An inventor's winter orchard
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates date from 1885, when Thomas Edison first came to Southwest Florida and bought land on the river to build a vacation home. Henry Ford later wintered next door. Today the property on McGregor Boulevard is a museum, a restored botanical laboratory and, for anyone who cooks, a walk through a working fruit garden.
The estate counts more than 1,700 plants from over 400 species across twenty acres. Its fruit list reads like a tropical market: mango, citrus, sapote, tamarind, papaya, lychee, longan, guava, jackfruit, loquat, calamondin and starfruit all grow on the grounds. The Edisons and Fords liked to raise their own food, and the Heritage and Community Gardens keep that habit going with raised beds and herb mounds that change through the year.
There is a kitchen lesson in all of that. Fort Myers sits far enough south for mangoes to thrive in backyards, and a ripe one does what a sweet glaze does on the grill, only brighter. That is why the recipe below brushes on a mango BBQ sauce at the very end and finishes with fresh fruit.
Even the bamboo has a story. Edison was experimenting with bamboo for light bulb filaments, and it was already growing on the property when he bought it. More than a dozen kinds grow there now, a reminder that this was a research garden as much as a pretty one.
The river city and its parade
Fort Myers is the mainland city on the Caloosahatchee River, and it should not be confused with Fort Myers Beach, the island town out on Estero Island with its shrimp fleet and its own page. Downtown, known as the River District, is where the city gathers for its biggest night of the year.
That night belongs to Edison. The Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade honors the inventor who wintered here, and WGCU reports that the 88th edition stepped off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from Fort Myers High School, turning onto Cleveland Avenue and heading north toward downtown. Fifteen commercial floats and 15 local bands marched, and downtown roads closed from 4 p.m. Bring a folding chair and a cooler, and plan dinner around the road closures.
For a cool weather treat, stone crab claws come in from October 15 to May 1 in Florida state waters, and Lee County cooks serve them cold with a mustard dip or warm with butter.
