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Cheers Tavern. Most of you jump right into a sitcom, but for locals of East York, Toronto, Cheers is their handy Moe’s Tavern on the Danforth. Unless you were there, and maybe even if you were, you wouldn’t know there was anything particularly special about it. It was a vast and yawning space, eerily vacant everywhere save the bar, where Joe served up the sauce to a small handful of faithful alcoholics.

Yes, I was for a time one of the regs, by chance of course. I do so love a dive, and this one happened to be near the little white house where I briefly lived.

Cheers and I were introduced at the exact intersection when my imbibing averages skyrocketed in the aftermath of losing Marko. As time gave some opiate and relief to some of the grief, so did I find myself having fewer nightcaps, more spaced out, getting back to normal. By natural turn of things, I moved into another home, and by chance the new dive is called The Black Swan. 

There are probably 129 bars along the Danforth that I have never been in, but I was part of the human history at Cheers, and witness to the fact that no strata of society is without story.  Cheers was the sprawling kingdom of a robust and fiery gentleman named Joe, who had previously owned a peeler bar, and had been at Cheers for many, many years. I am speculating to think that might be twenty years but I recall an impression that Joe and his brother had had it forever. He spoke often of the good old days when his brother was still alive. Two years before, the brother, Joe’s musical partner, died of cancer. Joe had been depressed ever since, but still sang Italian love songs on Saturday nights.

Briefly Joe opened a kitchen. A spitfire redhead, stick thin with boundless energy, served back-bacon sandwiches and Cheez Whiz. Bonnie was seventysomething with a hot younger boyfriend, a silverfox with a gentle and handsome face. Bonnie was recovering from breast cancer and had outlived three husbands.

The trailer-bacon sandwiches were a staple for my friend Zoe, and that’s what she called them, Zoe whose name means life, Zoe who died over Thanksgiving. Falling apart, and feeling alone, feeling empty and sad, I went back to our old stomping ground for some of Joe’s wisdom and the comfort of a few fast shots. The place was boarded up. Joe had moved on. I stood and cried. 

This is the kind of place that feels like an old Johnny Cash song. In fact, Joe attributed the decline in clientele to a fatal shooting that happened several years ago, and not to the gino music he let fly.  It happened near the pool table. Joe pointed, and I could picture the police chalk outline on the tiled floor, just like Law and Order. Except I just felt so totally safe there.

Cheers Tavern. During the construction and renovations with the new hopeful owners, it crumpled to the ground a few weeks back. Two cats were fatally injured and none of the 30 tenants upstairs were killed. The collapse occurred on Friday, January 11, 2008. Cheers, of all the places stretching along Danforth endlessly, it was my own private dank sanctuary that fell to the ground. I was there with my brother. There with my mom. With Zoe, whom I wish would return and take another chance on this thing called life. With a lover who shall remain nameless. With Donnarama, who braved bullets to do drag in the east end. With my oldest artist friend, and also with my oldest friend left living, who noticed immediately the smell of piss creeping faintly and insidiously from the basement. With A. my ally or once I so thought, who ‘went nuts’, yeah dude right, whom I loved, in error or not. With the mad and the sad and the crinkled old bat and the wildlife sketch artist and the hot local pool sharks with their arm muscles rippling as they paused thoughtfully with that cue in hand, with no one but my diary and my tears, with the fiercest team I have, that was Cheers.

So much has changed. But you can’t go back to a place that’s gone. We used to bring our own music in to avoid the saccharine shice that Joe had kicking around. Eminem. Confessions on a Dancefloor by Madonna. Zoe danced to Miss Chatelaine. All of us crooned That’s What Friends are For one night, like all good little girls do at drunken karaoke. Johnny Cash, of course, and Lucinda Williams.
Cheers Tavern isn’t there anymore, but somehow that made it all the more an unlikely and relevant place in my life. In Zoe’s favourite book, The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood said, “Time in dreams is frozen. You can never get away from where you've been.”

You can access Lorette C. Luzajic’s blogs, Little Miss Chatterbox and The Literary Addict, plus her artwork, other articles, bio, poetry collection, and fan mail, at www.thegirlcanwrite.net.

Living in Toronto, there are many bars and restaurants to choose from. Our family lives in Scarborough in the east end of the city just off of Dan forth Ave. There are many bars in our area, but in all the years we have lived here we have never really frequented any of them. There was one bar in particular that stood out to us, The Black Bear Pub. It is situated at the end of our street and just up the Dan forth, yet we had never gone in. One weekend having no plans we decided to go and have a drink at the Black Bear. We were really not sure what to expect? The bar itself is small, but has a certain rustic charm.

It is run by an oriental man named Mark, along with a couple of servers. At night the lights are dimmed and there are twinkle lights on the ceiling. The small bar is stocked with liquors and bottles and of course the beer is flowing. There is a small kitchen in the back that cranks out great food, as we discovered. Every Friday and Saturday the bar hosts karaoke that is hosted by an offbeat humorous man coined “Hawk.” He keeps everyone on their toes and singing well into the night. There is a well worn pool table at the front of the bar which is constantly in use. Beside that nestled in the corner is a jute box that fills the bar with tunes. We settled in and discovered that for a small bar it filled up quickly!

As we got more acquainted with the bar we met a couple that were around our age and we hit if off! We enjoyed that first night so much we decided to keep going. It was easy to see that there were regulars at the bar and everyone seemed to have a lot fun and get along together. There were definitely characters among the regulars and they know who they are! They were all great people and we bonded quickly. My husband and I even started singing karaoke every weekend. Along with the going to the bar, we also started to associate with the clientele outside of the bar. We went to barbecues and hosted a couple ourselves complete with a fire pit, swinging tree chairs, music and laughter.

We have all become good friends and help each other out when needed. If you are looking for something to do on a weekend, try a night out at The Black Bear pub. You may make a friend or two and you are sure to be entertained!

Toronto Eaton Centre

If you live in Toronto, you know that it is a metropolis of shopping adventures. Not only can you find bargains but there are also upscale shops to visit. Tourists and visitors love the shopping too.

One of the greatest shopping malls in the city is The Toronto Eaton Centre. It houses 250 stores and is the third largest mall in Canada. Here you can find bargains that will appeal to everyone.

It has every store you can imagine. If you get hungry they have every imaginable food choice and food courts to enjoy your fares in. The Eaton Centre is always packed, so be prepared to fight the crowds. However, if you don’t mind then you shouldn’t miss out on this shopping experience.

Honest Ed’s

Another interesting shopping experience is located in the west end of the city referred to as the Annex. The store is called Honest Eds. It is a Toronto landmark and has been around since 1948 and belongs to the Mirvish family. The store is popular for giving away turkeys at Thanksgiving and helping the less fortunate. It is their way of giving back to the community. The store is really a giant bargain centre with many levels. It can become confusing when you are actually inside. It is designed somewhat like a maze. However, it is definitely worth an afternoon to view all the sale items inside. However, be prepared to fight the masses for those bargains in some cases.

Kensington Market

If you head downtown you can visit Kensington Market next to China Town on a Saturday afternoon. It is a different shopping experience then the usual malls and outlet stores. It is sort of like visiting a whole different world. It has cheap and used clothing, food, furniture shops, restaurants and organic stores. You can enjoy cool cafes and wonderful restaurants. Kensington actually has one of Canada’s only cannabis cafes and boutiques and some head shops.

St. Lawrence Market

To me this is like shopping on a farm. The huge building is like a barn. It hosts 50 food specialty vendors and a gallery on the second floor. There is a North market which hosts a Saturday Farmer’s Market that is always packed. You can browse fish, meats, and cheeses in every variety imaginable. You will probably leave with something you have never tried before. There are little shops that you can explore and the whole space is quaint in nature. If you visit on Sunday, there are more than 80 antique dealers in the North building.

Queen Street

Queen Street runs east and west through Toronto. It definitely has it all from retro shops to restaurants to the beautiful beaches on the east end. In fact Queen St has some of the best known clubs and cafes. These areas are considered trendy and the bohemian and important people all want to located somewhere on Queen St.

The beaches are also a lovely attraction in the summer months. You can walk along the street and visit the many stores, have an ice cream or a meal. Usually, vendors will set up right on the sidewalks. There are festivals and music events that attract many people and shoppers. Then you can walk down to the sandy beach and walk along the boardwalk. If you are truly hot you may even want to take a dip!

Bloor-Yorkville

For most of us this area is fun to visit but the shopping may not match our cash flow. This area is recognized as one of the top shopping destinations. In fact, it has been compared to areas like Fifth Ave, Rodeo Drive and the Magnificent Mile in L.A. In this area you will find an elite shopping experience with stores like Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Harry Rosen and William Ashley. The shopping centers like Hazelton Lanes, Manulife Center and Hudson’s Bay there is opulence everywhere. If you are tired you can even hire a personal shopper or hit a spa for some relaxing treatments. There are over 125 spas, hair salons and estheticians to indulge your needs.
 

Here in Canada, we definitely love our coffee. One of our most cherished coffee shops is Tim Hortons. In fact, it is so popular that it outnumbers Starbucks people 4-1. There around 3,000 Tim Hortons shops in Canada and around 300 in the U.S. Tim Hortons are so big it is considered a Canadian icon and a huge part of our culture. Canadians have lovingly been referring to Tim Hortons as “Timmy’s.” for years.

It was founded by Tim Horton a hockey player. When the store started out they offered police officers free coffee because a founder was a retired cop. All you have to do is enter a Tim Hortons to understand why it is loved so much. No one can mistake the smell of Tim’s coffee. The donuts, muffins, soups, sandwiches and timbits all seem to call to you to have a serving. Everything they make is baked fresh and delicious. Hopefully, you aren’t starving when you enter the store because the line-up could be lengthy.

However, when was the last time you saw someone leave a line at Timmy’s? Tim Hortons is so popular and loved that our Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan want Tim Hortons to set up shop on the Kandahar Air base! The store is expanding their menu and introduced a breakfast sandwich in Canada and promoted its chilli and garlic toast in the U.S.So are Canadians addicted to our Tim Hortons? The answer is, “Yes”! There have been some rumours in the past about them putting nicotine in the coffee and higher levels of caffeine.
 However, these rumours are false, so the mystery of the love of Timmy’s continues. Then with the “Roll up the Rim to Win” contest Tim’s coffee was even more popular. Personally, I don’t want to share our Tim Hortons with the States, but there is no stopping the growth and love of this unique coffee shop.