La Mesa - El Cajon

The heat reminds you that you're not on the coast anymore. La Mesa and El Cajon sit inland enough that summer feels like a different season. La Mesa Village has a walkable main street. Saturday mornings fill up on their own. Coffee first, then the kind of browsing that makes you an hour late getting home. El Cajon runs broader and louder, a commercial stretch where Middle Eastern bakeries and specialty grocers have been part of the community for decades. The smell coming out of those bakeries is reason enough to stop. East County isn't what people picture when they think of San Diego.