Wednesday June 26, 2013 Day 25 Marquette to Big Bay 28 miles / 608 total

It was sunny and warm as we left the harbor bound for Big Bay.  We've actually seen temps above 70 for 2 consecutive days -- whoooooo hooooooo!  It was a smooth 4-hour ride to Big Bay.  We had heard differing reports of water depth at the entrance to this small harbor.  Day Dreams dropped the hook outside the entrance so that Doug and Garry could scout it out by dinghy.  They confirmed the depth was adequate for us to get through the entrance and into the dock safely.  It didn't take long to pull in and secure the boats along the wall (called broadside docking). 


On the wall with limited space.

We got a hearty Big Bay welcome from the resident mosquitoes ----- big and hungry!  Bug spray was the first order of business!  Not a lot of amenities here - just a single bathroom and 1 shower -- but what else do you need?

Big Bay's claim to fame :  it was the site of the 1959 Jimmy Stewart movie Anatomy of a Murder.  It was based on a true story --- guy walks into bar, shoots bartender who raped the guy's wife.  The story is told by the attorney (Stewart) who defended him.  There were scrapbooks and clippings about the filming both in the Lumberjack Bar (site of the murder, where the outline of the body is still on the floor) and at the Thunder Bay Inn where much of the filming took place.  Both places had a lot of memorabilia, but no copies of either the book or the  movie, so I had to order the DVD through Amazon .......  That will be a "movie night" somewhere along the line.

We checked out the Big Bay Outfitters (I use the term loosely) and convenience store, then back to the boats.  About 6 we hurried up the the Thunder Bay Inn to beat oncoming rain --- made it!  We enjoyed cocktails, dinner and wine while the wind and rain blew through, then back to the dock for the night.