Dan Freeman's Leatherworks

Dan Freeman learned to make shoes over thirty years ago in New Orleans. Now he practices his art in a small shop off of Route 7 in Middlebury, Vermont.

Dan custom makes all types of shoes including dress, sneakers and boat shoes but is best known for his equestrian and hiking boots. For every shoe, Dan creates a custom form modeled after the foot of a customer. Dan keeps all of these customers' forms in the back for future use.

Dan requires customers to make multiple sizing visits to his workspace in Middlebury, and ohh yahh, they cost $1,800.

Day Hikers. Dan uses Vibram soles for all of his rubber soled shoes.

Forms for Equestrian boots and a pair of his early work.

A view of Dan's shop and his apprentice.

Dan makes these labels himself.

I loved these sandals. Very simple, high quality and 1/10 the price of the Day Hikers.

I love the simplicity of the design. These will last forever.

If I ever have the money to purchase a pair of $2,000 custom made shoes, I will certainly support a shoemaker like Dan Freeman. His trade represents the last of a long tradition craftsman who learn by apprenticeship, not a $50,000 a year college or an online course. Dan doesn't have a website and does all of his business out of his workspace. Customers fly to Vermont from all over the US to have Dan make their shoes. After spending twenty minutes in his store I can see why.

Here are some more links,
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks (Picasa),
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks.

Nova Scotia in October

After spending eight hours driving down Route 1, we finally crossed over a small inlet in the Bay of Fundy into the land of "aboots," hockey obsessions and Tim Horton's. For three hours we trekked through gloomy suburbs and seemingly endless slabs of farmland until we made it to Canada's Atlantic Playground: Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia feels like Maine without the discount Burberry and Timberland outlets. It's rugged, has extreme weather, and is unpopulated.

A small camping ground and surf shop outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Sunrise on Lawrencetown Beach.

We woke before sunrise, packed up our tent and got in the water just as the sun was coming up.

Surf's up...

Surfing when the water is warmer than the air is an interesting proposition. The air was in the mid 30's and the water was in the high 40's. After 45 minutes the swell started to die down and the wind picked up. With the haste that only a surfer in freezing conditions knows, I jumped out of my wetsuit and into wool socks and my Mackinaw jacket.

Yours truly freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off after playing in the water.

After a wild 24 hours, I headed down to Yarmouth, hopped on the CAT and five and half hours later I was back in the U - S of A.

Here are some more links,
Nova Scotia in October (Picasa),
Down East in October (ART),
Down East in October (Picasa).

Down East to Nova Scotia in My Danners

These boots are made for walkin'.

And thats just what they do.

I love my Danners. They are made in my home town of Portland, Oregon.

Here are some more links,
From Down East to Nova Scotia (Picasa),
Danner,
Down East in October (ART).

Down East in October

Last week I set sail with two of my roommates on Coastal Route 1 for the eastern-most part of the United States: Down East Maine. We packed up Dan's car with our surfboards, sleeping bags and an old Eureka Camping tent from my College's outing club and headed due east.

Ranging from Belfast to Quoddy Head, the Down East region is the most unexplored coastline in the East because it's simply a pain the ass to get to. It is three hours from Portland, six hours from Boston and ten hours from New York.

For two days, we cruised up Route 1, following the coastline and making trips down gravel roads in search of views.

A wind turbine nestled in a corn field.

By night we squatted on empty plots of land such as this subdivision. Early morning fog near Winter Harbor.

An outhouse in Quoddy Head State Park.

One of our squatting campsites in a housing development near Bar Harbor.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Tucker overlooking the Atlantic.

At night my -20° F rated sleeping bag made the temperatures in the low 30's feel cozy and inviting and my wool socks and jacket kept me warm in the early morning coastal haze. After 400 miles of driving on and around Route 1, we finally crossed the border over a small cove in the Bay of Fundy and began the second leg of our trip.

Here are some more links,
Down East in October (Picasa).