(Last updated March 18, 2025)
The small town of Fellsmere, is a perfect place to check out for a day or a weekend exploring its local historic sites and two beautiful nature preserves. It’s also home to the largest Frog Leg Festival in the world – listed in the Guinness Book of World Records twice! It’s a short ride (20-30 minutes) from nearby Vero Beach or Sebastian, Florida.
History of Fellsmere
I was impressed to learn the town of Fellsmere was the first town south of the Mason Dixon line to allow women to vote in municipal elections in June of 1915 – 5 years before the 19th Amendment of the U.S Constitution was passed and ratified. How progressive is that?
There are 20 historic landmarks you can visit in town too. The City of Fellsmere created an app that you can download for your own walking tour. It’s not very sophisticated, but it has a lot of great information on it, as well as a map to help you find the sites. (It’s not interactive though, you’ll need to read it like a regular map.)
Many of the historic homes are privately owned, so I’m only listing a few of the publicly accessible places here. The walking tour website gets into a lot of details for each landmark, if you want to learn about them before you visit.
- The “Fellsmere Union Church” is the oldest church in Fellsmere built in 1913 by a local contractor. The union church movement dated back to the 1700’s and meant that two or more congregations of different denominations agreed to use the same space. A complete renovation was last completed in 2001, and the church now known as Fellsmere Community Bible Church remains non-denominational and meets on Sundays.
- The Marian Fell Library was built in 1915, named after the daughter of the founder of Fellsmere. Although the family had moved away from the area in the late 1800’s she donated royalties from her publications to the Fellsmere Library Association to purchase books and construct a new library. In 2014, the Marian Fell Library was completely restored and it is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00-5:00 p.m.
- The old Fellsmere Public School was opened to students on October 2, 1916, with a final construction cost of $40,000. It was home to Fellsmere students until 1982, when the Fellsmere Elementary School was built. The City of Fellsmere moved into the old building in June 1982, and it was renamed to the Fellsmere Municipal Building. Unfortunately in 1991, Fellsmere experienced six inches of rainfall and a lot of damage occurred to the building. Over the decades there were many efforts to keep the building maintained, until it was fully restored and reopened as the Fellsmere Government Center in 2010.
- The Fellsmere Historical Church was built by local residents around 1922, the spire and cross were destroyed by a storm in 1955, and rebuilt in the 1990’s by a grant from Florida Department of State. Services are held every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
- The J. Green Carter building was built in 1925 as a real estate office during the real estate boom in Fellsmere. J. Green Carter helped plan out and sell hundreds of plots of land, owning many lots himself. He owned the building until his death in 1948. After his death it was sold by his family, and in the 1950s, Dr. Kip Kelso ran his office from here. It was then converted to a house in the early 1960’s and remained a home until the mid-90’s. It stood vacant until it was sold to Magnolia Farms in 2002 and they restored the building to its original appearance. It’s been the home of Ditch 13 Gallery and Gifts since 2010, a gift store totally worth stopping into. (See my description below.)
- Fellsmere Estates Building was built in 1926, as the land sales office for the Fellsmere Estates Corporation before becoming the headquarters of the Florida Crystal Sugar Company until the 1960’s. It was then used for municipal meetings and the police department until it was boarded up in the 80’s. Then Fran Adams bought the building in 1995, fully restored it and opened the Marsh Landing restaurant in 2002. The restaurant has lots of historic charm, including local artifacts on the walls and in the entryway.
(Downtown Fellsmere and Fellsmere Historical Church)
(Marsh Landing Restaurant and Ditch 13 Gallery and Gifts)
Fellsmere Restaurants
You won’t be lacking in finding something to eat – from Mexican food to southern food, frog legs, Italian and even sweet treats. We’ve only visited Fellsmere once, and I prefer to write about places we’ve actually been. So here’s a Google Map to help you find restaurants you’d like to check out:
Marsh Landing Restaurant – We stopped here on our way back from Blue Cypress Lake for a late lunch. Although I could have ordered frog legs or gator, I chickened out and tried their catfish sandwich instead. My love had the pulled pork. We started our meal with an order of their corn fritters too. Everything was tasty, the service was excellent and the prices were good too. They are open for breakfast on the weekend. Lunch and dinner everyday except Monday.
(Pulled Pork Sandwich and Catfish Sandwich plus sides, Marsh Landing)
Next on our list to visit:
- Yamis Ice Cream Shop – This homemade ice cream shop offers a lot of yummy looking treats including 21 flavors of ice cream, ice cream bars, fruit bars and fruit drinks. They are located in the old Fellsmere Sundries/Beckman’s Drug Store, originally built in 1945 by a local builder named L. D. Burgner. I think that’s a great excuse to visit a bit of history while enjoying a sweet treat.
Fellsmere Shopping
We stopped into two places to shop and buy things on our second visit to Fellsmere.
- Ditch 13 Gallery and Gifts – This delightful store has unique artisan one of a kind items (paintings, notecards, jewelry, wallets, etc); local history books; souvenirs; hats; local jams, honey, and soaps; and lots more. We had a lovely chat with the owner, Nik. She’s lived in Fellsmere for a long time, so if you are interested in learning more about the area, she’s a wealth of knowledge. They are open Wednesday – Sunday 10am-4pm. Check out their Facebook page, and give them a follow to help support them, even if you aren’t planning a visit to Fellsmere soon.
(Inside view of Ditch 13 Gallery and Gifts – lots of neat gifts to buy here!)
- Garcia Plaza Bakery – Walking into Garcia’s is like stepping into a grocery store in Mexico. You can get any type of groceries and essentials here, including meat, dairy, personal care items and a large selection of Mexican wares, food and treats. Garcia’s is well known for their freshly baked Mexican bread and pastries. It’s so popular, you are limited to buying 10 pieces. We picked up four and each piece was delicious! You can also order take-out food before 2pm, click here for their menu.
(View of the baked goods and some other items in Garcia’s Bakery.)
The World’s Largest Frog Leg Festival
If you’d like to participate in the World’s Largest Frog Leg Festival, then start making plans to visit Fellsmere Thursday, January 15 – Sunday, January 18, 2026. The Fellsmere Frogs Leg Festival was started back in 1990, 36 years ago, to help raise funds for kid’s recreational activities.
The festival is free to enter, and free to park. You can dig into one of their famous frog leg and gator tail dinners, enjoy the local music and rides, or stroll through hundreds of booths of unique items.
Nature Preserves near Fellsmere
Blue Cypress Lake
We started by driving to Blue Cypress Recreation Area, where we saw Gator Bait Tours launch their boats, 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. (Important note, there are only port-o-potties here and they are pretty gross.)
We then drove to the main Blue Cypress Lake access area on the west end of the lake. We saw ospreys circling and building their nests, herons of all shapes and sizes walking through the shallow water and sitting in the trees. The Cypress trees are simply beautiful. This video captures a lot of the essence of being there. If you enjoy the video, please like, comment and share. It helps a lot. 🙂
I highly recommend bringing a picnic and staying at this part of the lake. There are clean bathrooms, picnic tables and lots of birdwatching to do.
(Cypress Trees at Blue Cypress Lake)
(Three different types of herons we saw at Blue Cypress Lake)
St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
On our second trip to Fellsmere, we checked out St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park. There are over 60 miles of trails for walking, horseback riding, bicycling. You can also fish, kayak, canoe or boat in the St. Sebastian River, from a boat launch nearby.
We stopped into the Visitors Center, and took a look around their exhibits. They also have clean bathrooms if you are in need of one.
(Visitor’s Center at St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park)
Then we drove 4.2 miles to the overlook where I was hoping to spot manatees. We didn’t see any, but there were people catching fish, and a few birds were about. The Park Ranger we spoke to at the Visitor Center saw some dolphins earlier that morning. The dolphins and manatees go at their own pace, so although there’s a chance you’ll see marine life, its more just a matter of timing and luck.
When I looked at the website, I thought it was a bit more secluded from the photos. It’s not, as you can see below. The view itself from the overlook is pretty though.
(Manatee Overlook)
(View from Manatee Overlook)
If you are deciding between the two nature preserves, I would choose Blue Cypress Lake. There are little homes within view but it feels more isolated then the Manatee Overlook at St. Sebastian River Preserve. We also saw a lot more birds at Blue Cypress Lake, but no marine life there either.
Visiting Fellsmere
We loved visiting Fellsmere for the day, and we already made a second trip back so we could see a few more things.
If I were planning a trip and didn’t live nearby, I recommend staying in Sebastian for the night. It’s close to Fellsmere, only a 20 minute drive, and you can stay at Capt Hirams Resort. It’s a nice independently-owned hotel right on the Indian River.
Drop me a comment here, if there’s something we should see or do on our next trip.
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