East County

EAST COUNTY
El Cajon
Located 15 minutes east of San Diego, El Cajon is Spanish for “The Drawer,” relating to it being situated in a box canyon surrounded by mountains. One attraction to enjoy is the Cajon Speedway, a paved 3/8 mile oval NASCAR track offering weekly racing events. For more information, visit http://www.cajonspeedway.com.

Another attraction is the San Diego Aerospace Museum’s annex at Gillespie Field. The annex provides an important restoration and replica reproduction program for the Museum and has many displays available for viewing. For more information, visit http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/ Gillespie/Gillespie.html.

La Mesa
La Mesa in Spanish means “the table,” or alternately “the plateau,” relating to its geography. It is the hometown of NBA player Bill Walton, football stars Reggie Bush, and Alex Smith, actor Dennis Hopper, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and the birthplace of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. To kick off the Fall every year, La Mesa holds their biggest event—Oktoberfest.

Lemon Grove
The Lemon Grove community was settled in 1869 by its first known permanent resident, sheep rancher Robert Allison. From the 1860s to 1900 the area was known for sheep and poultry ranching and vegetable crops. In the early 1900s, the community acquired its name when large citrus groves were planted, and lemon and orange growing and shipping became the area’s major industry.

To date, there is a ten-foot-wide statue of a lemon located at 3361 Main St. It lies before a small lemon grove beside the Orange Line Trolley tracks near the local Trolley station and downtown bus stop. Written across the base of this monument are the words “Best Climate On Earth.”

Santee
The city is named after Milton Santee, second husband of Jennie Blodgett, whose first husband was George A. Cowles, a ranching pioneer in the San Diego area. Santee has one major regional park, Santee Lakes consisting of seven public lakes, a campground and other amenities on site. Santee is also home to a rock climbing area.