In September of 2002, I enrolled in a Fly Casting Course with Eli Garrett.

I paid my fee and he gave me instructions on when and where to meet.

From the lobby of the King Eddy, we ascended , by elevator, to the top of the hotel.

After a short climb up a set of dusty stairs, we entered the abandoned floor, known as "The Crystal Ballroom".

The ceiling was awesome, and we were able to practice our fly casting without fear of catching anyone or anything in the process.

This is the west wall of the ballroom.


The view from the top is incredible, and, the whole day of practice makes for a great story.

Lower Bay Street Station

"Doors Open Toronto"
is scheduled for Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, 2007

The great thing about this event is, it's Free!

This will be the 8th year of this trek into the buildings and homes of Toronto.

The program guide will be available in the Toronto Star in May 2007.

Especially significant will be the ability to see the Lower Bay Street Station that has been closed off by TTC since the demise of the "interlining" in 1966.

For those of you who are not familiar with TTC history, I will expound.

Every second Bloor-Danforth subway car would enter the lower Bay Station and turn north or south at the wye.

This allowed passengers to go downtown without having to transfer north-south to east-west.


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In January of this year, I posted a bit of information about Mickey’s Dining Car, in Minnesota.

The pictures were not mine, but I alluded to the fact that I would do “Diner Runs” once in a while.

So I've pulled some pictures out of the shoebox, dusted them off and scanned a few.

So herewith are some pictures of diners that Ruby (my red BMW ) and I visited in the mid 80's.

This is the Skylark Diner, in Edison, New Jersey. I understand that the new owners have retro-fitted this 50's diner so that it looks like something from out of the Jetsons cartoon show. Oh well.


And this is the Newark Diner, (as if you couldn't tell), in Newark, New York.
It is one of the few ceramic and wood diners that I have seen.
There is another in the Finger Lakes area of New York, and I believe the Miss Oxford, in Oxford, PA. is also constructed mostly of wood on the exterior, but the most famous one is the Wellsboro Diner, in Wellsboro, PA. It is a Sterling Diner.


Now this was a busy diner, located in north Philly.
Look closely, and you will see the name (Oak Lane Diner).
It is a Paramount Diner, and apparently has been sold.

I have also visited, the American Diner, Bob's Diner, the Domino Diner, in Philadelphia.
Daddypops Diner, the Gap Diner, the Mayfair Diner, the Melrose Diner, the Oak-Elm Diner, in Tom's River, N.J., the Penrose Diner, and Zinn's Diner, with my old friend Dot.
The Red Robin Diner, in Johnson City, New York, the Miss Batavia Diner, in Batavia, N.Y., and the Miss Albany Diner were done by myself. While the Salem Diner, the Skyliner, and the Worcester Diner, in Boston, were with my friend Woody.