We are lucky that our parents all spend the winters in Florida and live only a few hours drive from each other.
As such, we picked up a rental car and headed to Alligator Alley to cross over from the Atlantic Coast to Cape Coral near the Gulf of Mexico.
We would have made it door to door in under three hours save for a short detour to Sports Authority to fix Geoff's tennis racket that had broken during an intense game of doubles tennis with a rowdy group of 70-year old New Yorkers. Anxious to have the racket fixed in time to play on Christmas Day, we headed into Fort Myers, through some more modest parts of town. The areas were so off the beaten track we were excited when we finally saw a Dunkin Donuts, which presaged some semblance of civilization.
Arriving safely at our final destination, we settled in for a great few days with Geoff's parents, Carol and Dan, and their growing pup, Jackson, who at just over one year weighs 130 pounds!
Dan and Carol have done a superb job of updating their house, very successfully undertaking many handyman projects that most of us would be nervous to do. The house was looking so much better than it did just one year ago! Having undertaken the big changes, they asked us to help with the smaller more decorative updates to help accent the space with some new furniture and decor. As such, for the next several days, we hunted for mirrors, lights, cushions, and other features to finish off the space.
In between the shopping, we found lots of time to play tennis and pickle ball, create new games for Jackson to play (much to the lanai netting's chagrin), and even go to the farmer's market.
On our final day, we headed into Fort Myers to visit the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Good friends, Edison and Ford spent time together here over the winters. Edison was eager for the remote and quiet backdrop and Ford bought a place to be closer to his mentor, Edison. The houses have been kept in stellar condition, allowing people from all over the region to see where the lived and learn more about the botanic and varied research Edison undertook. Our decision to take a tour unfortunately gave us insights more into today's football stats than Ford and Edison but thankfully we had arrived early enough to do some reading at the museum before the tour had begun.
We hope that Carol, Dan and Jackson enjoy the warm weather for the rest of the season and we cannot wait to see how their house has continued to evolve when we next visit!
Banyan tree planted by Edison - now covering more than 1 acre!
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