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Press Release : Article : Denver, Colorado
The Magazine
On the Road in South Central Western Florida
Filed by Bev Saidel, January 2004
One of the joys of traveling is the exploration of new places. The icing on the cake is traveling with good companions. Although I had been to Florida before, I had never been to the Lee Coast and my exploration of it was filled with all of the exotic adventure I had hoped for after suffering through a dreary November in Denver.
I was fortunate to the guest of a friend who is the owner of a timeshare at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation in Bonita Springs. Frontier Airlines flies direct – what a treat. I would rather fly direct – any time.
The morning following our arrival revealed clear blue skies and a landscape dotted with palm trees and pine trees. The sky was filled with birds of every kind –egrets, herons, turkey vultures, and gulf gulls. There was an abundance of lush tropical flora and everything was very, very green. What a great escape from the dull, often gray winter of Colorado.
The grounds at the Coconut Plantation are opulent to say the least. Every need has been considered along with every convenience. There are large swimming pools with waterfalls, several hot pools and a lazy river, complete with inner tubes that allow you to float endlessly through a grotto filled with flowers and music. There’s an area just for kids, an exercise room and a game room so that everyone’s favorite activity can be enjoyed. There’s a bar, a general store, a big TV room – in short everything that you could want – except a beach. The resort has no beach. But it does have its own private island, which just happens to be a reserve for the protection of Loggerhead sea turtles. And just like Gilligan, you can only reach this private island by boat.
Susan, one of my favorite travel companions and I headed for the nearby boat dock to set sail or rather motor to the island. The fact that the weather was unusually cold during this particular winter season did not deter us. Indeed, we donned our suits and cover ups and headed out. Our skipper and his mate ushered us aboard, promised us a “three hour tour” and set off across the estuary toward the Hyatt’s private island. As we motored past mangrove-covered islands, we noticed signs mounted on wooden piers that denoted Manatee breeding grounds. We also noticed two bottlenose dolphins who decided to play in the “Minnow’s” wake. Their apparent joy was contagious and soon we found ourselves enjoying the spray of the water and the magnificence of nature spread around us.
The private island sits with the Gulf of Mexico to the west and estuary on each of its three remaining sides. We set up our beach chairs, commented about the beach and walkways comprised of the beautiful white shells for which this area of Florida is well known, disregarded the mass of seaweed on the beach, stripped to our suits and relaxed. Who cared that is was only about 64 degrees. It was wonderful. Susan and I watched as people came and went, overheard their comments about the seaweed or the coolness of the temperature. Clearly they didn’t understand that this was a little slice of heaven. We were the first to enter the water (it was a bit of a challenge – what’s that word… refreshing) and we were the last to leave the island. Shortly after we returned to our room it started to rain. But we were content.
Fort Myers is not far from Bonita Springs, just a quick jaunt up Interstate 41. There we found one of the areas most notable attractions, the Edison-Ford Winter Estate. I don’t think there is anyone in the United States who hasn’t heard of Thomas Edison or Henry Ford. Their inventions have touched us all, one way or another-- the electric light, the automobile. Who knows what our lives would be like if these inventions had not occurred. The whole world changed because of these men. But what a lot of people don’t know is that these two men were close friends. Despite the fact that Henry Ford always called Edison, Mr. Edison, the two worked closely for a number of years with Edison the mentor and Ford the student. This is best exemplified by the fact that Ford took up an invitation and built his winter home directly next to that of Thomas Alva Edison.
The tour of Mr. Edison’s estate, designed in 1889, built on the Caloosahatchie River and called the Seminole Lodge, includes a walk on the grounds through flora that was brought or sent to the estate by Edison’s friends. Here you can see the second largest banyan tree in the United States and two one hundred foot palm trees said to be the oldest in Florida. Plants were part of the collaboration that expanded to include Harvey Firestone as they sought a source for the domestic production of rubber. “Friendship is the leaven of life.” This quote of Edison’s personifies his long relationship with Henry Ford.
Edison was a complex man who, despite a hearing loss as the result of scarlet fever, was able to accomplish great things as indicated by the more than 1000 patents that are attributed to him. He also served as a mentor to many other inventors and took time away from his own projects to help others perfect their own.
“There should be no substitute for hard work,” wrote Thomas Edison. His home in Fort Myers personifies his ability to relax as well as work. And although, “the body was designed to hold the head”, it is clear that Thomas Alva Edison enjoyed cruising the Caloosahatchie River in his electric launch, called the Reliance, as well as fishing and bird watching.
The Edison-Ford Winter Estate is a wonderful example of the spirit of invention and of friendship. Everything that the visitor sees is an amazing reminder of the power of the mind. Indeed everything that is seen is first imagined. What imagining must have occurred at the Edison-Ford Winter Estate and the Edison Laboratory where Thomas Alva worked from 1887 until his death in 1931. “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” Thomas Alva Edison did just that.
One doesn’t have to travel very far to get a close-up view of the natural and wild beauty of the Lee Coast. Throughout our weeklong visit, we encountered a wonderful variety of bird life - herons of every variety, osprey, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, anhinga, brown and white pelicans and a myriad of other waterfowl.
We also encountered alligators and from my point of view, never when I expected. They would just float into view, their eyes peeking out just above the water line or be seen lying on the edge of a pond or on a sandbar sunning. It’s this aspect of Florida that brings you to an understanding of its wild nature. And nature is there, at its best, beckoning us to come and share in its delight before it becomes a concrete covered sprawl without the rarity of that which struggles to thrive there. You can find it on Sannibel Island at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, you can find it on the Great Calusa Blueway, and you can find it in the Everglades. But don’t wait too long. Civilization is encroaching, slowly and surely.
If you go, take your shorts and your camera. There is beauty at every turn.Beverly A. Saidel is the owner of Cheap Shots Photography in Denver, Co. (303-331-9932)
