Our Story
Welcome to Laughing Gull Dry Goods + Far & Away, Maine
Do you love sea birds? Why just limit it to the birds? How about everything coastal? A good pun? We sure do and that’s why we’re here. We bring belly laughs, huge grins, the sea, sandy beaches (rocky ones too!) and salty memories to your door and select shops in New England, the West Coast of Florida, ports in between, and across the country.
Our collection of beach-centric vacation mementos and souvenirs, apparel, home goods, jewelry, and children’s and baby clothes is artist-designed and crafted in an eco-friendly manner using recycled paper and plastic, and other materials with minimal environmental impacts whenever possible.
I was born in Rhode Island and I spent many late afternoons on the rocky bluffs with my grandfather while he painted. Later I moved to Sarasota, Florida and was a regular on the award-winning Siesta Key Beach. Eric was born in Massachusetts and lived outside Boston. To say we love the water, whether it's a beach hunting for sea glass, on our boat, the Knotty Narwal, sailing, or kayaking in a lake, is an understatement.
When visiting Maine as a family, we loved returning to some of our favorite shops + stops and discovering new ones recommended by property owners and local real estate companies that managed our weekly rentals in Northeast Harbor, and our wonderful buyer's agent, Midge Smith, who sold us our home in Surry, Maine.
Fair Warning: We’re Salty
“Salty” doesn’t just describe a mouthful of sea water when the tide takes you by surprise. It’s the Laughing Gull Dry Goods way that finds irony and humor in people, places, and ordinary life sometimes in surprising ways. If you’re looking for bags, tea towels, stickers, and t-shirts that make you snicker like, "I like big halibuts, and I cannot lie," we’ve got you covered!
Every Day Maine Inspires Us
We are inspired by the people we’ve met and the surroundings savored during family vacations in Downeast, Maine, a childhood lake “home away from home” mid-state, and a deep plunge into full-time living on the Blue Hill Peninsula. Our family of three, plus two rescue pups, feels very lucky to call Maine home even though we are “from away.” Whether beach combing for sea glass, hunting for driftwood on a scooter (yep, that’s what the kid does), or doing a U-ey to pick up an old, discarded wooden lobster trap, you'll find us making the most of Maine’s many treasures.
Even More, We are About Family, Connection, and Community
Whether you’re visiting Maine for the first time of many (trust us, you’ll be back), summering here for generations, from away and here to stay, or a proud Mainer, we are connected by our deep love for the rocky coast, the chirping chickadees, the thieving gulls, the bursting blueberries, the glistening pogies, and the legendary lobstermen who make dinner at a dockside lobster shack a feast.
By the bye, if you think you recognize where the shot with Melissa's parents was taken, bonus points. Heck, we will just tell you. It's Provender Kitchen & Bar in Ellsworth, and it is one of our favorite spots for a predictably excellent, and unbelievably creative and delicious cocktails, small plates, and a full on meal. Bring it!
XO,
Melissa, Eric & T