2 Best Places to Shop in Milbridge Area, Way Down East

With clapboards and trim in contrasting shades of blue and a grand entrance, this year-round gift shop in an old storefront pops on Milbridge's Main Street. Inside the large, beautifully arrayed store, offerings live up to the expectations the exterior creates. Many Maine-made items are among a selection that includes premium bath products, kitchen gadgets, fun socks, books about Maine, and jewelry—check out the store's own vintage-look Riverlily earrings.

Sweet hand-painted and -lettered signs created with scrap wood found along the coast from Maine to Newfoundland by owners Kim and Leon are sold at this gallery. On the back, they write where the wood was found. A "Loon" sign has paintings of loon, a "Blueberry" sign of blueberries, and so on, and some have town names or say "Welcome," but all are unique. Kim's original fiction and paintings, which capture connections between the Down East coast and the people who make their living on it, are also sold, as are her travel-inspired scenes of Ireland and India. If you head this way consider continuing on back roads through Harrington and Addison to Jonesport and Beals Island and hiking at a preserve in the region as part of the outing.