A New Old Town

Rain or shine (and rain it was!) I knew I would have a blast today playing tourist in Old Town, Fort Collins, Colorado. Much of this area reminds me of places I've seen in movies growing up. Perhaps that is no coincidence, since Fort Collins was actually used as a model to create Disneyland's Main Street. The architecture of Fort Collins is comprised of a variety of styles, but on my meandering stroll I mainly witnessed a lot of art deco.

I spent the day hopping from one store to the next in order to stay out of the cold and rain. The shops here are big on niche market products. For anyone who seeks antique, vintage, quaint, or earthy items, Old Town is the place to explore. Fans of Victorian era style may particularly find themselves delighted by the trinkets they discover.
 

Inside The Perennial Gardener, it looks like a fairy wonderland exploded and hit everything except the floor. At first it is hard to comprehend the sheer amount of stuff that exists in this shop. Right as I walked in, I saw a plethora of knick-knacks filling the space from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. My immediate response was to utter to myself in disbelief. Every corner of the shop looks like this! The store sells a wide range of items meant for both interior decoration and outdoor gardening.

Nature's Own seems like the kind of gift shop you would find at a science museum. The coolest things I found here were real animal specimens, like the ammonite fossils above. Ammonites are an extinct group of molluscs closely related to octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish. Some fossils are found with a mineral called calcite filling the shell pockets, giving the specimen the appearance of a neat-looking gemstone.

Of course, it wouldn't be an "old town" if there wasn't an independent bookstore! I love finding shops like these because they are becoming ever so rare these days. Old Firehouse Books had a lot of entertaining merchandise, including a book of Grumpy Cat postcards. I managed to say no to that one. Somehow.

The bookstore displays a little paper art to encourage people to read. Although, I must admit this rather encourages me to try cutting up an old book into fun shapes instead.

Overall, my first outing wandering about in an unfamiliar town was a pleasant one. Not every day is going to be a window shopping or an "I feel like I'm on vacation" kind of day, but it's good to take them when I can. People here are very friendly! Perhaps they just want to represent a little bit of Main Street charm.