Cruise to Useppa Island

If you have been following my blog, you know that myself and two of my friends headed to Florida at the end of April to celebrated our upcoming 50th birthdays.  One of the things we did on our trip was go on a cruise to Useppa Island.

Arriving at Useppa Island

Cruise to Useppa Island

We given free tickets for this cruise in exchange for my review.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Take a cruise from South Seas Island Resort to a beautiful island on the Pine Island Sound.  The Cruise takes an hour to get across the sound to a private island that is only accessible by water or air.  Once there you have two hours to have lunch, walk around the ground or visit the museum.  Useppa Island name came from the pirate Gasparilla who mispronounced the name of the female hostage he held there.  This may not be a true story but gives the island a romantic feel to it. 

On our way we stopped at Cabbage Key to drop off some of the passengers.  Our guide on the boat was very informative, telling us about the area, the island and what we would see on our short cruise.    We were able to see the Colgate Offshore Sailing School and found out they were celebrating their 50th anniversary.  Many other sailboats, motor boats and fishing boats were out on this fine day enjoying the sound.  Nestled on one of the post in the water we saw an osprey nest, it was a little to far to tell if it was only babies or the whole family.  I was also amazed to find out the waters here in Pine Island Sound are not very deep, only 3-10 feet and the boats had to navigate so that they didn't get hung up in the low waters.

Sailing School
Osprey nest
Egret fishing on the dock at  Cabbage Key
One of the cabins on Cabbage Bay ~ I think this one was for sale.

Once we arrived on Useppa Island we were divided into 2 lunch groups.  The three of us were in the first group, so headed up to Collier Inn which serves as the main clubhouse of the island to have lunch. The inn was originally the resident of Barn Collier and established as an Inn in 1935.  It was damage during Hurricane Charley are reopened in 2005 one year after.  We were greeted by friendly staff and were served a wonderful meal.  I had  mango chicken salad served on a croissant with home fries..

After our wonderful lunch we sat on the rocking chairs outside of the inn, walked around the area and visited the Barbara Sumwalt Museum.  The museum bring you back into the history of the island from the early man to the present day. It would be fun to got back and spend more time to learn all about the history of this island.

Pictures around the grounds

Barbara Sumwalt Museum
No pictures were allowed in the museum but the granted me permission to take some in the children's room

The flowers and foliage

Useppa island is a peaceful, quiet tranquil place to be.  It is a  with beautiful flowers and foliage and wonderful sites out on the water.  A place to take in the ambiance at a slower place. If  you ever have a chance to visit this wonderful island take it.  You feel like you have no cares or no worries at least for the time that you are there.