It’s the ultimate intimate shopping trip.

The free Christmas in the Country tour winds along tree-lined country roads to eight stops (in order): Art Soup Gallery in Winslow; Blakely House (1891), Rose of Sharon’s (circa 1870s), and Countrymen Stables in the south end; Fortner Books and Hazel Creek Montessori School, central; and The Christmas House (1910) and Willow Brook Farm in the north end of the island.

The tour is Dec, 6 and 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Dec. 8, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In general participants have many choices to fill Santa’s sack. That includes rustic ranch relics or fine metal sculpture, beach glass lanterns or stone cottage birdhouses, artistic bookends or new and used books, warm woolen attire or silk men’s ties, holiday decorations or jeweled boxes, grandma’s old quilt or newly crafted ones, scone mixes or herbal vinegar.

An example of the history is Countryman Stables. Open meadowland sweeps the landscape around the stables reminding us of former farms there that grew and supplied vegetables to the town of Port Blakely down the road. Rick and Kathy Countryman offer free pony rides for kids 12 and under in a covered arena, Saturday and Sunday only from 12-2pm.

Kathy’s maternal great grandfather was Cyprion Wyatt, an influential citizen of Bainbridge Island and ferryboat captain (the first to captain the ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle), who lived in the Wyatt House on the corner of Wyatt Way & Madison Ave. Sadie Woodman, Cyprion’s wife, was born in the yellow house now moved from Sadie Lane off Madison Ave. to the corner of Wyatt Way and Weaver Ave.

A preview of samples of the arts & crafts in Christmas in the Country will be displayed in the window of Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, 151 Winslow Way E. beginning Nov. 15.

At each venue, Christmas in the Country collects funds for the “Tiny Tim” Adopt-a-Family Fund established to assist local families “crippled” by financial or other circumstances. Contributions are greatly appreciated.