Unique in their own special ways, each town adds something special to your experience.
This quote comes from the Cool Little Town Tour [link removed] website. To kick off our 2011 Uniquely Alberta schedule we drove the circuit of towns in search of little coffee shops and oddities.
Stop 1 on the journey (lunch) was Nanton, known for its grain elevators (above), the Lancaster Bomber Museum, and unique historical streets and shops.
One such shop is the Willow Creek Forge, with its amazing metalwork, artistic creations, and beautiful 1905 National cash register. The cash register sits atop a custom made counter that took 8 men and a lot of ingenuity to move.
The shop is also home the canine star from Little House on the Prairie who was more than willing to pose for a photo, after getting a hug and kiss from La Niña.
Feeling the need for coffee and a meal, we next headed to the Mainstreet Cafe. Nanton has more than its fair share of independent coffee shops — the choice was difficult, but we were happy with our decision.
The last stop in town was the Nanton Candy Store where you can find just about any kind of candy, gum, mint, chip, licorice, and chocolate known to mankind. I’m obsessed with interesting little metal tins and here we somehow managed to fill a bag with a great collection of rattling, noisy candy-filled examples of that obsession.
On the menu: Lunch in Nanton, desert in High River, coffee in Longview, and ice cream in Black Diamond.
