Fort Myers, FL–Edison was a genius, no doubt about it. But he was more than that–he was a practical genius, and that makes for great business sense. At the Edison-Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, FL you can see that practical genius at work in a multitude of ways.
The estates just completed a multi-million dollar refurbishment that has everything all spiffed up and looking as beautiful–if not more so–than when Edison and Ford were in residence.
Check out the laboratory where Edison cat napped his way into many inventions. He rarely slept more than a few hours at a time, and had his own “dog house” with a separate stairway above the master bedroom so he wouldn’t disturb his wife, Mina, when he crept in late. Talk about genius! The river-front home features electic lighting, of course, and cool on-off switches that were another Edison invention. Be sure to check out the Electolier above the dining room table.
Ford bought the adjoining property because Edison was his mentor and he became his friend. Ford only spent two weeks a year at the estate, during Edison’s birthday.
At the entrance is the largest banyan tree in the U.S., about 400 feet in diameter with many roots, trunks, and shoots. It was just a little over 5 ft. tall when it was given to Edison in 1925 by Harvey Firestone. Edison was studying all kinds of plants for his inventions, from bamboo for the light filament to latex. I’m in awe of it, as I’ve watched a banyan tree I potted from a small cutting a few years ago grow to 7 ft. in my living room. Perhaps it’s time to repot.
Definitely the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, with gardens, laboratory, historic homes, and museum deserves its Phoenix Award from the Society of American Travel Writers for preservation and conservation. Even if I did help nominate it. 
