Scenic highway 400
Well, I drove past two main attractions of Highway 400 this afternoon that I had never seen before. It had been about two years since I had a reason to take that particular route.
I was going south, from Highway 9 to the 401. As I worked at Wonderland for six seasons, that stretch of Highway 400 is very familiar to me. So I was surprised to see a sign that wasn’t there last time I drove through, saying “Oak Ridges Moraine - Next 10 km.” I have to say I looked for it and didn’t see anything but typical rolling Southern Ontario farmland, which is what I have always seen there. I guess it’s more subtle than an escarpment. (The Niagara Escarpment is beautiful, I saw some of it in Owen Sound and in the Hockley Valley area and it is impressive.)
Just south of Wonderland, I was taken aback of the sight of a shopping centre where there were fields before. A big shopping centre. I was like, who put THAT there? Then I saw a big sign, indicating it was the Vaughan Mills mall.
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vaughan mill malls… i made the mistake of going there before christmas and was almost swallowed up by the crazy crowds. it’s a huge monstrosity.
You’re coming from Highway 9 and had never been aware of Vaughan Mills until now? It’s not like you’re living in a cocoon. This has been talked about for quite some time now. There are plenty of people who live much farther north, east, west and south of Vaughan who were aware of this way before it was constructed.
It’s a bit different from most malls but mostly the same. The common area floors transition from hardwood to tile to carpet and there are a few new concepts that you will not find anywhere else. The Bay opened a store by the name of ‘Designer Depot’, basically anothers Winners concept. There’s an outdoors store which will suplly you with more than your require for fishing, camping hunting, etc. It’s called Bass Pro Shop. There’s a venue for Nascar enthusiasts with an indoor race track. It’s worth at least one trip and it’s not really taht far from you. A 1/2 hour drive is nothing. The crowds have really died down.
As for the signs regarding the Oak Ridges Moraine, what did you expect? Did you think that trees would suddenly appear and take the place of the farms in the area?