US Post Office

I accomplished a bucket list item by sending mail from the Point Roberts post office this week. (Tell a Vancouver local, they’ll laugh at you. Tell a mainland American, they’ll gasp in awe.) I specifically went out of my way to have mail stamped at this location. Mail which contained excited messages to the recipients about checking out the postmark and hey, LOOK HOW COOL THIS POSTMARK IS!
To their dismay and my ultimate disappointment, turns out Point Roberts boats its mail to Seattle for postmarks. The mail I sent has a Seattle postmark. That’s not what I paid 49 cents and crossed a border for.
Get it together, Point Roberts post office! Do we need to start a GoFundMe to get you a postmark stamp???

Anyone with a passport just needs to drive up to Point Roberts. Not specifically to see this post office, but because Point Roberts is a geographical oddity. Look it up on Google Maps.
Anyway, I had to cross the border twice to get here and I was racing the sun to get here before it was too dark so I could take my photo in front of the post office.
I gingerly drove through Canada, so I would not get a ticket for speeding and plus they basically have no lights on the highway so it’s dark as hell and my eyes aren’t great. Anyway, I digress, I made it back the U.S. border around 6:00 p.m. and drove the speed limit whilst in the Point. I passed several gas stations that have the prices in Canadian dollars, and the lack of street lights continued into the Point so I basically had to drive around the whole time with my high beams on.
Right across the street from a gas station, sits this post office. I turned my high beams on and backed into my space and captured my pic in front of the post office. I accomplished my mission! Then I proceeded to drive around Point Roberts, which wasn’t a good idea at night as you can’t see when you’re about to drive into the ocean on some streets. I’ll definitely be going back up when it’s light out so I can truly take in Point Roberts and get a better photo of the post office.

Expect to wait!
As the last reviewer said, it’s not their fault; but when I went there was only ONE wicket open, not two. So I waited a long time. The worker was extremely efficient and friendly, so that was great! Just wish they had longer opening hours. The sign on the door says they’re open 12:15 to 1:15 Saturdays (gee a whole hour) but only for pick-​up!

Apart from the line-​ups (not exactly the post office’s fault — they only have two wickets, and a small staff since the lineups come and go all day — unpredictably, it seems, though later in the day is always worse than earlier — go before noon and you will likely leave happy), this is a great place to do business. Shipping is much cheaper, significantly faster, more reliable, and more easily tracked than Canada Post (not saying much, I know!), plus the staff at this location are top-​notch. Over the years, I have been a customer at this location in both business and personal capacities, and they are equally friendly and efficient whether you are bringing in a single envelope to go first-​class, or a bin full of parcels that all need separate consideration; the other customers in the line are not nearly as understanding, I assure you.
You can actually mail parcels at other locations on the Point, but those shipping depots have to charge a fee above the cost of postage, because they then send an employee down to the actual post office once a day with a large bin of those parcels to send out and thereby annoy the other customers who are in line there… ask me how I know this!
There is no way around the fact that, if you are shipping something to the States from Canada, and you live near enough to the border, it’s a better idea to bring it across the border yourself (yes, declare it!!) and mail it from this post office, than any other way. I can send a small box to my sister in Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, and for about $ 6 she will receive it in pristine condition on Friday afternoon. WTG US Postal Service :)
Obviously, being a US government-​affiliated institution, the Post Office Cannot take Canadian currency. You can pay with US cash, major credit card, or any debit card usually accepted in the US (i.e. BMO yes, CIBC no). Sadly, this location is only open briefly on Saturdays and is for parcel PICKUP ONLY (ie if you get a peach-​coloured slip in your mailbox or PO box stating that your parcel did not fit, or required a signature).