Toronto's Hidden Gems, Tours Off The Beaten Path

13/01/2024

A Christmas Story, 1983. The final scene is Bow’ling’s restaurant where they first tried Chinese Turkey. The actual location is 744 Gerrard St E, Toronto, Ontario. A place called Batifole.

https://www.mashed.com/1116585/what-ever-happened-to-the-chinese-restaurant-in-a-christmas-story/

13/09/2023

In New Spain of the latter 1600's, the Utes had the ability to capture and maintain horses. Their horses allowed for movement and hunting over much greater distances.
Around the same time, other Numic speaking people historically known as Comanches soon moved onto the landscape of the Great Plains.
The Comanches (Nummuhnuh) and their Ute kinfolk quickly began a strong relationship as fellow tribesmen. The Spanish authorities noted the ever-growing power of the Utes and their Comanche allies. It was also noticed that the raiders from the North had extreme confidence in their abilities to raid communities. The Comanches and the Utes battled for control of the land and soon expanded their territory.
In the early 1700's, the brethren tribes fought for excellent raiding and trading sites along the Rio Grande River. As both the Apache and Navajo were driven out, they sought help and protection from the Spanish. Over time, the Comanches had come to control the rich grasslands of the Southern Plains and the powerful Utes towered over northwestern New Mexico.
In the 1740's, traders in Navajo country observed that Navajos had to "live on the top of the mesas in little houses of stone. And that the reason for their living in those mountains is because the Yutas and Comanches make war upon them."

Impressive historical picture of the known Yamparika Comanche Chief Howea (Gap in the Woods) by William S. Soule, Fort Sill, circa 1872. Howea is shown wearing a shirt and a patterned vest. Courtesy of the Wilbur S. Nye Collection.

14/08/2023

23/08/2022

26/06/2022

08/12/2021

Hello All!!! I m not only happy but excited to share this wonderful news!
The launching of Tricia Beth, Sweet Treats, a new Independent business endeavour.
She is here to offer not only traditional Caribbean treats but as well as non-Caribbean treats, right in time for the Holidays and ongoing!

So Far many have inquired about purchasing her baked goods because of her Artisan Touch with Heart...!

Not only do I highly recommend Tricia Beth, Sweet Treats, but delighted to know that there is someone like Tricia who is keeping the spirit of Trinidadian and Caribbean style of Baking Goodies.

Below is a list of items available for purchase. Thank you for your support!! ❤

To inquire, please send Tricia Beth an email, for further details and delivery and options.

E Transfer expected,
[email protected]

26/08/2021

Yorkville- courtesy of Leonard Poole and York University Libraries, Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, Toronto Telegram fonds. Check out this link for a detailed account of Yorkville. http://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/1974/820/1/Henderson_Stuart_R_200710_PhD.pdf

11/08/2021

https://www.slavensrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/ebooks/Wychwood_Park_Neighbourhood.pdf

History of Wychwood Park

Wychwood Park was founded by Marmaduke
Matthews, a landscape painter who purchased land
here in the 1870s with the hope of establishing an
artist colony at Wychwood Park. Matthews named
Wychwood Park after Wychwood Forest, located
near his childhood home in Oxfordshire, England.

In 1874, Matthews built the first house in the
community, at number six Wychwood Park.
The second Wychwood Park house, at number
twenty-two Wychwood Park was built in 1877, by
Matthews’ friend Alexander Jardine.

Matthews and Jardine jointly bought the land that
abutted their estates and in 1891, registered a plan
of subdivision for what is now the Wychwood Park
neighbourhood.

Wychwood Park is historically significant for
the architecture of its homes, and for being one
of Toronto’s earliest planned communities. The
Wychwood Park neighbourhood was designated
as an Ontario Heritage Conservation district in
1985.

Homes in Wychwood Park

All of Wychwood Park’s houses are listed on the
Toronto Historical Board’s Inventory of Heritage
Properties. A handful of the first Wychwood Park
houses were built in the late 1800s, however, most
of the houses in Wychwood Park were built in
stages between 1906 and 1935. A few houses were
also built in the early 1950s.

Many of the older Wychwood Park houses
were designed by Eden Smith, an architect who
specialized in the English Arts and Crafts house
style. The influence of Smith’s traditional English
house forms are evident throughout Wychwood
Park.

16/06/2021

I m so delighted to announce the launch of my first upcoming, "the late 70s to 80’s Subcultural Music Walking Tour", For Match.com.



Revisiting an era when a generation began to carve out personal narrative outside the domain of popular culture. During the latter part of the twentieth century, between the decades of the late 1970s and throughout the'80s when the so-called New Wave movement was popularly proclaimed by the Media as something New.
When like-minded restless souls from in and around the GTA flooded the downtown core and took part in shaping the early days of the alternative and club scene. At the same time, they witnessed revitalizations and the synthesis of a new spirit of enthusiasm being added to the previous decades of cultural and musical movements of great inspiration.
Among it all, hybrids emerged out of previous subcultures and formed new artistic expressions that flowered in and around the downtown core of the City. Where older historical buildings, abandoned and unused commercial spaces once stood, local entrepreneurs and from abroad, independent artists, designers, and DJs seized it all, reshaped and redeveloped them into distinct after-hours nightclubs, bars, used clothing shops, independent record stores. Catering to bohemians, misfits and outsiders who all came together and individually synthesized vintage fashion with New Music.
The spirits and memories of that time still live on within the hearts of individuals who lived and experience that vibrant time. See Less