Fort Myers, FL - AGLCA Looper-Palooza

1/21/2017

We had a full schedule for the AGLCA Gold Looper reunion today with the first activity of the day being a tour of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. The agenda indicated that it started at 9:00. Looking it up on Google Maps we determined the estates were about .5 miles away – a 15-minute walk according to Google. Since I did not know how fast Google thought I could walk, I told Clark we needed 20 minutes to get there on time.

Unfortunately, when I told Clark what time we had to leave to get to the estate tour, he said, “We have a problem”. Unbeknownst to me, he had scheduled a USPS (US Power Squadron) boat inspection for 8:30. Knowing the size of our boat and the way Clark likes to talk, I figured that could take an hour. He emailed the inspector to reschedule, but the inspector never saw the email and showed up at our boat early at 8:20.

We told him we had 20 minutes for an inspection. He said that would do and we set to going over his checklist of requirements to pass inspection. He was very helpful and completed the inspection in record time, but when completed, Clark got talking and I finally had to pull him away to start our walk to the estates. Instead of the 20 minutes I wanted, I got 10 to get there! Walking at a rapid clip we managed to meet the tour group at 9:02.

The guide told us the combined Edison / Ford estates equated to 20 acres of grounds to explore – all outdoors. I had on a long-sleeved t-shirt in preparation for the air-conditioned event center. I hoped I would not regret that decision being outdoors in the sun all morning. I was warm, but on the bright side, it protected me from sunburn.

The Edison estate in Fort Myers is nothing like the Edison museum in Menlo Park, NJ. He mostly used the Florida estate for his botanical experiments in search of an alternate source of rubber. Many of the plants and trees on the grounds are there specifically because they were part of his research. As we strolled the grounds, we heard many interesting anecdotes.

At the entrance to the property stands a hero-sized statue of Edison under the largest Banyan tree in the continental United States. (Hero-sized means it is 25% larger than real life.) At one time it was the largest Banyan tree in the US but had to be cut back because it started to interfere with the gift shop. Thus, a Banyan tree in Hawaii is now the largest.

Thomas A Edison Statue and
Largest Banyan tree in continental U.S.

We started our tour by crossing McGregor Street to see the Edison home. As we crossed the street, we learned that Edison planted numerous palm trees down that street causing Fort Myers to become known as the “City of Palms”. Edison paid for the trees and planted them but made the city agree that they would maintain them.

Palm Trees lining McGregor Street  making
Fort Myers the "City of Palms"

Edison only had 6 months of formal education. His teacher thought he was addled and disruptive in class as he asked too many questions. Later, it was determined that he had only 10% hearing in one ear and no hearing in the other. Insulted, his mother took him out of school and home-schooled him. Edison holds 1093 patents and the record for obtaining at least one patent a year for more consecutive years than any other inventor in history.

He may have been a genius, but according to the guide, Edison’s personal hygiene and habits left a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, he married twice and had six children. His second wife managed the children and the estate and allowed Edison the time he needed to work on his projects. Typically, he worked 16 to 20 hours a day on his research.  His wife had a small office built for Edison on the same side of McGregor Street as their home presumably to keep him nearby.

Edison Small Office

Moonlight Garden behind Small Office

Since our group consisted of boaters, the guide thought we would appreciate a “fish story”. When Edison’s son was 14, Edison entertained a group of guests by taking them fishing. He told his son he could not join them, and his son was annoyed. Edison proudly returned from his fishing trip with a large-sized fish. While he was showing off his catch, his son appeared dragging behind him a 110-pound tarpon that he had caught while his father was out fishing. Edison’s son said, “That was the only time I ever beat my father at anything!”

Son's mounted 110-pound fish

Edison's mounted fish

Edison met Henry Ford at a conference in New York City. Both were excited to meet the other. Ford wanted to meet the great inventor; Edison wanted to meet the young car inventor. They became friends, and Edison took on the role of Ford's mentor. Ford bought the estate next to Edison. When Ford came outdoors in the morning, he would often find Edison sitting on his porch waiting for him to start the day.

Ford Cars on Display

Henry Ford Statue 

Since the estates are on the Caloosahatchee River, Ford bought himself a boat. Unfortunately, the boat was too large to come down the river to his estate, so he had to keep it elsewhere! A model of his boat sits on the mantle in their home on the estate.

Model of Ford's boat

Ford must have had an issue with space planning. We heard on the tour that he built a car and then had to tear down the wall of his lab to get the car out to test drive it! The guide joked that it was the invention of the garage door.

After viewing the Edison and Ford homes, we crossed the street and saw Edison's lab where he worked with Ford and Firestone to find an alternate, natural source of rubber. Historians recreated their lab as it looked when they worked in it. Apparently Goldenrod plants were the closest he came to an easily-produced source of latex, but the idea never materialized into a product.

Edison, Ford, Firestone Lab

Edison, Ford, Firestone Lab

Ford Motto: "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."
Edison Motto: "I have not failed. I've found 10,000 ways that don't work."
Ford: 161 U.S. Patents
Edison: 1093 U.S. Patents

Coming from northern Pennsylvania and nearby Corning, New York, I was excited to see Corning Glass recognized in the museum as the provider of the glass for Edison's light bulbs. On the 75th anniversary of Edison's invention of the light bulb, huge bulbs were made to commemorate the event.

75,000 watt commemorative light bulb

The formal tour of the grounds lasted an hour and a half. We were told we could roam the grounds at will, but we had a bit of a walk to get back to the event center for the rest of the day's presentations, so we left just after 11:00. 

The afternoon included lunch and three presentations - RVing after Looping, Traveling to Cuba, and Selling Your Looper Boat. We have no plans to buy an RV or travel to Cuba and was surprised to find all three talks much more interesting than I anticipated. After the presentations, we had a final looper dinner. We met some interesting couples during the course of the day - a few I wish I had met while doing the loop so we could have spent more time getting to know them!

Today was a nice respite, but tomorrow I fear it is back to the grind of working on the boat.