If you’re visiting Searsport by way of the Maine Turnpike, then a stop worth scheduling is inside the West Gardiner Travel Center…new this year.

Bright, beautiful and well displayed, you can’t help but enjoy the variety of crafts offered in this one location…I don’t know of any other retail space that offers such a range of handwork.

Craft or art?  There’s a discussion that’s been going on for generations.  For me, craft means something extremely well made by hand that will enhance my life in a significant way

We saw textiles, glasswork, wood work, paper crafts and pottery.

You could bring home a maine-made blanket, bench, floor cloth or snowshoes…betcha can’t do that from a rest stop in New Jersey 😉

Open for business daily from 10 am to 8 pm, the Center offers works by over 250 artisans for sale. Also currently on display is the First Annual Exhibition of Members’ Limited Edition Holiday Ornaments.

DIRECTIONS: From Maine Turnpike 95 South Exit 103, From Maine Turnpike North Exit 102, From I-295 Exit 51. The Center for Maine Craft is inside the new West Gardiner Travel Plaza, located on Rt 126.

For more information, the Portland Herald Post wrote this;