Home Base
Vie Necessary Luxuries offers something for every high-end casa, be it coastal, old world, modern, or traditionally themed. Also home to the full-service design company Alex Clymer Interiors, the shop stocks larger items (furniture, mirrors, chandeliers) for the home as well as gracious gifts, from shell-encrusted frames to decorative candles to leather-bound photo albums. 86 Maryland Ave. 410-269-6100. Alex Clymer Interiors, 410-263-0992.
Toys (and Books) for Tots
Kids sick of shopping will thank you when you pop in to The Wise Willow Children’s Book & Toy Shop for story hour. Every Wednesday at eleven o’clock, owners Neely Kennedy and Abby Brown read from their selection of more than one thousand classic and contemporary children’s books. Also check out their selection of toys, from puppets to art supplies. Doesn’t everybody need a copy of Goodnight Moon? 68 Maryland Ave. 410-267-0100 or http://www.wisewillow.net.
(Organic) Tea for Two
Mike Carter found it odd that, for a colonial burg, Annapolis lacked a tea shop. But no longer, thanks to his Alchemy Tea & Trading Co., the nation’s largest all-organic tea shop. Its one-hundred-plus varieties are directly imported from plantations in exotic locales, such as Sri Lanka, India, China, Japan, and South Africa. Don’t miss the gift items—tea pots, infusers, strainers —as well as a host of art, music, and jewelry made by local talents. 92 Maryland Ave. 410-216-7001 or http://www.alchemyteas.com.
Gone Country
Annapolis Country Store makes writing those Christmas thank-you notes easy with its selection of decorative stationery in a range of themes, from black-and-white sailing scenes to equine images to playful graphic designs. Let your nose go into floral overload browsing its vast selection of Crabtree & Evelyn, Caswell-Massey, and Roger & Gallet soaps, lotions, and linen sprays. Every Annapolitan knows that this is the place for table linens. 53 Maryland Ave. 410-269-6773 or http://www.annapoliscountrystore.com.
Classic Cool
Pamela Watson has brought no-frills fashion to the avenue with Bailey’s, named after the best-dressed belle in her father’s hometown of Columbia, S.C. Check out the classic J. Crew-esque apparel—cashmere sweaters and pashminas, skinny jeans, tailored tees, and cocktail gear by the likes of Parameter, Laundry, CK Bradley, and Feel Good. It was hard to leave without the all-season stretchy chocolate shirt dress by TF Dixin. 62 Maryland Ave. 410-280-8845 or http://www.shopbma.com.
Collectors’ Items
Specializing in nineteenth-century American paintings, Dawson Gallery has been a force in the Annapolis art scene since 1982. Among the elegantly framed marines, portraits, and nudes are works by Louis Feuchter (1885-1957), a Baltimore-based artist who documented the Bay’s boats. Not sure if the landscape you inherited from Aunt Gladys is worth anything? Owner Thomas Dawson also does appraisals—and restoration work—on paintings. 44 Maryland Ave. 410-269-1299 or http://www.dawsongallery.com.
