A STORE FOR RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS, AND NOT

DELMARVA NOW
March 15, 2011

Coconut Bay Trading Company owners Leslie Carson and Wes Miles
recently opened their store in downtown Berlin/ Laura Emmons photo

FLORIDA -- Coconut Bay Trading Co., a new shop in downtown Berlin, offers a wide array of antiques, jewelry, paintings, artifacts and curiosities from around the world. "We specialize in one-of-a-kinds," said Wes Miles, who runs the store with his wife, Leslie Carson. "Customers come to find something they've never seen before." That inventory is made up of treasures Miles, a retired school teacher, has collected from all over the world. There are handpainted Russian icons, Buddha figurines, ornate Indian jewelry as well as travel-sized religious shrines from various countries. Many of the items, though, are religious artifacts of one kind or another, many close to 200 years old. "You don't have to be a religious zealot to appreciate the art in most religions," Miles said, pointing to a Tibetan Ghau, or traveling shrine. [link]