Shopping In Maine and New Hampshire

Shopping....you wanna talk shopping? We are just back from four days of shopping in Maine and New Hampshire, catching lots of bargains on everything from clothes to boat supplies to fishing rods to electric heaters for the camp! It was a great trip. 4 of us left Nova Scotia on Friday evening after work, and crossed the border at Calais, Maine around 12:30 a.m. Another couple of hours and we were happily ensconched in the Bangor Motor Inn.

The next morning, our little shopping party armed with credit cards and American cash, headed for Kmart to start things off, then we drove out to Marden's in Brewer, and lot's of other stores and shops in between. I'm always amazed at some of the bargains to be had on a trip like this....for instance, I got a pair of rubber bottom leather top shoes for $10....and a pair of $60 hiking boots for $14 and that was only the beginning.....

From Bangor we headed off the next day to New Hampshire, the land of  "no sales tax" where we found more bargains, although, to be honest, I did better in Maine. However, I did manage to buy a special washer that I had been looking for to fix the throttle arm on my Evinrude 15 h.p. outboard motor at a boat shop in New Hampshire, just before the place closed because of heavy flooding. In fact, we were in the midst of the heavy rain and wind that was covering the Northeast the past few days. The Kmart, called the "Big K" was closed, their parking lot had about a foot of water in it. That was a disappointment for the girls, who love Kmart shopping, however, one thing about Maine and New Hampshire, there are lot's of Kmarts, so it wasn't long until we found another one.

We stayed overnight in Concord, New Hampshire, at the Days Inn then headed back to Maine the next day, shopping along the way. As we travelled North we got out of the heavy rains, and back into fair weather, making getting around much easier.

I have no idea what Wendy bought, but I bought more than I can list here, but I know it includes, a new 9"foot Cortland fly fishing rod for $40 and two weight forward fly lines, backing line, several fishing lures, several books, an electric heater for the cottage, a pair of chest waders, a new spinning reel and rod for $19.99, a 5 Gallon Camp Solar Water Heater Shower, a power washer, (for the garden hose) several artist paint brushes, 10 feet of chain, enough boot laces to last a lifetime, some plugs for converting a three prong plug to a two prong plug, a new anti-cavitation stabilizer plate for my outboard motor, called a Hydrostabilizer Jr a couple of new flashlights, some boat dock rope, pair of running shoes, and a bunch of other stuff, too much to mention here. We had a great time, and I managed to keep my spending down to just over the limit for the border, which was $400 for 48 hours, I ended up paying about $5.00 in duty....big deal! Wendy had to pay a little more, possibly because I managed to get her to pay for a lot of the other stuff for me and the family....ha ha....well...I had to buy the camp and boat stuff......

There are some good bargains to be had, there is no doubt, especially if you look for the discount stores that are not always as well advertised as places like Walmart. Marden's for example, is a great place with lot's of bargains on everything you can imagine from clothes to tools to sporting goods, hardware, shoes, you name it...they have it. These are discontinued items, buy-back items, and more, if I lived closer, I would be in Marden's every week. The same for the Ocean State Job Lot stores, lot's of bargains. Burlington Coat Factory is another great place to find bargains, with name brand products at lower prices. e even managed to do what seemed impossible, find wooden knitting needles my Mom wanted, in a store called JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores

As for the other stores, like Walmart and Kmart, they have much of the same stuff we have here, although I found the selection bigger, and the prices a little lower. In terms of sporting goods, the Walmart sporting goods section makes the Walmart sporting goods section here look like a corner store. I also enjoyed a visit to Dick's Sporting Goods I spent almost two hours in the fishing and hunting section, dreaming about all the stuff I would buy if I had more money and more room in the van. The only place we didn't get too, and just as well, was L.L. Bean and I say just as well, because I want one of everything they have, which would have been really hard on the pocketbook.....no matter, I can still order from their online catalog.

We had some good meals too, the best at The Texas Roadhouse in Bangor, Maine, we also ate one night at Applebees although, I have to say, I enjoyed the Texas Roadhouse a bit better. One thing we did find in short supply, was Tim Horton's Coffee. Although there are Tim's in Maine, unlike here in Canada, they are not on every street corner, which was a bit hard to get used to, somehow Dunkin' Donuts, just isn't the same.

I almost forget, the entire trip was made very easy because of a 'gizmo' that was new to all of us, we had a borrowed GPS Navigator What a fabulous thing that is....you type in your trip, or someplace you want to go, and it tells you how to get there with an onscreen map and a voice that gives you directions, like when to take an exit etc. We would have had a much more difficult time finding our way around without it. The funny thing is, I have one that I got two years ago, and never used, kind of forgot about it, thinking I had no use for it....before the day is out, I am going to get it figured out and hooked up to try it. I won't go on a road trip without one now.

We're home now, with nothing but empty wallets, and happy memories and of course, lots of new stuff, I'm exhausted but glad to have had a safe and successful shopping trip to Maine and New Hampshire!

Here are some of the stores I recommend for shopping in Maine and New Hampshire.

Mardens
 
Kmart

Dick's Sporting Goods

Ocean State Job Lot

WalMart

Burlington Coat Factory

JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores

L.L. Bean

Planning A Trip? Check Your Credit Card

Hey Friend! I apologize as this post is not particularly cottage related, but sometimes when you come across something worth knowing, it is also worth sharing......

We are planning a little trip to the U.S.A. for a few days of shopping. One of the folks we are travelling with discovered that if you have a Visa Credit Card issued in Canada, and use anything other than a 4 digit PIN it can be troublesome with the new PIN pad machines used in the United States, and apparently some parts of Canada as well...so....I called Royal Bank Visa tonight, and sure enough, the customer service rep confirmed that to be the case.

All is not lost, she advised me to drop into the nearest branch of the Royal Bank and get my PIN changed, which shouldn't be too much trouble, just the nuisance of having to go to the bank, but it is what it is, and security is important....but....that is not all.....I also learned that these days, if you don't tell the Royal Bank, and perhaps other banks, that you are going outside of your usual baliwick, and they notice any "unusual" activity on your card, they can and sometimes do suspend the card.....sweet.....imagine having that happen as you are trying to pay your way out of a hotel on the last day.....

So there you go, a word to the wise about traveling and credit cards. It's probably says all that in the credit card holder agreement, but who the heck remembers where that is, and what it says.......