Big Bay Point Lighthouse

Ahhhh, the Big Bay Point Lighthouse. What a dream! I absolutely love visiting this lighthouse, but it’s extra magical when I can stay overnight. I stayed a few years ago for the first time… but was really aching to come back. It’s just so beautiful. It’s one of the few operational lighthouses that offer a bed and breakfast, and such a perk it’s so close to Marquette, only 24 miles northwest in the town of Big Bay, Michigan. It’s perched on top of a tall bluff over a rocky point, with picturesque views. It was built in 1896, and has been beautifully restored by the current owner/lightkeeper, who gave us a nice welcome and introduction to the lighthouse. If you’re a guest, you have access to the grounds, and you’re welcome to climb up the tower at any time of day. Such a beautiful stay. If you ever have the opportunity, I’d 100% recommend it.

The lighthouse was converted into a bed and breakfast in 1986, and includes five guest rooms with private bathrooms, and was bought/renovated into what it is today in 2018. It’s open to stay as a bed and breakfast mid-May through November 5th. (I can only imagine an autumn stay here. Oof! 🍂) We stayed in Assistant Beamer, which was such a cozy room with a private bathroom, TV, and Lake Superior views, just… stunning. We first checked in, got settled, toured the lighthouse a bit, walked around the grounds and sat outside to take in the views before heading out to dinner.

For dinner, we ventured into the town of Big Bay! I absolutely love visiting this town, it’s very small, but just so quaint and has lots of unique history. You can read more about an autumn stay here, and it was one of my favorite first days living in the Upper Peninsula. For dinner, we went to Thunder Bay Inn for their Friday fish fry! It was pretty busy in there being summertime, so we sat at the bar, which was lovely! Ordered drinks, they have a bigger fish fry menu on Fridays, so we each got something different, and it was all pretty good! I got a basic beer-battered cod, and Bugsy got a blackened whitefish. Afterwards, we decided to check out a new ice-cream shop that had just opened up called Huron Mountain Ice Cream. They serve up hard-serve ice-cream with lots of unique flavors. Very fun to see this come to the town!

After fish and ice-cream, we went back to the lighthouse to catch golden hour! We walked around a bit, before heading up to the lighthouse tower. The sun quickly faded behind a bank of hazy clouds, but the blues of the sky and of Lake Superior together were just so beautiful! I was happy to snap a few pictures up here and take in the views. After, I borrowed a DVD from the little community area (The Great Outdoors, anyone?), but it honestly got so late so fast, and we didn’t even have time to watch a movie before it was bed-time!

The next morning, we woke up for sunrise! We headed back to the top of the tower, since it’s such a unique opportunity that we don’t get to participate in unless we’re guests here, so we wanted to take advantage of it! We didn’t get to see the sun rise, it was very cloudy, but a tiny touch of pink in the clouds, and it was a beautiful morning! Very breezy though, and very much felt like pre-fall vibes. And I’m just not ready yet! I absolutely adore fall, it’s absolutely my favorite season, but I just want July to be July, August to be August, etc. Ready for a little warmth yet this summer! But it was a beautiful morning, and we took a nice nap after sunrise, and woke up in time for a beautiful breakfast the lighthouse keeper prepares for the guests, and we ate that outdoors in the gazebo. A delightful slow morning of cozy.