a wonderful job .. more great memories!!! Thanks Pat .. Thanks Rich!!!