TARPON SPRINGS

Saturday, October 17 – We continued up the Gulf Coast of Florida this morning arriving in Palm Harbor (Clearwater/St Pete area). We are staying at Sherwood Forest RV Park for three days. We heard warnings about driving over the Bob Graham Skyway Bridge (I-275) crossing Tampa Bay. Everyone said it was pretty scary due mostly to it's height over the water and the low guard rails. Marsha was hoping to go around via Tampa but due to toll roads and congestion, Paul convinced here to “take the bridge.” It was nothing! We've been over many more scarier bridges than that. So, if traveling in the area.....take the bridge!

Sherwood Forest has paved streets and grassy/gravel sites. We do have a patio and 50 amp full-hookups. This is a Passport America park. The volunteers in the office are very nice. There is a very nice laundry room, pool and rec center. There are only a few pull-thrus. We were able to get one.

Site 40A.

Looking right.

Looking left.

After getting set-up in our site, we drove up to Tarpon Springs to check-out “sponge city.”

Tarpon Springs was named for the fish found in abundance in nearby waters. But it also is known as the "sponge capital of the world." After the discovery of natural sponge beds in the early 1900s, Greek sponge divers arrived in Tarpon Springs. The Greek heritage is still strong here. Everyone is speaking Greek! Greek food, pastries, beer, and wine. Pretty neat! We walked around town for a couple hours enjoying the people and doing a little shopping. Even had a delicious Greek beer and a glass of Greek wine.

The very famous Sponge Factory.

Every type, kind, size, shape of sponge anyone would want.

Tons and tons of Greek restaurants.

Newly arrived sponges.

Greek pastries on every corner.

Don’t miss Tarpon Springs. A fun community that celebrates their heritage in many ways.

Paul found a nice paved biking and walking trail running directly behind the Sherwood Forest RV Park. It is wonderful for a morning or evening walk.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

NICE HIKE AND A FEW VISITORS STOP BY

Wednesday, October 14 – We headed two miles down the road from the W.P. Franklin COE campground in Fort Myers, Florida, this morning for a hike in the Caloosahatchee Regional Park.

There are 5-loop trails available ranging from 1.2 miles to .7 miles in length. Unfortunately, a couple of the trails were flooded. We combined several trails together to get a hike of 3.3 miles. We sprayed ourselves up. We weren’t sure if we would run into those pesky mosquitoes or not.

Lots of variation on these trails.

Whoa…turn around.

Resting place OR blood donation. No thank you.

It's been in the 90's here in Florida so we finished the hike soon after 10 a.m. before it got too hot. We returned to the campground to hangout and relax. When we drove into the campground we talked to the game warden working the gate about a possible eagle Marsha thought she saw. Sure enough there is a pair of eagles living in a nearby tree. How neat it that?

Later in the afternoon we were again visited by the manatee Paul saw yesterday. It brought two friends with him for a total of three manatees. It was so wonderful that Marsha was able to see them today. If you'll recall, the first day Paul saw these beauties, Marsha was doing the laundry.

Huge tails.

They can really eat.

So it was another great day here at the COE campground.

Bella on the look out. The End.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

EDISON AND FORD WINTER ESTATE…A MUST VISIT

Friday, October 15 – We did something a little unusual today, we split up on our sightseeing. Marsha loves museums, and Paul is only lukewarm on most of them. Marsha wanted to see the Edison & Ford Winter Estate in Fort Meyers, Florida, today. Paul having recently toured the Ford Museum in Michigan felt it would be too similar and chose instead to run some errands while Marsha enjoyed herself. He dropped her off at the Museum and returned after his errands and read his Kindle until she was done.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estate includes many galleries interpreting the lives and inventions of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. The museum is self-guided and for an extra small fee you can obtain an audio guide that gives an audio description of what you are seeing. This place is nothing like the Ford Museum in Michigan.

Mr. Edison standing among the Banyan trees.

On the tour, Marsha experienced exhibits on Edison inventions, Ford automobiles and viewed special exhibits reflecting history, science and the arts.

Can anyone guess who invented all of these?

Henry Ford’s patent for the carburetor in 1898. This is his first of 161 U. S. patents that he received.

What an amazing invention to help Edison hear the music.

Ever hear of the electric pen? Another Edison’s inventions.

How about the water phonograph?

Marsha said there are so many awesome exhibits that everyone should be sure to visit this terrific museum!

The Banyan tree exhibits were of special interest. Edison, Ford and Firestone were working to find a natural source of rubber that could be grown in the United States. The Banyan tree was one of over 17,000 plant samples tested for Edison's rubber research. This tree, Ficus benghalenis, was successfully planted and can be found throughout the Edison and Ford estates.

These trees are amazing.

Mysore Fig or Brown Woolly Fig….related to the banyan. This
species has dramatic above ground roots. Awesome.

The grounds were amazing. Marsha really enjoyed the audio guide. The gardens contain more than 1,700 plants representing more than 400 species from six continents.

Angel Trumpet.

Galangal Ginger used in Indonesian and Thai dishes.

The first thing Edison did was build a pier so that contents for the homes and laboratory could be delivered. There use to be a small pergola at the end of the pier where Edison would fish, and his wife could be shaded from the sun. 

The original main house design included a kitchen and dining room in the north wing.  In 1906 the Edisons had this part of the house remodeled to serve as family bedroom suites.  Visitors used the dining room and kitchen in the newly renovated Guest House.  The Main House includes Library, Study and Edison's Den.

The next photo is Edison’s library. The books in the library are Edison’s original books. Also, all the lights are original and all Edison’s design.

Edison's living room.

Marsha really liked the way they used to hang pictures.

Henry Ford purchased his home in 1916, providing him the opportunity to vacation with Thomas Edison. The Ford porch, adjacent to the vintage garage, offers a spectacular riverfront view of the Caloosahatchee River. The Ford Catetaker's Cottage was used as a garage and caretaker's home for the Ford family.

Beautiful huge porches.

Maid's room.

Even the secretary had a bedroom.

Beautiful dinning room.

Living room.

Waterfront view.

Marsha said there is so much to see and experience. She highly recommends everyone to visit the Edison & Ford Winter Estate. Even Paul said he just might have enjoyed this tour.

After the tour, we headed a short distance across Fort Meyers to visit two close friends that recently moved here from Houston, Texas. Sandra and Leo were full-timers we spent many fun times with at the Houston Elks Lodge campground. They were the unofficial campground hosts at the Lodge and always made us feel at home. We miss this couple while staying at the Houston Elks. It just isn't the same without them there.

We have moved on to Palm Harbor just outside St. Petersburg. We have one more post to do about our visit to the Fort Myers area before we share our St. Petersburg adventures.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!