It's October in Bay City, and there's plenty of spooky fun to find as you walk along the city streets, whistling The Incredible String Band's October Song. When you first enter the City from the East, crossing the bridge from nearby Nova Albion, you'll spy the Channel Island Asylum sitting on a hill in South Channel. From the Destination Guide: "For years, Channel Island Mental Hospital was the home of the mentally deranged of Bay City and beyond. Now abandoned, the asylum is said to be the home of strange goings-on after dark. Bring a friend — and stay together." Are you brave enough to visit?
Alternatively, you could venture across the street to visit the Haunted Hay Maze, located in the Bay City Fairgrounds on North Channel. According to Bay City's "unofficial Mayori", Marianne McCann, the City has been "doing these since 2011. It is fun for all, not too scary, but still with a few spooks and good things. The LDPW has helped with the set up. I went harder this year with the maze. Last year, folks said it was too easy." The Haunted Hay Maze is always a lot of fun, with places to pose for spooky photos and prizes to find throughout the maze. Come down and give it a try!
On the other side of Bay City, on the island separating Eastside from Westside, sits the crumbling grandeur of Hotel Falmouth. If the fountain of blood outside doesn't scare you away, enter to explore this once-grand hotel, now said to be haunted. Sit down for a drink at the bar with some really creepy teddy bears, or head to the elevators and pick a floor at random. Like at the hay maze, clicking around throughout the hotel may score you some delightfully creepy prizes.
Finally, for those of you who prefer non-spooky October celebrations, the Bay City Brewery is hosting the annual Bay City Oktoberfest party on Sunday, October 23rd, 2016, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM SLT. Grab your lederhosen and come on down to join us for seasonal music with DJ GoSpeed Racer of Kona Stream, and of course, for lots of BEER! Happy October from Bay City!
As happens every year near St. Patrick's Day, the waters in and around Daley Bay have been dyed a brilliant green by the water treatment plant technicians of the Linden Department of Public Works in Bay City.
This is a nod to a first life tradition during which the Chicago River has been dyed green for that city's St. Patrick's Day parade for over 50 years. David Matthews of DNAInfo reported today that "...the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers since 1961 have poured a secret
solution, that's actually orange, into the city's main tributary to give
it a glowing emerald hue. The river-dyeing tradition began after parade chairman Stephen Bailey noticed
a special dye city officials used to detect waste in the river
changed the water to a perfect emerald green, according to Chicago magazine." So the green dye was originally poured into the river to detect crap! Did I mention that the source of the green water in Bay City is the Bay City Department of Sanitation's Pumping Station Number 1?
The pumping station in Daley Bay (pictured below, yellow and blue building, center) is directly across the street from the Bay City Brewery, and is the source of the brewing water supply. No stranger to bright green water, us! You can even float in a large beer tub of the stuff inside the Brewery. Founded by Ever Dreamscape in 2012 and designed by Ivan Suen, the Brewery is Bay City's "original questionably safe adult beverage and industrial process". We supply beer (and root beer for the kids!) throughout the City, and serve as the site of the annual Oktoberfest celebration.
So come on down, grab a beer, and take a gander at the green waters of Daley Bay. After all, as our logo states, "Bay City Brew - It's Something In The Water!"
