Sometimes you just get lucky. That was the case when we decided at the last minute to hop in the car and drive from Calgary to Millarville and Black Diamond (now amalgamated with town of Turner Valley to create Diamond Valley). The first stop was the historic Millarville Farmers’ Market, but what we didn’t know was that it was all the community’s annual Fall Fair – bonus.

That was just the first lucky event of the day! The others included butter tarts, an etching and folk art.

Millarville Musings

The Priddis and Millarville Fair dates back to 1907. It was held in Priddis until 1915, then from 1916 to 1930 the fair alternated between Millarville Race Track and Priddis. From 1931 to 1945 it was decided to host the fair at the Fordville School which was halfway between the two communities. However, the fair outgrew the school’s capacity and since 1946 the Fair has been held at the Millarville Race Track. Over the years the site has been expanded with a new community hall, Quonsets, indoor arena and racetrack stands that have allowed the fair to grow and evolve with the community.

The Millarville Farmers’ Market started in 1981 and today is home for approximately 185 weekly vendors, making it the largest outdoor market in southern Alberta. It is open from 9 am to 2 pm, from mid-June to early October.

FYI: Millarville is named after Malcolm Millar who, in 1886 homesteaded in the area. A Mounted Police attachment was stationed at the Millar ranch in 1989. Today there is just a few buildings (general store, gas station, school, pet food store and a few houses) along a single street. However, the Millarville/Priddis district is home to hundreds of luxury acreages.

Millarville Framers’ Market had a nice mix of fresh vegetables and other foods, as well as quality craft vendors.

Millarville Fall Fair has everything from flowers to lego.

Millarville Quilt Show, part of the Fall Fair.

Black Diamond (Diamond Valley) Strolling

Our first stop in Black Diamond was Vale’s Greenhouse, which was much bigger and better than we thought it would be. It is definitely a hidden gem. Vale’s grows all of its perennials and perennials on site, which is a good thing given the Rocky Mountain foothills is a bit of a tricky climate for gardening. And even though it was nearing the end of the summer, Vale’s ornamental gardens were lovely and the green houses were full. We will definitely be back next spring.

The greenhouses are surrounded by gardens with ponds, pathways and impressive plantings that inspired us to “kick it up a notch” next year. There is a lovely collection of fun “love seats” to sit on. They also had a couple of amazing hydrangea trees that I was tempted to try as I saw how beautiful they looked in the gardens on my recent visit to London, Ontario (where hydrangea grow like weeds). Maybe that is my big experiment next year.

Vale’s gardens is a fun place to explore. We loved the Little Free Library with succulents on the roof.

Main Street Black Diamond

Hungry and back on Main Street aka Centre Ave, we headed to Marv’s Classic Soda Shop, for a little ‘50s nostalgia. We weren’t disappointed – the place looks exactly like a ‘50s diner complete with Formica tables, vinyl stools, a soda bar and lots of ‘50s artifacts. As you would expect, the menu is most burgers and fries, with real milk shakes served with the aluminum tumbler. My Saskatoon shake was delicious including the 10 or so berries in the bottom. The waitresses dressed in their ‘50s diner uniforms were perky and attentive, just like in the movies and TV shows.

Show me your etchings!

We the decided to wander the shops, with the first stop being the Magpie Maggie with its carefully curated vintage home décor pieces. As luck would have it both of us were immediately drawn to an abstract etching. It took us about 30 seconds of consultation to decide we should add it to our collection. We are not sure who the artist is – Curtis Brook, or maybe Brock, or Broik or is the first name Gunters? But no matter as we have a large collection of no-name or don’t know the artist’s name art.

Our motto is “if you like it buy it!” We learned this back in the mid ‘80s from our niece who was 3-years old at the time. While out shopping with us and her parents she just piped up and said “if you like it buy it!” I think we had told her we were getting ice cream after this store.

In addition to home décor items Maggie has some lovely hand-made benches for outside that were tempting. We left the artwork to be picked up later as it was raining and we had some more strolling to do.

Magpie Maggie antique, vintage home decor boutique.

Best Butter Tarts?

Just a couple of steps away from Magpie Maggie is Kaiser’s Cakery, which I had been told has great butter tarts, so of course we had to try them. Sure enough there was an entire case of them – coffee crisp, pecan, cranberry white chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, salted caramel cheesecake.

Backstory: Recently, while I was in London, Ontario visiting my Mom, we took at road trip to Stratford where we discovered by chance Madelyn’s Diner, which claims to have the “best butter tarts.” After our lunch I had to try one – they were huge and delicious – so I tweeted out I had found the best butter tarts in Canada. Someone from Calgary quickly responded that I should try Kaiser’s. So one of the reasons for the road trip to Black Diamond was to taste these butter tarts.

While Madelyn’s tarts were bigger and very good, I think Kaiser’s are in fact better, the filling was moist without being runny, and the crust was just a flaky as Madelyn’s. My cranberry white chocolate was just the right level of sweetness for my sweet tooth. Perhaps the best butter tart is the last one?

Kaiser’s Cakery is modelled after a European café with a variety of pastries and bread. Owner and baker Martina Kaiser, arrived in Canada, from Germany in 2016 with the dream of opening a traditional bakery. Afterwards, I wondered, how butter tarts, a Canadian invention, found their way into a German café.

One pecan and one cranberry white chocolate butter tart.

General Store Past & Present

Walking a few more steps south along Government Road, we stumbled upon Black Diamond’s oldest building – Blakeman’s General Store. The building is believed to have been built in 1909, but has been known as the Blakeman building since 1921 when John Blakeman purchased the building and opened Black Diamond Store. The building is still owned by the Blackman family and is leased to Bertie’s which is a modern general store, as it includes several different vendors offering everything from vintage clothing to new and vintage records. The Knot Whisperer offer massages, facials and myofascial cupping. It is also home to Tender Living Farm products that includes plant oils, skin care and custom teas.

The interior of the building is the same as it was in the 1920s, with the old iron stove still on display and one of the display counters still in use.

While most of the historic downtown buildings area gone, there are historic information panels on many buildings that tell the story of Black Diamond’s history.

Hard Knox Brewer is just a short walk from downtown. Don’t be surprised if there are some horses tied up to the railing. Not only is the beer good but they have live music on Saturdays.

The Enlightened Herb Cannabis shop is not only cute it is also home to fun collection of vintage ashtrays. It is a funky repurposing of what was once a church.

Treasure Hunting

We then wandered back to main street to check out Cool Hand Luc’s Treasure Shop, which is jam packed with collectibles from floor to ceiling. While at first glance it looks like a hoarders shop, in reality everything in clean and carefully placed in vignettes. However, we didn’t find any treasures.

We then meandered across the street to the Blue Rock Gallery that offers and an eclectic selection of Southern Alberta artist’s work, from glass blowers to woodworkers, from jewellery makers to painters. It is also bookstore and gift shop. It would be a welcome addition to any one of Calgary’s pedestrian districts - Inglewood, Kensington, Stephen Avenue, 4th Street or 17th Avenue. It was great to see the work of John Morel (woodworker), Cherry Deacon (jewelry), Dirk van Wyk (mixed-media), Verna Vogel and Audrey Mabee (paintings) and Tyler Rock (glass) to name just a few of the gallery artists.

Blue Rock Gallery has an eclectic selection of artworks, books, jewelry and cards.

Last Word

So after a day of fun, we headed by to Maggie’s to pick-up our etching, but before we headed in we notice a funky metal structure that I originally thought was a for plants, but upon examination realized it was a funky mobile. It took us about 10 seconds to say “let’s buy it!” So Brenda went in to pay and I went to get the car.

Soon we were heading home with some beer, beans and pickles from the famers’ market. Two artworks from Maggie’s and some bread from Kaiser’s Cakery. It was a good road trip!

If you like this blog, you might like these links:

Alberta Road Trip: Lethbridge’s Jail Road Rocks!

Alberta Road Trip: Crowsnest Highway Hidden Gems

Postcards: Southern Ontario’s Yellow Brick Road

Alberta Road Trip: Millarville & Diamond Valley