Thomas Edison claimed that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, though his failure to factor in respiration proved to be his fatal downfall. Let human brilliance render you breathless with today's Groupon from the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. Choose between the following options:

• For $50, you get a family tour of the entire estate for up to two adults and five children (a $100 value). Family tours are held daily at 10 a.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
• For $12, you get one adult ticket to the Botanical Gardens tour (a $24 value). Botanical Gardens tours kick off at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays starting on Memorial Day.

Once the balmy winter retreat of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates now lets visitors roam through 20 acres of gorgeous gardens, historical buildings, and fascinating scientific exhibits. In the course of an hour, a fact-filled science sherpa will lead groups through the environment that incubated some of America's greatest inventions, including the light bulb, the modern automobile, and the fruit tree. Hands-on exhibits spark wide-eyed excitement in adults and offspring and grand-offspring alike as they hear the ghostly sounds of an original phonograph, pick up a short shift on a Model T assembly line, or create a bouncy, stretchable polymer to take home and use to cover the sinkhole in the kitchen. Finally, each party will be set loose with an orientation session, map, and self-guided audio tour to explore the entirety of both homes, the gardens, and the Edison Botanic Research Laboratory at its own pace.

The Edison & Ford Winter Gardens were planted both to add luxury to the estate grounds and to carry out botanical experiments, such as Edison's quest to breed a plant species that combined the hardiness of a scrub pine with the juiciness of a hamburger. The 90-minute Botanical Gardens tour ushers guests through acres of blossoming plants and stately trees—and also grants a behind-the-scenes peek into the greenhouse and nursery where botanists work to sate the landscape's unquenchable thirst for more flowers. Children's tickets (age 6–12) for the Botanical Gardens tour can be bought directly from Edison & Ford Winter Estates for $10 each; children 5 and younger get free admission.