For as long as I can remember, no trip to Banff has ever been complete without a visit to The Banff Book and Art Den. Unfortunately, that tradition is now at an end. In February, The Banff Book and Art Den closed their doors for good. I don't know all the reasons why but I suspect that a water main break early in February might have been the last straw.
When I was in junior high and high school, I used the same journal notebook for years. Every summer on the way home from vacation I would pick up another journal from my favourite shop. At the time, it was still located in the Clock Tower building.
On one of our first dates, Evil Scientist and I had a small fright when we went to the store and found it closed. It was then that we read the sign and realized that they had moved to a new shop further down Banff Ave.
I never left without purchasing something. Aside from books, over the years, I picked up a number of unique things. Poetry Dog Tags, a silver and pearl necklace, burned cd kits; there was never any limit to the unique things the store carried. My last purchases would have been this Christmas while I was on my ski vacation. I picked up a couple books for Evil Scientist including one about the best places to camp in Western Canada for families.
It makes me sad that my kid(s) will never get to enjoy the tradition of stopping into the Book and Art Den on the way back from a camping trip in the summer.