IN THE FIELD: Local Shopping

When we are on vacation, we like to take some time out and do a bit of shopping for a keepsake to remind us of our visit. Rather than go to the gargantuan malls which are pretty much the same everywhere, we like to visit places where the locals shop.

And that could be an old fashioned hardware store, an artisan’s gift shop, or even the local farmers market. Interesting items made by the folks that live in the area are what attract us. We have come home with pottery, baskets, hand-made toys, foodstuffs, artwork, and countless other objects.

One morning while on vacation in Maine, we were out photographing various harbors way down east. The area is called down east because when you travel up the coast it’s almost due east, even though when viewing a map it appears to be a northerly direction.

Fishing communities dot the coast and are around every bend in the road, so finding something appealing to photograph is not difficult. One of our stops was Bucks Harbor Maine. It is a small fishing and lobstering village with a fish processing plant a few yards from the main dock. The aroma was distinctive. It wasn’t bad, let’s just say it was memorable. We got some shots of the boats in the harbor, old relics pulled up on shore that had seen their days out at sea, the iconic seagull standing on an old piling, and even the local dog who greeted us on one of the docks.

Leaving town in the opposite direction from which we arrived, we came across the shopping district of Bucks Harbor. Unfortunately, the place wouldn’t be open for business for another few hours and we had other harbors to visit. We often wonder what shopping opportunities we missed there.