York Mills Subway Station

York Mills Subway 

The York Mills Subway Station is on the Yonge-University Spadina Line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It was opened March 1973 to the public and is situated at the corner(s) of York Mills Avenue and Yonge Street.  York Mills subway station serves an average of about 26,000 people per day.  The original plans for the subway was to build a railroad above ground, but nearby residents objected resulting in the alternate plan to build the railway underground. Because it is in a valley, the subway approaches the station at a high rate of speed on a steep downgrade in both directions.

York Mills Centre

Directly linked within York Mills station is access to the York Mills Centre, located on the northeast corner of York Mills and Yonge.  It contains a gorgeous food court, medical offices, two levels of shops, a fitness club, 4 interconnected office building and a private day care facility.

Hoggs Hollow / Winfield's Park

York Mills station is located in the affluent neighbourhood of Hoggs Hollow, named after a Scottish Settler, James Hogg who settled in the area in 1824.  He operated a very successful whiskey distillery and a grist mill along with his sons.  The Don River runs through Hoggs Hollow and much of the parks and trees have been preserved as it once was back in 1798 when the first settler came.  The homes in the Hoggs Hollow are high end and run from $1,200,000 to C$7,000,000.  They are surrounded by parkland (Winfield’s park) which was donated by the famous philanthropist, E.P. Taylor.

The Miller Tavern (nee Jolly Miller)-Front and Back view

Homes / Condominiums today

Much of the estate of James Hogg was subdivided in 1920, by his sons, to include homes, a church, a school and a tavern.  The Jolly Miller Tavern (1857) still remains today and is now known as the “Miller Tavern”(2004).  When I was in grade 7, I knew a lot of kids from my school who used go to the “Jolly Miller” tavern after school.  Now that I think about it, I don’t know how they were able to get in underage, but I guess I didn’t at the time.  I went to a local Junior High School in the area because it was closest to the apartment we lived in at the time.  Much of the kids that went to that school lived in the York Mills/Yonge area and were very rich.  I wasn’t.  That was my first experience in my life where I noticed that what I had, or what I thought we had, was nothing compared to what others had.  I remember during March break when a lot of the kids were talking about going to Fort Lauderdale or Myrtle Beach. I didn’t have any plans but to go swimming at the indoor pool across the park.  I was so envious of the richer kids.

Don River

But now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I realize that “you make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give”.   That makes us all the same.

Eglinton Subway Station

The Eglinton Subway Station is on the Yonge-University Spadina Line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It was opened March 1954 to the public and is situated at the corner(s) of Eglinton Avenue and Yonge Street.

It’s a fairly large station serving about 75,000 people daily and it’s also used as a switch over station for employees coming on and off duty so there are periodic delays here as well. 

There are plenty of places in and around the Eglinton Subway station to shop making it an excellent stop off to find last minute items on your way home from work.  From a bottle of wine for dinner, to food items you missed while shopping last week(24 hr Metro).  How about picking up a cheap movie or a book to read tonight or sexy lingerie for a special date? La Senza is located in the Eglinton Square located on the northwest corner as well as several other popular clothing stores for the trendier shopper.   There are several places to eat and drink, which makes Eglinton Square a plus for daters with a 9-theatre SilverCity movie house, a comedy club, food choices from casual to classy like the “Mandarin”, Boston Pizza, the Pickel Barrel, Olive Garden, Chef of India and the Duke of Kent Pub.  The classier Coquine, Zucca or Quince is great for good food and a chance to have quiet conversation.

If you want to get active, the Eglinton park is a couple block west, open in 1926, its got it all! I used to love skating there when I was young with friends, and the rink is still there, plus indoor /outdoor swimming pools and sports fields and playing areas for the kids.

Ever been at Eglinton station and wondered what ever happened to the bus terminals that were once in use?  I mean the terminals are still there but buses no longer run in and out of there.  After some research, it appears the problem isn’t on the surface of the bus bays, it’s what goes on underneath them! 

Serious problems.  The ceiling is suffering from major decay thereby making it a safety hazard.  Ceiling leaks when it rains, and chunks of cement are found on the floor of the terminal underneath.  Therefore it has been closed since 2003.  So that answers that, so what’s next? I don’t know yet, but I will follow it someday. Meanwhile, Eglinton and Yonge operate sufficiently as is, so maybe it’s just as well.

By the way, anyone suffering hangovers after Halloween parties this weekend?

You can always take aspirins and sleep it off or you can try a more healthy approach  (I bet most know this stuff, I thought I'd post it for those who may be suffering) 

• Replace the nutrients your body lost with the alcohol with water, coffee won’t do as it will dehydrate much like the alcohol.  Water, fruit juices, sports drinks.
• Your body lost electrolytes, so eat bananas, cantaloupes and try to avoid too much sugar as it also dehydrates. 
• Carrot juice will help in restoring your livers health as well. 
• Small doses of alcohol can be beneficial providing that you can limit to that, otherwise its best not to drink at all. There are plenty of mock drinks that taste just as good.

So get out and have fun whatever fun means to you and get home safely after a night on the town, riding the rails instead of driving!