In our last report, we had just finished our cruise and were headed across the state to Ft. Myers for some more tourism. While on the way over, we stopped at the smallest post office in the US in Ochopee and had lunch at Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe, a real unique dining experience. Joanie's specialty is the World Famous Swamp Combo which consists of gator nuggets with Indian fry bread and salsa and save room for homemade key lime pie. I passed up the swamp combo and had a shrimp hoagie with a piece of the pie. This place kind of reminded me of Bucknuckles only with a swamp area setting. Actually, like Bucknuckles, a lot of bikers stop by and are welcomed with big hugs!
On our first day in Ft. Meyers we toured the winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Apparently Edison and Ford were big buddies and spent considerable time together and actually built winter retreats right next to each other on the same piece of property. We toured the property with a guide and spent some time in the museum there dedicated to both men. The plant life on the estates was fabulous. There was even a Banyan tree there that Edison planted as a sapling that now covers an entire acre! In the evening we took a murder mystery train ride. We rode in a restored train car coach where we were served a three course meal. While this was going on, there were actors performing a murder play in the aisle of the car. The challenge was to figure out who the murderer was by using the clues given by the actors and you could win a prize if you guessed correctly. If my wife had listened to me, we would have won and would be driving a new Gold Wing now!
Believe it or not, while in our motel, we met a group of Harley riders from Mason City! They had a four place enclosed trailer and were riding around the area while they participated in an event that the Ft. Myers Harley dealer was sponsoring. He was trying to set a Guinness World Record for the number of Harleys in a parade. They were shooting for about 3,000 but only ended up with about 800 because of the weather. Apparently it was pouring rain that day. This guy must give our pretty good deals on bikes, because I know a WNR that bought a Beemer from him. More on that later!
Next time-- a report on the Everglades and a visit to the Zahn estate. Stay tuned.
Here's some photos of the venture after the cruise and in to Ft. Myers. Just ignore the sunshine and the people in shorts and t- shirts!
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| SMALLEST POST OFFICE IN US GEORGE FLANAGAN IS NOT THE POSTMASTER! |
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| JOANIE'S--IF YOU WANT IT FAST--KEEP TRAVELING |
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| EDISON--AMONG THE ROOTS OF THE BANYAN TREE HE'S A LOT BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT |
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| THE BANYAN TREE--YES, IT'S JUST ONE TREE! |
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| A HISTORY MAKER |
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| HOW THE PICK-UP GOT IT'S NAME |
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| EDISON'S WINTER RETREAT |
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| A SMALL PORTION OF EDISON'S LAB |
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| MRS. EDISON WITH A WNR MRS. EDISON IS A LOT BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT ALSO! |
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| THE ACTORS ON THE MYSTERY TRAIN |
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