Dateline Dayton – Getting back to our recent Florida travels:
On Tuesday we headed down to Fort Meyers to visit the Thomas Edison and the Henry Ford summer homes, museum and laboratory. This was an outstanding day because of the weather, the beautiful homes and other amenities. The interior and exterior of the Ford and Edison homes – which only were used two weeks a year – and were lovely, were the grounds and the outstanding view.
Edison had a laboratory across the street where he conducted experiments while visiting his summer home. A museum has been added, displaying his inventions, improvements to inventions and experiments he conducted in Florida.
One suggestion: Avoid having lunch at the site. A hot dog is $8, a sandwich is $10. The eating area is nice and breezy. At the gift shop, snacks and sodas are available, reasonably. That was our choice, to hold us over, until we could get something more substantial at an affordable cost.
On our way back to Venice, we found a pleasant restaurant. We dined outside, the food was fine. Or maybe it tasted good because we were hungry. Anyway it took care of lunch and supper, so we just opted for ice cream later in the evening.
A visit to Fort Meyers should be a must on your visit to Florida. We have been to this area on prior visits and didn’t realize the beautiful, historical homes were there.
Wednesday was a laid back day. We took Ray’s car in to be repaired and then took the gals to the Island (downtown Venice) for some shopping. We met up with them for lunch. Ray and I visited King’s Treasures, a flea market. I found mugs for five cents and was going through the basket when the owner said the secret words: “I’ll make you a deal –You can have them all, including the basket, for a $1.”
I was soon on my way to the car with the basket full of mugs.
That evening Gale and Nan joined us for supper. The six of us went to a small tavern in a strip mall, where we had a delicious meal, which we finished off with s’mores. We had reservations, and you needed them because the place was hopping. We went back to the house for long, heated card games.
Thursday morning we met Gale and Nan for Bbreakfast at Peaches. After breakfast, it was on to Siesta Key for our beach day. Siesta Beach’s sparkling white sand felt so good, an ideal day for enjoying the beach. We reached our limit in the sun after a few hours, and moved on to the Old Salty Dog for one of their famous hot dogs.
After our late lunch, we returned to Venice for a musical program at the beach pavilion. Gale and Nan were there, so we sat with them. The couple providing the entertainment played for an hour and half without stopping. When they took a break at 7:30, we were tired enough to go home. We did stop again, though, for ice cream since we weren’t having supper.
Next – The trip home with a stop in Tampa.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net
