At the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, you’ll find exquisite paintings and sculptures curated in an old home, hosted by an approachable owner with encyclopedic knowledge. If you’re a novice, you’ll learn a lot (if you so desire; otherwise, she’ll leave you to your own devices). If you’re a connoisseur, you’ll find yourself in sparkling company. You’ll find many styles...

I haven’t counted them, but it always seems to me that Brewster has a denser concentration of galleries and antiques stores on Route 6A than any other town. Here’s a tiny sampling of shops => Ruddeforth Gallery (508-255-1056), 3753 Route 6A. Watercolors, oils, and limited edition prints of Cape Cod scenes, florals, and still lifes by Debra Ruddeforth (a signature...

The Giving Tree Gallery in Sandwich is a treasure trove inside and out: Fans of the gallery rave about the warm service and eclectic selection of fine jewelry from hundreds of artisans. Outside, paths weave through acres of marshland, gardens, and bamboo. Sculptures of birds, pagodas, and other forms appear throughout.

Jim Visbeck offers more than 60,000 antiquarian, first edition, and slightly used books, including books for children at Isaiah Thomas Books and Prints in Barnstable (the village of Cotuit to be precise). They’re divided by age group and interest. He also offers appraisals, search services, and archival materials. A marvelous place to get lost.

Jules Besch Stationers in Truro is packed — ever so eloquently — with everything you could need for setting pen (or quill) to paper. Fine cards, stationery, handmade paper, journals, cards, albums, and even candles to set the mood. The shop appears quite un-shoplike, yet still beautifully displays a stunning array of writing products. The proprietor, Michael “Jules” Tuck, will...

“Art should send you on a journey,” they say at the Left Bank Gallery. And it will — one where you wish you had run away and joined an art colony while you still could. The artists are of local and national renown. You’ll feel the effects of a hundred journeys by the time you leave, arms laden with jewelry,...

Here are a few favorite Provincetown Art Galleries to get your juices flowing => The Schoolhouse Center for Art and Design (508-487-4800), 494 Commercial Street. This venture features four galleries, among them the Schoolhouse Gallery, with contemporary photography, paintings, and sculpture, and the Art Strand Gallery (617-834-4794), with contemporary art made by a dozen Provincetown artists. William Scott Gallery (508-487-4040),...

The Scargo Pottery and Art Gallery spills out the doors and literally into the trees that surround this bright, airy studio. Whimsical is not quite the word — the works are more artful and architectural than that. A handful of artists exhibit here, including founder Harry Holl, who has been at this since 1952, and his daughters, who run the...

Susan Baker takes in the world when she travels in the fall, and pours it back out during the winter at her Susan Baker Memorial Museum. What comes out is a series of wry, uncategorizable paintings, framed in elements hewn from the architecture and icons of the image. And, yes, she’s still alive and kicking. She’s just always wanted a museum...

While studying early-Egyptian art at MIT in the mid-1960s, Bill Sydenstricker (d. 1994) developed a way to mimic the ancient and beautiful art of enameling in kiln-fired glassware. Sydenstricker glass is on display in high-end galleries in the U.S. and Canada. Visit Sydenstricker Galleries and the studio and watch each piece made by hand.

Wellfleet is an art town. In July and August, many galleries host wine and cheese openings on Saturday evening. To get you started with visiting, here is a small sampling  of Wellfleet art galleries => Cherry Stone Gallery (508-349-3026), 70 East Commercial Street. This long-established gallery carries works by Abbott and Atget, Motherwell and Tworkov (and local Cape artists). Left...

Why do people go to flea markets? Find a deal, encounter the unexpected, learn something, satisfy the shopping bug without burning through all their clam-shack money, celebrate the delicious randomness that only 300 stalls’ worth of vendors can offer… If it’s some or all of the above, you’ll find it at Wellfleet Flea Market, at the Cape’s biggest flea market....

Visit West Barnstable Tables for hay rakes, sleds, and windows that have been repurposed as mirrors. High-end tables, lamps, chairs, hutches, inspired window cabinets, and more are made from wood rescued from old boats, barns, pianos, lobster buoys. Whatever else can be taken apart and incorporated into one of their inspired creations. Who are they? Founders Richard Kiusalas and Steven...