The global marketplace came to visit us last week.

We are having a fun summer in Freeport. The store is off the beaten path and uniquely stands alone in the sea of storefronts. Even with some visibility challenges, we enjoy steady visitors seeking their perfect bag.

Tuesday morning last week, I arrived early to the store to find a family sitting on the front porch. It was too early for people to be resting there, and I guessed they would ask for directions to the bathroom. In a thick French accent they asked when the store will open. Even with my high school level of French, I could tell that the response “…in an hour” wasn’t good news. So I unlocked the door and invited them in. They shopped for the perfect bag to take back to Montreal.

Later in the week, the owner of Nantucket Knots (who makes our monkey fist knot key chains) visited the store with a friend from Switzerland. The visitor immediately fell in love with our bags. She declared she had to have a bag for the beach and a different one for errands.  

The unofficial international week here in Freeport wasn’t just about visitors. A stark reminder of the global marketplace came in a reaction to a recent Facebook posting. We posted a picture of our Build Your Own Tote display with 14 images of custom bags designed by our customers. Apparently a FB friend enlarged the picture to better see the images, and when she did she recognized her husband’s buoy colors in the upper left corner! She promptly told her husband about seeing his buoy colors and discovered that she had foiled his plan to surprise her with a custom bag! (Sorry we spoiled the surprise Ben!)

The lesson is the marketplace is international and someone is always paying attention.

Much advertising money is spent to present Maine in a most idyllic way. Let me tell you there is not much idyllic going on in Freeport right now!

Bow Street is alive with the buzz of saws, pounding of sledgehammers, rumble of trucks and the chatter of workmen during break time. This is the sound of progress.

The large building next to Sea Bags has been empty for a while. Now it is a beehive of remodeling activity. The plan is to have a restaurant with some retail kiosks ready for this summer.

Jackhammers are breaking cement at the other end of our little parking lot. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle. They are making improvements so that shoppers have better access to shopping above the new parking garage.

Recently a friend told me that the Polo store on Main Street use to be the town gas station. I wrinkled my nose at the thought that a greasy, old gas station could have ever held the high profile spot now synomous with Ralph Lauren’s Polo Store.  He reminded me that is how the footprint of the town continues to evolve.  

Right here in Sea Bags we are remodeling, too. The back wall has been buffed and freshly painted (much quieter activities) and a large graphic to be added. For those who have been here, our store is quaint and bright. Now the back wall hosts a mural depicting how the journey of recycled sailcloth continues with each of our totes.

The noise and the construction will be done and gone by the time a large number of folks make their shopping pilgrimage to Freeport. Remember our Sea Bag store is right in the middle of all the change and improvement. Please stop by and check out the back wall mural when you are visiting the quiet New England town of Freeport.     

While most people typically surf channels or the Internet within the controlled environment of their own homes, there is ever increasing number of adventure-seeking, water-loving people who are Hanging Ten (lingo translation: riding a surfboard with the toes of both feet hooked over the front) right here in Maine.

A little Internet surfing revealed that real surfing is the fastest growing water sport in the world. Recently two such themed Sea Bags showed up in our Freeport store it was clear that surfing is also one of the few sports or arts that creates its own culture. Totally cool. Radical.

As a non-surfer, I wonder about surfing’s origins in two parts: “When were the first surfboards ridden?” and “Who were the first surfers?” However, I am told that a seasoned surfer thinks more in terms of: “When was the first stoke?” Yes, there is definitely a separate language and mindset around surfing. In Hawaiian, the term hopupu means to be high on life, especially riding waves.

No need to go to Hawaii for “wave sliding” known as he`e nalu in old Hawaiian. When the tides are high and the winds are gusting, we have a strong surfing community along the coast of Maine. Granted wetsuits may be needed longer here than in the Aloha state, but this sporting trend is growing in popularity in southern region of our state. For example, Friday June 17th, Grain Surfboards shop in York will host the New England Premiere of Mikey DeTemple’s new surfing film Sight|Sound. The film captures beautiful footage from some pretty exotic locations including some fun scenes from right here.

Did you know that there are surf camps in Maine? Actually there are several of them being offered starting at age 5 with the basics and water safety. Teenagers and adults can learn surfing, boogie boarding, skimboarding, stand up paddling, and body surfing. It promises a great work out as it’s like doing Yoga on water and really works the core.

Not soon to sign up for surfing camp, I do appreciate the Surf and the Surfboard Sea Bags even more after a brief glimpse into the surfing scene in our Pine Tree State. I remain among the many people who view storm waves as too choppy, difficult and as an adversary of nature. Whereas, our surfer friends see the potential for fun to figuratively go full-tilt on a risky course. Hang Ten. Do you know anyone who surfs Maine?

While it’s a pretty wet and dreary day here in Freeport today, the weather didn’t keep this old salt from visiting the Sea Bags store. Our newest friend, and her captain, sail their 36 Pearson up from Padanaram Harbor, MA each summer and have been visiting the coast of Maine with their 13 year-old black lab, Max, for the last 13 years. She had heard about the Sea Bags store in her hometown (we love how news spreads like that). She decided to come check out the place where we would eventually turn their old sails one day into something useful that also helps the environment as well. As much as they love the beautiful state of Maine, she loves her new Sea Bag that tells her retirement story equally as much.