1. Brewster Book Store
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-6543
Address: 2648 Rte. 6A
Description: This delightful little shop is filled to the brim with hardcover and paperback books, with a strong local-author and local-interest section and a terrific children’s section. It also sells unusual cards and stationery. The shop holds regular book signings, especially with local authors, and offers weekly story times for little ones. It’s open daily.
2. The Brewster Store
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-3744
Address: 1935 Rte. 6A
Description: Erected as a Unitarian church in 1852, the Brewster Store is a landmark and a tradition. Revered by locals and visitors alike, it’s a take-your-time kind of place where you grab a cup of coffee, a doughnut, and a newspaper and sit out on the porch and watch the world go by. You can buy linens, mugs, teapots, cookbooks, jams, and T-shirts, among other items. Children love coming in to pick out penny candy and put dimes in the turn-of-the-20th-century player piano, which gives the place a rollicking ragtime sound. The shop is open daily.
3. Great Cape Herbs
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-5900, (800) 427-7144
Address: 2628 Rte. 6A
Description: This all-natural herbal apothecary has an encyclopedic assortment of Western and Chinese herbs stored in glass containers on rough-hewn shelves. You’ll also find books on herbs and natural healing. Vegetarian alert: Peta’s Place, an on-site cafe, serves up organic, vegetarian lunches, and for caffeine devotees, the Great Cape Espresso Cafe offers organic lattes and fresh pastries from Confectionately Yours. The shop is open daily.
4. Handcraft House
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 240-1412
Address: 3966 Rte. 6A
Description: One of our favorites, Handcraft House serves as a showcase for owner Eileen Smith’s beautiful watercolors, many of them Cape landscapes. It also carries a variety of fine, handcrafted items largely by New England craftspeople. You’ll find colorful hand-woven scarves, iron-forged candlesticks, wood marquetry boxes, glass sun catchers, and jewelry, among many other items. The shop is open daily in season, on weekends in late fall, and is closed from Jan to mid-Apr.
5. Hopkins House
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-9337, (508) 896-3450
Address: 2727 Rte. 6A
Description: You may have a hard time distinguishing between the old and the new in this shop, located in a historic home and filled with a blend of antiques, reproductions, and folk art by owner Mary Beth Baxter, who has a knack for creating paintings that look as if they’ve been waiting a century for you to discover them. The attached bakery, run by Baxter’s daughter, sells irresistible scones, muffins, sticky buns, and breads. The shop is open Tues through Sun through Christmas and closed Jan to mid-May.
6. Linda’S Originals
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 385-2285, (800) 385-2284
Address: 220 Rte. 6A
7. The Strawberry Patch
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-5050
Address: 2550 Rte. 6A
Description: This red-shuttered old horse barn is the exclusive home of Hand-tiques, the name owner Mary Anne Boyd coined for her unique array of gifts. Many of the goods are displayed in antique display cases: A cast-iron stove holds cookie cutters, and old post office boxes cradle candles.The shop carries U.S.-made cotton throws, pillows, and tablecloths, along with kitchenware, dolls, gifts, candy, and Christmas decorations. The Strawberry Patch is open daily.
8. Sydenstricker Galleries
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 385-3272
Address: 490 Rte. 6A
Description: The glass made here is so dazzling that several American embassies serve dessert to their guests on Sydenstricker plates, inspired by the art of ancient Egypt. Choose from dishes in various sizes (some with a signature rippled edge), complete place settings, rectangular serving plates, candy dishes, even ashtrays. Two showcases are filled with glass paperweights. You can watch the glass being made Tue through Sat from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The shop is open daily.
9. The Yankee Craftsmen
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 385-4758, (800) 385-4758
Address: 220 Rte. 6A
Description: Perched side by side on a hill, these two stores have been delighting collectors for a more than a decade. Linda’s Originals carries a wide range of hand-painted clothing and handcrafted items and the largest selection of afghans on the Cape. The store is also home to the Cats Meow, a captivating collection of miniature handcrafted buildings. The Yankee Craftsmen abounds with collectible items made by crafters, both local and worldwide. It has one of the largest collections of Byers Choice Carolers in the country, as well as Harbour Lights lighthouses. In the summer, be sure to visit the lavish, award-winning flower gardens. The shops are open daily.
10. The Spyglass
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-4423
Address: 2257 Rte. 6A
Description: This fascinating shop specializes in 18th- and 19th-century marine antiques. You’ll find barometers, globes, sextants, writing boxes, maps, and navigation charts, as well as early American furniture and folk art. Open daily. Call ahead during the winter months.
11. Cape Cod Repertory Theater Company
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-1888
Address: 3379 Rte. 6A
Description: Cape Rep operates the Cape’s only outdoor theater, a beautiful venue among the pines across from Nickerson State Park in East Brewster, just off Route 6A. The group has an indoor theater at the same site, and there’s usually something going on at both venues from late spring to early fall. The group’s offerings include musicals, original plays, and, at the outdoor theater, family-oriented productions. The company stages children’s theater on Mon and Wed mornings from late June through Aug; reservations are a must, as these shows sell out fast. Tickets for the children’s theater are $8 for both adults and children. The price for indoor performances is $22 to $28.
12. Art House Gallery
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-5557
Address: 38 Thad Ellis Rd.
Description: The couch at the Art House Gallery is comfy and offers a good view of featured works by more than 20 artists from the Cape and beyond, including some from Europe. Cape artists featured here include lithographer Richard Pargeter and pastel artist Joan Ledwith. The gallery is open weekends noon to 5 p.m.
13. Maddocks Gallery
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 896-6223
Address: 1283 Rte. 6A
Description: Working primarily in acrylics, Jim Maddocks creates Cape Cod scenes filled with flowers, sandy lanes, and views of the bay. His paintings have a dreamy quality that lulls and charms the viewer. A bonus: Very often you can catch the artist at work in his studio/gallery, located in a carriage house adjacent to his historic home. It’s open most days in season; call for off-season hours.
14. Ruddeforth Gallery
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 255-1056
Address: 3753 Rte. 6A
Description: Debra Ruddeforth’s oils and watercolors are soft, lush, and inviting; they include many Cape landscapes as well as florals and still lifes. A full selection of limited-edition reproductions is available as well. Open daily year-round 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the gallery also displays the still-life and fine-arts landscape photography of Tom Ruddeforth.
15. Struna Galleries
City: Brewster, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (508) 255-6618
Address: 3873 Rte. 6A
Description: Timothy Struna’s pen-and-ink renderings feature Cape landscapes and old houses and perfectly capture the essence of the Cape. He also works in watercolors and acrylics, and we highly recommend a visit to his cozy gallery, near the Orleans line. It’s open daily all year. There is another location of Struna Galleries on Main Street in Chatham.