Back From Maine.

Hey Folks, Got back Sunday from our week in Maine. Some of the same sites as last year, as well as many new one. This year we spent a day in North Conway NH. walking around poking in some of the shops. The 5 & 10 cent store is a step back in time. This shop has plenty of small household and gift deadstock items waiting to be picked up. I grabbed a couple Wiffle Ball sets and extra balls for this summer as they are near impossible to find here in Canada.

From NH it was a week in Freeport, Maine. Day trips galore, from shopping and getting injured at Liberty Tools, to hiking to the top and around Bradbury Mt. On average we were out the door 7am, and back at the hotel by 6. Busy days. On Wed we crused into Portland to take in some sights and sea breeze, Portland Dry Goods was fantastic, super nice fellows working there. Prices were great...Danner Stumptown for under $200...say what! We talked for a good chunk of time, one highlight was about the different names for Salvation army thrift stores people use. Here in Canada we grew up calling them Sally-Ann's, and in Portland apparently they call the Sal-Van's.  We ate at a recommended restaurant called Duckfat. The duck fat fried fries were down right amazing, Highly recommended if you are in the area.

Also this year we ventured a couple hours West to Boston. Going from Freeport's small to Boston's crazy was quite a change. Not to mention it was the Red Socks Home opener, the Boston Marathon was coming the following Monday, and the Bruins were playing in the playoffs.  A big thanks to James @10Engines for helping me set up the day while on the move.  He helped guide us in the directions to some of the great stores Boston has to offer. The first store we hit up was Ball & Buck. Wickedly Great shop, nicely selected items for sure. We had a great time talking with the store owner Matt. It was definitely hard to step away and move on,  l grabbed myself a TOPO Designs daypack, some Juniper Ridge Incense, and Military Can opener and a couple other goodies from Matt and finally pulled myself away!

We then headed to Hilton's Tent City. All I can say is Wow!. That is a digging mans store, as you never know what you might unearth there.  As we walked in we were greeted by Javier, who took the next half hour to show us around and some of the rare items on the shelf. It was amazing seeing the old deadstock of items like US made wool lined Woolrich Parkas!?! Come on! I was digging the heavy Carhartt Logger pants with Suspender Buttons...$39, none in my size!. After leaving the store, James emailed and mentioned to check out his special nook of the store where he has a items tucked away. Sorry bro...its still there for you! Next we headed to Bobby's from Boston, Javier just gave us the general area it was and the rest was up to us. We did find it, Great pieces and prices. Unfortunately again none in my size.

The last key destination was Wilderness Workshop. As we meandered over to the store poking in and out of shops and looking at the beautiful brownstones and historical landmarks you can't help to be amazed at the beauty that is Boston. So many intresting building and designs. Wilderness Workshop was nice, unfortunately the basement is a fairly dark atmosphere and the club beat coming from upstairs was little much and took away from the "Wilderness Feel" I was hoping to get. WW had some great items like Archival Clothing's Rucksacks and flap Musettes as well as some nice Yuketen mocs. By the time we got back from Boston, it was 8 pm and we were extremely tired and hit the sac like a bag of bricks!

On Saturday we drove to St. Albans,VT for our last night. Along the way we stopped at as many yard sales and Antique shops as we could. The drive should take about 5.5 hours. It took us almost 9 in total. Below are some of my great finds from our trip to Maine and the surrounding area and back. See you next year Maine!

Scratch Awl.  Paid $1.

Small Rucksack unknown make.  Paid $2.

Military Side bag dated 1955.  Paid $2 with the other bag.

Approx 5'x3' 48 Star Cotton sewn American Flag.  Paid $2.

Flag close up.

Mash bag. $4.

Schrader Valve Balloon Tire Gauge dated 1923 w/ leather case. Paid $1

Kybo Coffee Can..Yup the coffee can where scouting might
have gotten its name for a toilet. $ Free.