LL Bean is an institution. They’ve been suppling hunters, fishermen, and people who just need quality gear since before everyone reading this was born (1912). I’ve always thought of LL Bean as a mail order or online store only. I never even knew they had retail locations until a few years ago.

Mecca is still Freeport, Maine for LL Bean lovers but I made my first visit to a store in Victor, NY just outside of Rochester.

The store was fantastic. It was great to see and touch the items I had previously only seen online. Sometimes just the catalog or the website don’t tell the whole story. This is especially important with their boots and shoes.

My wallet didn’t survive the visit but I came out happy. I had been eyeing the Maine Lodge Boots and I pulled the trigger while I was in the store. I’m glad I waited to see them in person too because I ended up going down a half size.

Wait there’s a pair of jeans in that picture too.

The problem with going to a store is that sometimes you see things that you had no intention of buying. Tucked away at the edge of the men’s section was an innocent looking rack of jeans. I didn’t even notice them the first time I walked by. But on the second time around I noticed the “1912″ tag and the selvedge on the inside of the cuff. Yep, limited edition 1912 selvedge line.

I read about these over the summer but had completely forgotten about them. They are only available in stores and they just so happened to have a nice selection at the Rochester store. They were on sale too! How could I resist?

I think a pilgrimage to Maine is in my future.