The Edison Ford Estate

One of the first thing that we did when we get to Florida- after we got settled in Grandpa and Grandma's "Florida" house- was visit the Edison Ford Winter Estate.  These are beautiful homes that belonged to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford in the early 20th century.  I had read about this on-line and this item was on my shortlist and I was super happy that we went on day one.

Mommy and Marcus at the estate.

"Visitors to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers will enjoy 20 acres of historical buildings, historic gardens, the Edison Botanic Research Lab and the Edison Ford Museum. The newly restored buildings include the Edison Main House, Guest House, and Caretaker’s House and the Ford House.  The 1929 historic landscape is throughout the property including the award winning Moonlight Garden. The Edison Ford Museum has hundreds of inventions, artifacts and special exhibits.

- See more at: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/#sthash.x8u5demZ.dpuf"

We got to the estate right around 11 am and decided that Marcus would hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while Luke and I went on the tour.  I can't imagine Marcus would be too excited to see the houses and the architecture.

One really cool thing that is right at the parking lot is a MASSIVE Banyan tree.  Let me restate this: the largest Banyan Tree in continental US is located at the estate – according to a website I found it was actually the first Banyan Tree planted in the US.  You may wonder why this is here but it totally makes sense.  Edison was driven to find a source of rubber that could be grown in the US and would not force companies to require importing all of the rubber needed.  During his time at the estate he tested over 17,00 plants in order to find something that would work.  In the end he found one-  Goldenrod (who would have thunk).  

Anyway, we spent some time checking out the tree-  Banyan trees are actually "walking trees"- The banyan tree or Ficus benghalensis (Ficus, so a type of fig tree) is known for its massive spreading trunk and root system. It is also a member of thestrangler fig family. Banyan is the National tree of India and a tree in Calcutta is one of the world's largest. The crown of this Indian giant banyan tree takes ten minutes to walk around.

This is a picture of a large part of the tree and you can see the central core in the middle.

This tree covers over an acre of the estate.

Marcus checking out the tree.

After looking at the tree Luke and I went on the tour and saw the estate while Marcus hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.  If you get the chance go and visit the estate.  I have searched online are have not really been able to find any books or websites that have great pictures of the estate.  The buildings, grounds, and even the lab were amazing to look at.

Edison's Lab

Here are a few pictures from our tour.

I could live here!

One of the oldest pools in Florida.

While Luke and I were off on the tour Marcus was enjoying himself taking in a few sites himself.  He liked the trees and the "Christmas" lights and spending time with his grandparents.... but by the time the tour was done he was starving and ready to eat!

Marcus and Grandma do a bit of posing with the moon!

One last beautiful flower!

It was a fun and interesting few hours but it was time to move on to other sites and cool things to see!  I would recommend visiting the Edison Ford Winter Estates to anyone who is crazy about plants or architecture.

Here is the entire family posing with Thomas Edison in front of the giant Banyan tree.