A SoCal Saturday Urban Hike

[Scott Gilmore]

Back on 1st Avenue, we saw this vibrant patch of San Diego Red bougainvillea. When visiting San Diego, many people don't realize that less than 100 years ago there were very few trees here at all - just some scrub oaks that rarely get over 25 feet high. This is the desert. Our water is imported, but we've put it to good use. The palms, eucalyptus, deciduous and coniferous trees are all imported.



A bit later on we came to the 1st Avenue bridge. The Brooklyn bridge it ain't, granted, but I like it nonetheless. It's 464 feet long and 104 feet high at its highest point.

By the way, all those trees you see are commonly referred to around here as fuel. (Shudder)



Hey! Who's that fine looking woman? Is she stalking me?



In 1911, the residents in this area floated a bond to build this bridge to connect the Banker's Hill area to downtown San Diego. On a clear day (which this, thankfully, wasn't), you can see halfway to Hawaii from here. Today we could see Coronado's North Island Naval Station. It's hard to make out, but there's an aircraft carrier parked there being refitted. The land beyond is Point Loma.



The bridge fords urban-wild land, not a river as it might in wetter parts of the world.

As we approach downtown, just as we come under the flight path for San Diego's Lindberg Field, there are some beautiful Victorians built when this was naught but a two-horse town and some folks had money ...

[Scott Gilmore]

This neighborhood has some beautiful old (for around here) Victorian houses.



I like the Jacaranda trees, but they're just a bit past their prime right now, sorry. A few weeks ago they were dense and heavy with blue-violet blooms.



We were making good time now just a couple of miles into the hike, so we decided to take a side trip to Little Italy ...

[Scott Gilmore]

On our way in on Cedar Street, we came across a new gelateria run by a nice garrulous young guy from Piza named Francesco. Time for an espresso and a little rest and refueling.



Hey, that girls crossing the street looks good coming and going.

Being all jittery from the coffee, we headed into Little Italy. Good pasta here, but there's more to this neighborhood than food.



We like the little John Basilone park literally built on a street corner. This is urban planning at its best.





The morning was wearing on by now, so we were getting hungry. For some reason we had a hankerin' for some good ol' down home Cal-Mex taqueria food. Hmmmm ...

[Scott Gilmore]

The great thing about San Diego is ... Mexico. It's right next door, and we get to eat really good Cal-Mex. When hungry, look for a little ramshackle restaurant. They're everywhere. Really!



See it? Look closely. This is right next to Little Italy.

There's that girl again. Sheesh!



Time for a little brunch San Diego style. Two breakfast burritos please. Extra salsa por favor!



Carol says "never eat anything bigger than your forearm."



The obligatory goofy burrito-eating face picture. Darn camera must be broken. I don't look like that!



Our mid-morning repast half decimated. Note the fancy-schmancy Italian water. This is our penance for eating burritos near Little Italy. Somehow it worked.



Oh, and the setting didn't suck at all. (I caught that pretty girl stuffing her face too!)

Our next destination was an unexciting bookstore on the other side of the gaslamp district ...

[Scott Gilmore]

Incidentally, this is our urban hiking kit. Reading glasses for our old peepers, earplugs for those places where people and machinery get TOO LOUD, tissue for noses that don't deal too well with all the smog, mold and pollen floating around, and last but not least, pepper spray for the dirtbags that infest every major urban area it seems. We've never had to use it, but we've come close a couple of times.



A good sturdy canvas bag means we don't use either paper or plastic when we make purchases.

On into downtown proper ...

[Scott Gilmore]

San Diego has experienced several booms since I came here over 35 years ago. The concentration of downtown dwelling space (rather than suburban sprawl) is a good thing in my opinion, even if it makes getting around here a real bear sometimes.





On our way through downtown we went past Chinatown. It isn't as glitzy as the other neighborhoods, but there are signs here and there. A lot of history here.



We got through the gaslamp district as quickly as possible and swung by the Pannikin. The Pannikin was founded decades ago by an acquaintance of ours named Bob Sinclair who imported coffee at a time when most Americans didn't know from Sanka. He bought cheap property in the eastern downtown area. Ever see Petco Park, home of the Padres baseball team? That land was owned by Bob Sinclair. Bob's doing OK. This is his limousine.



After picking up a book, we headed back up the hill to Hillcrest and home. Gotta love downtown.



The final chapter coming up ...

[Scott Gilmore]

The players:



Goofy Gilmore.



Carol after eating a gallon of Jamaican Me Crazy sorbet at Ben & Jerry's.



The booty from this urban outing. The book is next in line after I finish what I'm reading now, and the reason we headed out on this hike in the first place. The Field & Stream Aviator watch was a thrift store find. Carol and I browse all the thrift stores on our way back from downtown on these hikes. Today she found some shorts for two dollars (not pictured), and I found the watch for $15.

Life is good.

Ciao!