Shopping

Downtown Bath [1] is perfect for browsing and gallery carousing. Patchwork quilts hang in the window of Mariner’s Compass Quilt Shop (11 Centre St., Bath, 207/443-2900, www.marinerscompass.com [2], 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tue.–Sat.), a shop that has classes and circles as well as quilts and other blankets for sale.

The young (at heart and otherwise) love Baby Magnolia (129 Front St., Bath, 207/443-8989, www.magnoliagiftstore.com [3], 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Sat.), for its trove of baby gifts and accoutrements, but also its more grown up stock of local jams, lavender sachets, and hand-woven blankets.

Downtown Brunswick [1] isn’t as inviting for browsing, it’s worth making a beeline to Gulf of Maine Books (134 Maine St., Brunswick, 207/729-5083, http://gulfofmainebooks.blogspot.com [4], 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Mon.–Sat.), a labor of love by local poet and publisher Gary Lawless, who together have stocked the store with eclectic and unusual titles for 30 years.