Who Knew Thomas Edison was such a Fascinating Guy

While on holiday, we managed to get in a visit to the Edison and Ford winter estates in Fort Myers, FL. It is called the Edison and Ford estates because they are next door to each other. Thomas and Henry were great friends and when the estate next door to Edison went up for sale, Ford jumped at the chance to live next door to his great friend and mentor.

Other than some small inventions (like electricity and cement!) I really didn't know much about Thomas Edison. Now I'm fascinated. More so with his wife, Mina, than with him, but who knew what a fascinating life they lead.

On the way to the estates I asked the husband why the Edisons and Fords with all their money would choose to build on the Caloosahatchee river instead of on Sanibel or Captiva Islands. It seems that they made a good choice, it was incredibly beautiful and I can only imagine what a paradise it was back in the day.

One of the perks of inventing cement is that you have the first pool in Florida. 

To keep out the curious eyes of those boating on the river, they hid the pool and its famous
inhabitants from view with banana trees.

The Edisons had two houses next to each other, one for their family and one for guests.

Edison's wife, Mina, was an avid traveller and garderner and brought back plants from around the world. She also liked to mix it up and was known for attaching plants such as orchids and ferns to palms and other trees. The horticulturists who take care of the estate today have kept up this practice.

 Lime trees

Mysore tree from India

The Moonlight Garden named as such because Mina included plants that are enhanced by the light of the moon.

There's so much more I could post about this visit, but it would be endless. I'll just share the rules for guests as posted by Edison's daughter, Madeline. It is definitely tongue in cheek.  I'll include more photos on flickr.

Holidays

A few shots from our holiday.


A palm tree made from shells

Storm across the Gulf of Mexico but beautiful on our side

Looks like Hemingway at the bar.

The Ice Cream Chronicles - Cite aux Glaces

Yesterday, the wee man and I started our ice cream chronicles. We went to Cite aux Glaces at the Atwater Market next to the Lachine Canal.

Apparently, there is the same ice cream shop at the Jean Talon Market that has lots more flavors than the one at Atwater Market. We only had the following flavors to choose from:

 - Dulce de Leche
- Chocolat Noir
- Creme Brule a l'erable
- Vanille
- Pistache

There were quite a number of sorbets, but we wanted ice cream. I took the creme brule a l'erable and the wee man had dulce de leche. And the verdict is - both disappointed. I had heard such good things about both of these flavors, but neither one of us finished our cones. We found the dulce de leche to be wayyyyy too sweet. The wee man said he felt that after a few licks he was eating cookie dough (and not in a good way). I found the creme brule to have a bitter after taste even though the initial taste was sweet.

I'm just not sure that we picked the right flavors to say outright that we give it two thumbs down. So, we will go back this weekend and try again. This time I will choose either the vanille or the pistache. The wee man wants to try the mango sorbet. I wasn't going to include sorbets in our taste test, but why not? Bilbouquet in Westmount has a killer mango sorbet so we have something to compare it against.

To make up for the disappointing ice cream tasting, we went boating on the Lachine Canal. That was probably the best part of it.

The Best Lobster Rolls

I'm not a huge lobster fan, but I have a weakness when lobster is mixed up with a little butter, a little mayonnaise, some salt and pepper and put on a toasted hot dog bun, otherwise known as the lobster roll.

The only problem is that most places away from the ocean believe in death by mayonnaise, which makes me crazy. You can't taste the lobster at all. And isn't that the whole point of a lobster roll?

Then last summer we found, quite by accident, MuvBox. It's a shipping container that becomes home to one of the best lobster roll take out places I have found this side of New England for the months of May - Sept.

The perfectly toasted hot dog bun loaded with tons of lobster that is light on mayo and has just enough butter. And all for the grand price of $10.95 (it went up a $1 this summer). Match it with their not too shabby clam chowder made with chop clams and bacon and it's a great meal. It's just missing the chilled bottle of Chardonnay.

I'd forgotten how much I like weddings

The husband's younger brother was married yesterday in a vineyard in Ste. Dorothee.

The temp was 35C but there was a breeze and it really didn't feel that hot.

His daughters.

His daughter, Gabrielle, about to play the love theme from Romeo and Juliette on her violin.

 The groom

Ice Cream

My whole family loves ice cream. I adore ice cream, and being lactose intolerant doesn't stop me. I am willing to put up with a little discomfort for that dish of creamy goodness.

When we travel, one of the first places we seek out is the ice cream parlor, especially in Maine and Massachusetts where they have the most amazing flavors. Who can resist a flavor called Moose Paws? I especially love blueberry ice cream from Maine. And grapenut, which is not so easy to find anymore.

Last summer when we went to Florida we found a couple of really good ice cream shops and visited on several occasions. But since we spend the majority of our summer in Montreal, I thought it might be a good idea to expand our repertoire away from our local neighborhood ice cream shops, especially since there are some really interesting places opening up with intriguing flavors.

I suggested to the men that we try a different place in a different neighborhood every week. So this is the list, more of less, of the ice cream parlors that we will try this summer. The only rule being that we each have to try a different flavor.

1. Creme Glacee Bo Bec
2. Havre-aux-Glaces
3. Kem CoBa
4. Leo le Glacier
5. Les Givres
6. Cremerie Meu Meu
7. Point G
8 Ripples

And just because they are in our neighborhood we will also re-visit the following:

9. Ben and Jerry's
10. Bilbouquet

Bon Appetit!

Summer hats

I love hats, but always feel a little weird wearing one if I'm not at the beach.

My go to beach hat is one with a big floppy brim that I bought at Ogilvy years ago, but I decided to upgrade this year before we leave for Florida. I've sent for this hat from Amazon with SPF +50, hopefully it will arrive this week.

I need to get this one from Tilley for the wee man before we leave. He's so fair the sun is brutal to his skin. The husband also has a Tilley hat, but for some reason he insists on wearing this weird, geeky hat that says Gloucester, Mass. on it. I try to pretend that I'm with someone else when he wears it.