Picture this— you’ve driven to Sackville with your family, or perhaps even flown, to check out Mount Allison’s campus and have just had your tour with one of our lovely campus ambassadors. Speaking as an ambassador myself, I imagine that you’ve (likely) decided that MtA is the best place for you, and you have accepted your offer of admission, started imagining how you’ll decorate your dorm room, started packing your bags, and told all of your friends to come with you to the small town of Sackville for the best undergraduate experience of your life. Alright, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but at the very least you can imagine that you’ve finished your tour and now have the rest of the day to explore Sackville and its surrounding area. Or maybe you’re a student here already and are pondering how to spend your time when you’re not in class, at meal hall, or studying. Look no further, because I am here to provide you with an itinerary of a perfect day in Sackville to suit all of your visiting needs.  

First, you can grab breakfast at one of Sackville’s many lovely cafés, such as Aida’s, the Black Duck, or Cranewood on Main. While each of these spots are unique, they bring their own life to Sackville’s “downtown”, and you’ll be sure to find something that suits your fancy. You can take your coffee to go and then start exploring the rest of Sackville! A must-see is Waterfowl Park, which is a lovely set of walking trails through the marsh. Surrounded by birch trees and ducks, it’s like walking through the scene of a movie. If you happen to find yourself in Sackville on a Saturday morning, you’ll have to stop in at the farmer’s market located at Bill Johnstone Memorial Park, where you can meet some Sackville locals and see what makes this community so great. You can browse some of the local shops like Tidewater Books or Blooms, grab a milkshake at Mel’s and hit up the Vogue cinema, or enjoy a peaceful afternoon sitting by Swan Pond and enjoying the scenery. Joey’s is a popular stop for dinner and offers a lovely menu, but if you really want to feel like a local, you can immerse yourself in a common Mountie habit of getting garlic fingers or pizza from one of the few pizza places in Sackville—make no mistake, you will prefer either Jack’s or Goya’s garlic fingers and this may single-handedly chart the trajectory of your next four years (the crown of “best garlic fingers in Sackville” is highly political).  

Keep in mind that these are mere suggestions and there are only so many hours in a day, but even if you select just one of items from the list above, I’m sure each will make you fall in love with Sackville just as I have. Plus, you’ll have plenty of time to check out everything once you’re attending Mount Allison next fall! Sackville is the perfect Hallmark-esque town that has the perfect blend of everything you need. Despite its smaller size, there is everything you could get from a big city university experience, and in my opinion, it lacks nothing. But I’ll leave that up to you to decide—see you soon :)