Recently on the City Cast Salt Lake podcast, the team shared their favorite staycations around Salt Lake. While experiences are great, I also love a good trinket to remind me of a trip. So where should you shop for a Salt Lake souvenir, whether you're treating yourself or sending an out-of-towner home with a piece of Utah?
My favorite spot for the classic souvenir, but elevated. (Get it? Life Elevated? OK, moving on.) You'll find fine art and prints featuring Utah's natural beauty, locally made soaps and candles, and yes, the requisite magnet. The shop features work from more than 350 makers, most of them local, all of them small and independent. Wear your love for Salt Lake on your sleeve … or on your Stanley or your fridge.
Note: The 9th & 9th location is not wheelchair accessible, but the Fashion Place location in Murray is!
Another 9th & 9th favorite, Mochi Kids is packed with the funnest toys, clothes, games, and craft supplies to take back to the kids you're temporarily abandoning on your staycation. You may also end up with a sheet of stickers for yourself because vacation is about finding joy. And breaking news, they just opened a trinket swap! Give a trinket, take a trinket.
You may recognize Mochi Kids from their screen-printed T-shirts at events like Craft Lake City. They've since grown into a full brick-and-mortar and online shop stocked with much more than tees, while continuing to support local printers and socially minded causes.
Think of it as the farmers market that never closes. With four locations across the valley, it's the easiest way to stock up on local favorites year-round: June Pie, Milk Honey yogurt, Cutler's Cookies (my personal champion in Utah's cookie wars, but that's a newsletter for another day), and dozens of other Utah-made treats.
If you want a souvenir you'll actually use, grab a bottle of Redmond Real Salt. It’s harvested from an ancient dry seabed in Redmond, Utah, in Sevier County. Every pinch can transport you right back to your vacation.
Nothing says Utah quite like an old guy with a beard and an affinity for ancient texts.
Since 1997, Ken Sanders Rare Books has specialized in Utah history, Mormon studies, Western Americana, national parks, the Colorado River, and the literary West. Inside the old Leonardo Museum, browse three floors of new and used books, artwork, collectibles, and ephemera. Even if you leave empty-handed, it's worth wandering the stacks and imagining what treasures are hiding on the next shelf.
