“When you cross the border and turn onto the main street, you’re immediately surrounded by trees. You take a deep breath and feel a sense of relief — like, ‘Gosh, I’m home,’” says Hannah Shucard, who grew up in Point Roberts, a 4.9-square-mile peninsula in Washington state.
Then there’s the pitch-dark, quiet nights. No site visitors lights, no sirens, no metropolis hum — simply star-filled skies and the sounds of nature.
“In spring, the frogs are really loud, and at certain times of the year, you can hear the coyotes howling,” she provides.
It’s quiet, clear, protected — a place the place folks go away their keys in their vehicles and youngsters trip their bikes to the seaside or play in the woods. Almost like a cross between a small town and a nature protect.
Idyllic, for positive, however there’s a catch: Point Roberts is a “pene-exclave” — a piece of land belonging to one nation however solely accessible by land via one other.
Anchoring the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, the 1,200-person American town is bordered by Canada to the north and surrounded by water on three sides.
While this distinctive geography presents day-to-day logistical challenges and the neighborhood is feeling the tensions proper now of tariffs and anti-US sentiment, some residents say it’s a worthwhile trade-off for the purpose’s sense of security, pure magnificence and slow-paced life-style.
It’s pure to marvel why Point Roberts isn’t a part of Canada, given it’s bodily disconnected from the remainder of the US.
The reply dates again to 1846, when the Oregon Treaty established the forty ninth parallel because the border between Canada and the United States, reducing off this little thimble of land.
Some say it was an oversight, whereas others argue the US saved the peninsula to guarantee entry to the Pacific Northwest and the world’s precious fishing waters.
By the late 1800s, Icelandic settlers arrived, working in salmon canneries and on farms. Many residents, together with Shucard, hint their ancestry to these early homesteaders.
“My grandma’s family was Icelandic and settled here long ago,” says Shucard. “She still lives in a house my grandpa built on the original family homestead and speaks Icelandic, as do a few of her friends.”
Shucard has very fond recollections of rising up on the purpose.
She describes a childhood full of household, nature and animals — her aunts, uncles and cousins lived close by, and so they even rode horses to college from time to time.
“My childhood was magical,” says Shucard. “We spent so much time outside building forts, exploring the beach, hiking forest trails. It’s the kind of small town where everyone knows each other.”
Though she moved away for early school programs after which to pursue a profession in Seattle, Shucard stayed carefully related to her household in Point Roberts.
She by no means anticipated to transfer dwelling, however the pandemic modified that. When the US-Canada border closed, visiting her aged grandparents in Point Roberts turned almost not possible.
“Before Covid, we came once a month to help out,” she says. “When the border closed, that was really hard.”
So when her job as a analysis coordinator on the University of Washington shifted on-line, Shucard and her husband moved again to Point Roberts in October 2021 to assist her household.
“My grandma turns 95 next month — we make her dinner twice a week and help around the house,” she says. “It’s been really special to spend this time together.”
Trading metropolis life for security and stability
Neil and Krystal King additionally moved to Point Roberts throughout the pandemic.
In 2020, as Covid-19 upended their lives in Portland, Neil misplaced his job as a restaurant supervisor and battled lengthy Covid, whereas Krystal had to pause her in-home behavioral remedy work to defend his well being.
Drawn to Point Roberts’ isolation, they went for a go to. But whereas they have been away, their dwelling caught hearth.
“We knew we wanted to start a family. And then we had the fire happen, and we lost two pets and everything else, and we just really wanted to feel safe and stable,” says Krystal.
In March 2021, they packed a U-Haul and moved to Point Roberts.
Four years in, the peninsula has greater than met their expectations.
“As soon as you cross the border, it feels like you stepped back 40 years in time,” says Krystal. “It’s just slow and nice. It’s quiet. It’s such a safe little place.”
While pregnant with their first baby, the Kings bought an present nook retailer and renamed it Kora’s Corner Country Store after their daughter, who was born simply eight weeks earlier than opening.
A neighborhood mainstay, the store sells penny sweet, novelty objects, native artwork, toys and Point Roberts souvenirs that the couple designed themselves.
At the again of the shop, guests will discover a Rubber Duck Museum.
A playful addition arrange by the Kings, the museum has hundreds of geese, together with 30 uncommon artifacts relationship again to 1911.
For the Kings, the true pleasure has been watching their 3-year-old daughter, Koraline, thrive in a tight-knit neighborhood.
“Everybody knows her,” says Krystal. “She’s very social, very happy, and I credit that to (our) store and the community coming in all the time and getting to know her.”
There are two primary roads — Tyee Drive and Gulf Road — and no stoplights in your complete town, simply two flashing lights on Tyee Drive.
Nothing’s too distant, and everybody’s related by simply a diploma or two.
“Back when I was in school, the librarian also drove the little school bus (and) was the janitor, as well as a family friend, because it’s such a small community,” says Kristin Lomedico, the native librarian.
Lomedico, who descended from Icelandic immigrants, additionally remembers a carefree childhood stuffed with woodland adventures and household gatherings.
She moved to Seattle for school, then Central and South America, the place her husband labored for worldwide organizations like the United Nations.
In 1982, the couple returned to the peninsula with their two youngsters to be nearer to household and have a steady homebase.
“I was glad to be home. I always missed the sea, the beaches and the woods,” says Lomedico. “You know, you can get used to anything, but you do miss what you left.”
Point Roberts usually has at the very least certainly one of all the things — one plumber, electrician, grocery store, main college, library, volunteer hearth division and meals financial institution.
The town can be dwelling to a handful of regionally owned eating places — Kiniski’s Reef Tavern, the Saltwater Café and The Pier restaurant on the Point Roberts Marina Resort — plus Kora’s Corner Country Store.
Community teams and occasions additionally add to the tight-knit feeling. From gardening and strolling golf equipment to a voter’s affiliation, a parks board, e-book golf equipment, a ham radio membership and the Historical Society, the place each Shucard and Lomedico are members, it’s an energetic little town.
“There’s a strong sense of community,” says Shucard. “You can always find something you’re interested in.”
One of Point Roberts’ largest attracts is its pure magnificence.
“I take the dog for a walk to the beach every morning,” says Neil. “As I walk, I hear coyotes howling and watch deer cross the street. At sunrise, eagles, hawks and finches fill the sky — it’s like living among the wildlife. I even recognize the local deer family and think, ‘Oh wow, they’ve had another baby.’”
Living in nature is a boon for energetic varieties, who can discover a scenic bike path tracing the sides of the peninsula, hike via the evergreen forests, play pickleball or hit the greens on the purpose’s golf course, slated to reopen this spring.
The town can be dwelling to 4 county parks — one in every nook — with every providing scenic seashores, coastal bluffs and quite a few nature trails.
For swimming, Maple Beach, also referred to as Boundary Bay, on the japanese shore, is a favourite, thanks to its delicate grey sand, beautiful Mount Baker views and heat tidal swimming pools.
“At low tide, you can walk about a mile out,” Shucard says. “And in the summer, when the tide comes in, the water is so warm from the sand being in the sun that it feels like a bathtub.”
In summer time, orcas and humpback whales are generally noticed offshore, and the perfect place to see them from land is the “Whale Trail” inside Lighthouse Marine Park on the southwest tip.
“People who love the outdoors and a peaceful getaway love it here,” says Shucard. “We constantly see eagles and seals, especially this time of year.”
Despite its many charms, life in Point Roberts comes with on a regular basis logistical challenges.
For many residents, monitoring trade charges and navigating every day border crossings are merely a part of life.
Families typically drop youngsters at daycare or choose up takeout from eating places in Tsawwassen, a Canadian neighborhood throughout the border that’s about 10 minutes away.
“We’ll pick up sushi (from Canadian restaurants) a couple of times a month,” says Shucard. “And for a fancier dinner or a concert, we will go into Vancouver.”
Most residents make a two-hour roundtrip journey to Washington cities like Bellingham or Blaine for medical care, passing via 4 border checkpoints per appointment.
This actuality makes it tougher for older residents or these needing common care to stay on the peninsula.
“It’s hard to live here as you age,” says Lomedico. “Your medical and dental care are all based in Bellingham or Blaine — you have to be able to drive there and back or have someone to help.”
Education typically requires border hopping, too.
Point Roberts Primary School, with simply five students enrolled for 2025, stops after second grade.
Unless they’re homeschooled, which is comparatively widespread, youngsters both take a bus to Blaine, Washington or enroll in a Canadian personal college to proceed their schooling. There aren’t any scheduled ferries.
“You schedule everything around border wait times,” says Neil. “We make a whole day of it — doctor’s appointments, groceries, prescriptions, errands. It’s not that bad.”
When it comes to journey, Point Roberts does have a small, single-runway airport serving US and Canadian locations through chartered Cessna flights.
However, for longer journeys, most individuals drive 40 minutes to Vancouver International Airport.
Having an up-to-date passport is important, and plenty of residents additionally depend on their NEXUS playing cards — a pre-approved traveler program — to velocity up border crossings.
Canadian couple cancels tens of hundreds in journey to the US
While Point Roberts has lengthy trusted Canadian guests to gas its economic system, latest US-Canada tensions have put native companies in danger.
“It’s a hard place to live because there’s no real industry except for tourism and cross-border shopping — Canadians coming down to buy things like gas and groceries,” says Lomedico. “And with tariffs, everything feels up in the air right now.”
The town additionally depends on Canada for electrical energy and water, and there’s lengthy been a sense that Canadians are a part of the neighborhood.
Many residents maintain twin citizenship, rejoice each American and Canadian holidays, and sometimes fly the maple leaf and stars and stripes aspect by aspect.
“Canada Day is July 1, so we put up red decorations, maple leaves and flags — everyone does,” says Krystal. “Then, on the 4th of July, Canadians come for our biggest day of the year. The main street fills up for a local parade that’s been going on forever.”
But as anti-US sentiment rises in Canada, many Canadian vacationers are boycotting US locations, together with Point Roberts.
“We’ve already received letters from vendors saying that costs are going up for American retailers,’” says Krystal.
“We’ve also received letters from regulars saying, ‘I’m so sorry you guys are going to be caught up in this, but I cannot cross the border anymore. It’s important that Canadians stand together right now.’”
With escalating tariff threats and uncertainty round Canadian guests throughout peak season, native companies are on edge, she says.
“How long will tariffs last? Will this pass? People are really nervous,” says Krystal. “But no one’s throwing in the towel. Right now, everyone’s just holding their breath, waiting to see what the next few months bring.”