Day trip to Blue Cypress Lake

Blue Cypress Lake Florida is a great day trip if you want to go boating and birding. It’s less than an hour and a half south of Orlando, and 30 minutes west of downtown Fellsmere, Florida.

We started by driving to Blue Cypress Recreation Area, where we saw Gator Bait Tours launch their tours, while checking out the swampy looking water and the birds. We didn’t take a tour, but looking at the Gator Bait website, you can book ahead at $52/seat for a 50 minute group tour.

An important “pee note” there were only port-a-potties here, so its not an awesome place to hang out for long.

Then we headed off to the main Blue Cypress Lake access area on the west end of the lake. Blue Cypress Lake is the start of St. John’s river and has tons of wildlife including large mouth bass, alligators, birds, and cypress trees.

This would be a great place to bring a picnic. There are clean bathrooms here and the view of the lake is gorgeous! Here are some photos so you can see for yourself.

Lunch in Fellsmere, Florida

We didn’t have a picnic with us, so after we birdwatched and enjoyed the scenery we went to downtown Fellsmere. First, we window-peeped into Ditch 13 Gallery and Gifts because they are closed on Monday and Tuesday. They have a lot of local history books and other cute gifts, so if you are there Wednesday - Sunday it would be worth a look.

Then we walked next door to the Marsh Landing Restaurant. They serve Southern Cuisine including frog legs, gator and catfish. They also have chicken, pork and beef if you don’t want to try the frog legs, gator or catfish.

The restaurant is in the historic Fellsmere Estates Building, built in 1926. It was originally the land sales office for the Fellsmere Estates Corporation, and then the headquarters of the Florida Crystal Sugar Company. The building was eventually used for municipal meetings and the police department until it was sold and boarded up in the 80’s. Then Fran Adams bought the building in 1995, fully restored it and opened the restaurant in 2002. The restaurant has lots of historic charm, including lots of artifacts on the walls.

The lunch prices were reasonable and the service was great. We had their corn fritters for an appetizer, two ice teas, a pork sandwich and a catfish sandwich with sweet potato fries for $55 including the tip. We’ll be back for sure!

Birds, nature and small businesses - Yay!

We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip to Blue Cypress Lake and Fellsmere, Florida. Thanks for experiencing it with us! We’ll be on the hunt for more cool places like this and will keep sharing.

Kathleen

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