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

Filling two stories and a lower level, this one-of-a-kind and even out-of-this-world shop is chock full of books (for adults and kids), toys (many educational), and other items (of the gift variety), all relating to science and nature. But there’s much more in this store, located in an old-fashioned commercial strip just up from Seal Harbor beach. Part museum, each room and space is fantastically painted and designed around a theme, like the moon, earth, or dinosaurs. Items for sale are grouped accordingly, as are exhibits, many of them interactive. Students from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor were involved in creating the store.

Wendilee Heath O’Brien's paintings in watercolor, oil, pastel, Asian ink, and kinpakku (Japanese traditional gold leaf) are sold at her studio gallery, where visitors often catch the artist at work and are welcome to listen in if she's teaching a class. Many works depict Down East landscapes, perhaps with people or children in the scene, but her repertoire includes abstract works, still lifes, and portraiture. A whimsical garden path leads to this year-round gallery behind the artist’s home on Winter Harbor’s Main Street. Notecards featuring her work (buy 10 and get one free!) and another artist's pottery are also sold.