The Raybrook Frog

I was travelling home from a visit to the farm when I passed this store on Route 86 in Ray Brook, New York. With Christmas just ahead, I decided to stop and look for possible gifts:

The store is called The Raybrook Frog, a curious name until I encountered this froggy bit of chainsaw art on the front porch. It was holding what appeared to have been a cupcake (or ice cream cone?) and a coffee cup. Furthermore, the porch/deck floor boards had been cut out to accommodate the frog, suggesting that it'd been carved out of an existing tree stump when the place was built:

The store was open for business and hoping to attract Christmas shoppers. I left the dogs in the car and went inside, bringing my camera along so that I could take you shopping with me:

And discovered a sort of Adirondack themed wonderland:

They had expensive Adirondack style furniture and furnishings as well as much cheaper knickknacks and old fashioned souvenirs. Furthermore, everything was on sale:

If I had been a wealthy owner of an Adirondack Great Camp, I could have furnished the whole place here:

The Adirondack theme seemed to revolve around Balsam, Birch, Pine, Deer, Moose and Chipmunks. Hey, I was good with that!:

Candles, birch Art, balsam sachets and incense, woven throws and lots of atmosphere:

Hand woven pack-baskets, more candles, less expensive Adirondack themed items:

Strings of lantern and trout shaped lights, wilderness sound recordings, Native American and old timey pioneer folk music, more baskets, pine and balsam scented soaps, towels, place mats:

It was indeed a fun store, just filled with everything I could imagine:

More Adirondack furniture:

And even beds and lamps. The beds were covered with Adirondack furs, quilts and plush moose and bears:

So much was made of birch bark that I momentarily worried if the birch trees were being wiped out for use in Adirondack themed furniture. But then I realized how much of it there is and how it is cut for pulp and firewood. It does grow like weeds up there. I guess the birch population is safe:

I did buy some Christmas gifts and took them to the counter. I'll show you some of them on a future post: