Bostonia, Bostonia, CA

Bostonia covers the unincorporated flatland north of Broadway between El Cajon and Santee, mostly east of Highway 67, and it is a separate place from the El Cajon neighborhood of the same name next door. A Bostonia store opened here in 1886 and fruit growers once packed their crops nearby, but today the community is a busy, practical stretch of East County with El Cajon on its mailing address. Homes come in every format. Apartment complexes cluster around Pepper Drive, and mobile home parks such as Pepperwood and Pepper Villa on Pepper Drive and Rancho Mesa and Cajon Mobile Manor on East Bradley Avenue sit alongside streets of single-family houses with modest yards. The food here comes out of plain storefronts and strip centers. Antonelli's Deli on North Magnolia Avenue is known for its hot pastrami on rye, a crispy pickle wedge and big Italian subs stacked with mortadella and provolone. Buckboard's Barbecue & Brew on Greenfield Drive smokes tri-tip, ribs and sausage over a wood fire Thursday through Sunday. El Culichi, also on Greenfield, serves Sinaloa-style birria with consomé and cabeza plates, and The Breakfast House on Graves Avenue tops its pancakes with honey cinnamon butter and whipped cream made in house. Daily errands stay close to home. North Magnolia Avenue and North 2nd Street carry markets and fast food, Parkway Plaza is a few minutes southwest in El Cajon, and Highway 67 runs along the west side toward Santee and Interstate 8. Gillespie Field sits just to the west, with an annex of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Parkland is the thin spot. Albert Van Zanten Park, across Greenfield Drive in El Cajon, fills the gap with 15 acres of lawn, three ball fields and a 440-yard track busy with walkers and joggers, and Sky Ranch Park sits just north in Santee. Beyond those, open space means a drive. Life in Bostonia runs on short trips, with a pastrami sandwich, a birria plate and the Highway 67 on-ramp all a few minutes from most front doors.