Winter Gardens, Winter Gardens, CA

Winter Gardens fills the hills between Lakeside's town center and the northern edge of El Cajon, and the Census carved it out of Lakeside as its own community in 2000. Addresses still read Lakeside, but the place has its own spine in Winter Gardens Boulevard, which runs south from Highway 67 all the way to Interstate 8. Apartments and townhomes line long stretches of that boulevard. The side streets that climb away from it hold single-family houses, many of them single-story, and the higher lots look across the valley to El Cajon Mountain. The western end of Woodside Avenue falls inside the neighborhood and holds some long-running local spots. La Palapa has served homestyle Mexican food and margaritas there since 1983, and customers single out its wet carne asada burrito and Kahlua cake. Farther east on Woodside, Caffeine Queens runs a drive-thru with a royal theme and house blends named things like Off With Their Heads. Groceries are close, with an Albertsons on Winter Gardens Boulevard and a Vons on Woodside Avenue, and the same centers hold coffee chains and sandwich shops. Highway 67 is the quick way to Santee, and the boulevard's southern end drops straight into El Cajon at the freeway. Green space is the weak spot. Winter Gardens has little parkland of its own, so a walk on grass or dirt usually starts with a short drive or a long stroll. The Lakeside Linkage Preserve trailhead on Los Coches Road sits just over the line, with a steep climb through coastal sage to the stone Whitaker House, and Lindo Lake County Park and the San Diego River trail off Channel Road are both a few minutes north. Almost every errand here happens within a mile or two of home, and the ridges above the boulevard put open hillside in view from a lot of kitchen windows.