The best of Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB
What sounds like the gulps of a thirsty giant are coming from somewhere nearby. Or is it more like dripping water echoing off the walls of a cave? Whatever sound it resembles, I know what’s making it. The watery noises are the call of an unusual avian visitor to the Amherst Point Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
There in the morning light, standing stock still among the reeds is an American bittern, its beak pointed straight up. It’s this shy bird’s unique camouflaging technique that makes it so difficult to spot. Its long neck covered in striped plumage blends in with the tall grasses and reeds all around it. I stand equally still, watching through binoculars until the small heron senses it’s safe again and continues its slow call. “Onk-er-loink. Onk-er-loink.”
The sanctuary sits at the edge of the Tantramar Marsh that attracts many bird species and separates Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I’m here to do some bird watching and to visit the towns on either side of the border—Amherst and Sackville. My plan is to end the day with a stroll along the boardwalk at the Sackville Waterfowl Park before dusk, when the birds will be settling in for the night. Between now and then, I’ve got a couple of border town twins to explore.
With the bittern added to my life list, I hurry into Amherst for my appointment at the Deanne Fitzpatrick Rug Hooking Studio. I’ve booked a day-package through the shop, starting with a one-hour introductory rug hooking session. Fitzpatrick meets me at the door for a tour of her shop. Shelves are loaded with the softest fabrics and yarns in shades across the rainbow. The studio’s own hand dyed wool blazes in palettes inspired by famous painters like Rousseau, Lichtenstein and Seurat.
Fort Beauséjour, Fort Cumberland.
For my lesson, I select a starter kit designed and assembled by Fitzpatrick and her staff. The pattern is of a red house set against a seaside landscape. She shows me how to hold the small, hooked needle to pull fabric through tiny holes in the mesh, following the lines of the design. “Making art lets you take time for yourself,” Fitzpatrick says. “It makes you more mindful.” She leaves me to it. Strand by strand, I build a scene familiar across the Atlantic Provinces. Time and place in this cozy shop seem to slip away. I work away contentedly until someone says it’s lunchtime.
I head around the corner to Duncan’s Pub for fish and chips, then stop in at Damaris Spa and Wellness Centre across the street from Fitzpatrick’s studio for my manicure appointment, part of my day package. It’s another first for me, so I enter with some hesitation. I needn’t worry. Owner Gillian Vansnick greets me with a cheery welcome and shows me to an aesthetician’s station where I enjoy a relaxing treatment and good conversation.
Before heading out of town, I do a little shopping at Maritime Mosaic, a business incubator inside a local landmark, Dayle’s Grand Market. This was the largest department store east of Montreal when it was constructed in 1906. I meet Karen McKinnon, the shopkeeper behind the building’s resurrection as a kind of cooperative department store. “I started with 20 vendors,” McKinnon says, “But 20 went to 65 overnight.” I shop for gifts in her corner of the building where I find vintage jewelry, local artwork, and clever crafts like cozy mittens made from recycled sweaters.
It’s time to cross the Tantramar. About halfway to Sackville, I take a detour to the national historic site nicknamed the green star. At Fort Beauséjour-Fort Cumberland—a five-bastioned star fort on the Isthmus of Chignecto—I explore the remains of the 18th-century fortifications and visit the museum. Caught in conflicts between Britain, France and the emerging United States, the fort is an historical crossroads. Outside, I pause to marvel at the green terraced grounds and the sweeping views of the surrounding marshlands.
Feeling peckish, my first stop in Sackville is the Cranewood Bakery for a pastry and a look inside the restored historic building. The English sandstone country house with the tall chimneys dates back to 1836. It once served as the residence for the president of Mount Allison University, the modern lifeblood of the town.
Cranewood is just one of many cafés, pubs and restaurants in a town that caters to students and faculty. All are within easy walking distance of any downtown parking spot. The Black Duck Café and Restaurant is among the best, and I always have to stop at the Crackling Goose Market for some of their gluten free breads and baked goods for a friend back home. To treat myself, I duck into Knuckles Truffles Chocolates where they customize a box of handmade chocolates to take home.
From there, it’s an easy walk to the Sackville Waterfowl Park. Birds of all kinds that need a watery home flock here. Ducks, geese, waders, songbirds and others visit—160 species in all, including 26 that breed right here. But it’s not just the birds that attract so many visitors. Some 200 plant species grow in the park. Just before the sun sets, I catch a glimpse of a redwing blackbird, the oranges in its wing bars matching those in the clouds, twin colours evoking the cheerfulness of these twin border towns.
Ecclefechan Tart from Birkinshaw’s Tea Room & Coffee House
The Scottish village of Ecclefechan, a few kilometres north of the English border, gives its name to the Ecclefechan tart, sometimes called Border Tart. With its mix of dried fruits in a buttery coating, it could be a precursor of the Canadian butter tart, especially given the number of Scots who crossed the seas to settle here.
Ecclefechan Tart is on the menu at Birkinshaw’s around Robbie Burns Day in January. Eleanor remembers her Lancashire grandmother making a similar tart and says northern English border counties have some interesting variations.
