Shopping in Lyndon

Jason Shepherd, named Best Tobacco Store by LEO Weekly readers in 2010 and 2011, fills his shop with a trove of artisanal and name-brand cigars and holds regular tasting events. Inside the shop’s humidor, boxes from venerable makers such as Oliva and Avo are stacked neatly to the ceiling alongside innovative newcomers such as Studio Tobac. A broad selection of Ashton Virgin Sun Grown stogies perfume the air with Ecuadorian, estate-grown wrappers, whereas La Flor Dominicana cylinders boast a proud history of not exploding. Customers can also stock up on accessories to humidify, cut, and light their cigars.

The style-savvy staff at Red Tree helps homeowners to embellish abodes with distinct, antique-style décor, solid mahogany furniture, and other regularly changing inventory items imported from around the globe. Made by hand from kiln-dried mahogany, Red Tree end tables, china cabinets, and chairs are draped in hand-painted finishes or fabrics chosen from an eclectic collection.

Eight showrooms residing on two floors allow shoppers to peruse kitchen, office, and bedroom furniture, mirrors, bookcases, and knick-knacks. In gratitude for its harvests of rich mahogany, Red Tree peppers international communities with live trees as part of a tree-planting initiative and a trade treaty signed with Mother Nature. So far, as part of its commitment to the environment, Red Tree has planted more than 300,000 trees.

Lamps ensconced in metal shades toss warm beams across New Earth Garden Center's verdant showroom, where thriving basil, tomato, and hot-pepper plants demonstrate the dirt-free wonders of hydroponic gardening. Organic provisions for soil-less and traditional planting fill shelves and display cases with supplies such as nutrients and fertilizers, eco-friendly pest control, composting supplies, and heirloom seeds whose plants bear hardy blooms, unique fruits, and stories from their seedling days of climbing trellises uphill both ways. Robust collections of wheatgrass growing kits also guide gardeners through the two week process of nutrient-packed projects and inspire future harvests.

The atmosphere of Bluegrass Blends percolates with the energy that radiates from fresh-brewed coffee drinks and healthy shakes packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Friendly baristas chat with customers as they pull fresh shots of espresso, which form smooth, creamy lattes when topped with steamed milk or frothed with a soprano saxophone. All-fruit smoothies brim with colorful blends of berries and bananas; peanut butter, soy milk, or whey powder hop into the mix to create hearty protein shakes. The café’s libations find sweet and savory counterparts in a menu of baked goods such as muffins, bagels, and all-natural oatmeal.

The rich soil of Walnut Grove Farm—tilled throughout more than 150 years and four generations—sprouts with flowers, shrubs, and trees sold in an eponymous onsite nursery. Arched greenhouses plant their pillars in the grounds' northwest corner, where they shelter shrubs such as boxwoods and holly, annuals such as petunias, mums, and pansies, and more than 80 fragrant perennials. Mulches chipped from hardwoods and cypress join peat moss and compost to blanket exposed roots, and a Gardener's General Store stocks country essentials ranging from grass seed to locally laid eggs. Walnut Grove's green-thumbed experts also emerge beyond the nursery walls to beautify lawns with landscape designs and routine maintenance such as edging, weed control, and flamingo herding.

Since 1971, Doo Wop Shop has outfitted musicians and event hosts with a bevy of rental equipment, instruments, and music accessories at discount prices. Four locations burst with Roland keyboards, Zildjian cymbals, Washburn guitars, and live sound and recording gear for rent as well as sale. The shop also has everything needed to throw a full-on karaoke bash, from PA systems to discs of the latest hit songs and tongue-twisters.