5 Best Places to Shop in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine

As advertised, there are both "rocks" and "art" for sale at this eclectic family-owned store. There are also taxidermied animals, fossils, home decor and plants, interesting jewelry, and bath products. There are also stores in Bangor and Ellsworth.

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.

You should be able to find what you need for your kitchen at Rooster Brother. On the first floor of a towering Victorian building, specialty foods, fresh cheese, baked goods, wines (including a nice selection of sherry and port), and house-roasted coffee are on offer and samples are always available. Upstairs is a huge collection of cooking items and pretty much everything for your table.

In a cute tiny red building with a welcoming porch at the end of Bernard Road across from Thurston's Lobster Pound, this shop stays open into the evening. Smart, tasteful offerings include home decor, original art, body and bath products, jewelry, and summer clothing. Many items have sea or nautical themes, such as seashell earrings and float rope door mats.