I have many fond memories of childhood visits to Lake Placid - an Alpine town nestled in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, with the honor of being the Olympic host city in both 1932 and 1980. Although the Adirondacks are fun any time of year, when I was little we mostly went in the winter, to ski at Whiteface Mountain - so the bulk of my Lake Placid memories are tinged with cold: learning to ice skate on the Olympic Oval, skiing every trail on Whiteface many times over, tubing down a long slide onto an icebound Mirror Lake, and ducking into the charming shops along Lake Placid's main drag to get out of the cold. Some of those shops are long gone and live only in my memory (like a hat emporium where I tried on every piece of headwear in the store, once, or the absolutely captivating toy and game shop where I could get literally anything personalized with my name - oh, the possibilities). But one shop that has remained and still graces its customary spot in town is, naturally, my favorite: The Bookstore Plus.
It really is a bookstore plus, by which I mean it's so! much! more! than just books. (Not that I need anything more than books, mind you.) There's a well-curated stationery section and lots of art supplies if you're inclined that way, which I am not. But the books are really the hero - there's plenty to choose from in every genre and for every taste, but The Bookstore Plus really excels in local offerings and Adirondack-themed reading. (For example, that gorgeous art book in the picture above - Great Camps of the Adirondacks - Steve bought and presented to me as an anniversary gift the last time we were in Lake Placid, back in 2021, and I've spent many happy hours turning its pages and gazing enraptured at the lakefront real estate.)
See what I mean? There are entire shelves of books dedicated to the Adirondacks.
Including this series, which looks fabulous. I didn't buy this, and now I wish I had, along with the rest of the books in the series. They look absolutely hilarious. I can only hope they'll still be there the next time I make my way to the Adirondacks.
Instead, I made my way here, to my favorite part of any bookstore - the classics section. There's a good one at The Bookstore Plus. I picked up a lovely hardback edition of Walden (I know Thoreau was not a Barkeater, but a book about life in the woods seemed fitting, I didn't actually own a copy, and I've been gradually buying the Gibbs Smith hardback editions of nature classics.) I never leave a bookstore empty-handed.
I also almost bought the two Elderly Lady books - An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, which I borrowed from the library a few years ago and loved, and An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed, which I have not yet read. If I wasn't trying to avoid overloading my luggage, I probably would have grabbed them.
I've bought many books here over the years (and had many books bought for me before I had purchasing power of my own - thanks Mom and Dad) and it never fails to make me smile, to see The Bookstore Plus with its whimsical window displays and wide selection of Adirondack (and other) reading material. Can't wait for my next visit.
Do you have fond memories of book shopping on childhood vacations?
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