4 Best Shopping in Hancock Area, Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island

You can buy a vase or sailboat sculpture made of granite in the self-serve shop in one of the small buildings at this old granite quarry. If you blow the horn, as advised, owner Obadiah Bourne Buell may appear. His stone business, also here, makes practical and sculptural granite pieces for gardens and homes, "upcycling" the blocks of granite that are all about. Buell grew up and lives on this ethereal land, where rain long ago filled the old quarries, and has created a large year-round public garden (free, donations welcome) with granite sculptures large and small; granite benches, tables, fire pit, and pizza oven; and trails, flower beds, and charming signage (even when asking folks to stay back from the work area) and more. Ping pong anyone? Yes, the table is granite, and the paddles and balls are provided.

It’s worth the trip down the long dirt drive to Gull Rock Pottery. Sculpture dots serene grounds with a knockout view of Cadillac Mountain across Frenchman Bay. The shop sells the owner's dishware and lamps, with either hand-painted blue and white depictions of local wildlife, flowers, and water scenes, or a rust-color or celadon glaze. The etchings, prints, and jewelry are made by the potter's husband, who also created most of the sculpture. Open year-round, but it's by chance or appointment in the off-season.

Heron-patterned dinnerware is one of the specialties at Hog Bay Pottery, which also sells knitted items and handspun and natural-died yarns. A husband and wife run this year-round homestead shop: he's the potter, she's the knitter and spinner.

Ann and Paul Breeden’s Spring Woods Gallery, nestled between their home and a large shade garden for visitors, is illuminated by a tall arched window. Local farm animals appear often in her colorful, playful oil paintings. His strikingly realistic acrylic paintings capture the intensity of the Maine Coast. Sculpture and paintings by their children are also sold at this welcoming gallery just off U.S. 1 in Sullivan. Folks are welcome to come just for the tranquil garden.