The Seven Bridges Walk, Hillcrest Farmer's Market, and Sabor Piri Piri

*** This is kind of a long one with just a bit of food at the end.

While going thru photos of our latest roadtrip(s) and of past trips to our favorite cities in the world it's always quite surprising how much walking I do....and even more; how much I enjoy it. While the Missus is more of a "real" hiker, I prefer nice walks, and even more so Urban walks, something I should do more of. A while back I was looking thru the Alltrails app and noticed something called the "Seven Bridge Walk". After walking thru the North Park Farmer's Market right after reopening, I decided that I'd go ahead and do the walk that Sunday. And to make it more fun; I'd throw in a visit to the Hillcrest Farmers Market to grab some fruits and stuff for the Missus as part of the 6 mile loop.

The walk....I really hesitate in calling it a hike; starts at Balboa Park, roams thru Banker's Hill, then Hillcrest, before ending back at Balboa Park.  It's a nice 6 miles or so. I know, you're thinking Balboa Park on a Sunday? But, I'd be starting just after 7am and Balboa Park was pretty empty, no parking issues, and most of the folks out were taking their pooches for walks.

And of course, this time of the morning belongs to the "critters".....

Everything started at the Park Boulevard Bridge....you recognize this one, right? 

This is the pedestrian bridge that crosses over Park Boulevard.

It was a quiet morning as I passed the Bea Evenson Fountain and headed down El Prado.

 Walking past Casa del Prado and Casa de Balboa made me realize that even though I've been to Balboa Park many times over the years; that I really didn't know much about it. Isn't that how it is? We've been to a few other countries and many cities in the U.S.....but I still need to learn so much more about the city I live in.

I walked down El Prado to the next bridge and passing the Museum of Us....which used to be the Museum of Man. The name change occurred in August of last year.

You know the next bridge up, right?

Completed in 1914 for the Panama–California Exposition, the Cabrillo Bridge. It's a multi-arched Cantilever Bridge.

These days the 163 Freeway runs below the bridge which was completed in 1948. 

El Prado becomes Laurel as you cross Sixth Avenue. 

I headed down Laurel and took a right turn on 1st Avenue - at this wonderful looking house.

Which made me recall the wonderful self walking tour we took in Pacific Grove. 

A few blocks up the street is the First Avenue Bridge.

It is a steel truss bridge - you can read about the history of the bridge along with why it is known as the "People's Bridge" here.

It crosses over Maple Canyon.......where I should probably do a hike one of these days to get another angle of the bridge.

A bit further up 1st, you take a right on Quince Street and where Third Avenue meets Quince you come across the wooden trestle Quince Street bridge. One of my favorites on this walk.

Here's a wonderful post on the bridge and how it was almost set to be demolished in 1987. It's a wonderful bridge, built in 1905 and also crosses over Maple Canyon. It was built to allow residents of Western Bankers Hill access to the Fourth Street Trolley.

It's worth walking across the bridge, then back again.

After walking across the bridge and back, I headed back west and took a right on 2nd Avenue. I started noticing some of the grand and unique houses along the way and took some time to "stop and smell the roses".

I really need to find a nice self guided architectural tour of the area.

I took a left on Spruce Street and found the bridge that first got me interested in doing this walk; the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge.

Down at the end of a cul-de-sac, the location seems rather discreet.

The bridge was completed in 1912 over Kate Sessions Canyon to allow access to....you guessed it the trolley lines.

Since it is a suspension bridge, it will rock back and forth, not as much as the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but you will get a slight thrill out of it. If you don't like heights and motion; you may want to skip this one.

Once across the bridge I took a right on Brandt. From here, it's rather long walk to the next bridge. Though I did see some interesting things on my way up to University Avenue.

On Brandt, I saw an honest to goodness Horse Hitching Post! 

I'm wondering when, or if, a horse has ever been hitched to this post!

   On West Walnut, I saw the tree above. It's an Angel's Trumpet Tree, which is extinct in the wild! The leaves and flowers are sometimes used to make hallucinogenic concoctions that can cause paralysis and yes, even death.

From here it was walk up 1st until University, to Hillcrest.

   And all those familiar sites and sounds.

It was pretty quiet still on this morning; it was now around 845. I had thought about grabbing a "cup o' Joe", but decided to just keep on walking to the next bridge.

To get to the next bridge, I headed east, crossing over the 163, and took a left on Vermont Street, past the mall with Ralph's and Trader Joe's.

If you've ever driven East on Washington, you've come across this bridge. 

Though I must say that I've never walked across it before.

From here I deviated a bit and walked east on Pascoe Street, which seems more like an alley, then crossed on Lincoln Avenue, then on over to Normal Street and the Hillcrest Farmers Market. It was just past 9am, so I had timed it well.

Still a bit leery in crowds, I decided to get there early to grab the Missus some produce from Her favorite vendors. Covid is still on my mind.

It felt somewhat strange and a bit surreal......and shall I say very "normal on Normal Street". Something that had definitely been missing for the last 15-16 months.

I also decided to grab something for a light lunch and decided on the Sabor Piri-Piri Stand.

By this time, it was starting to get more crowded....it was time for me to head out and get to that last bridge.

Hillcrest Farmers Market
Normal Street - Hillcrest
Hours:
Sunday 9am - 2pm

Much like the Vermont Street Bridge; if you've ever driven East on University I'm sure you drove under this small bridge - the Georgia Street Bridge.

And like the Vermont Street Bridge; I'd never walked across this one either.

I walked down to Park Avenue and took this photo.....which is probably the view of the bridge you've seen when driving on University.

From here it was a walk back to my car at Balboa Park.

It had been quite the morning and was still before 10am! I'm glad I had planned to visit the Hillcrest Farmers Market, which broke things up for me.

Back home, I broke open the Piri-Piri Chicken and Black Eyed Peas with Kale I had ordered from Sabor Piri Piri.

The piri-piri chicken wasn't very spicy to me; I'd had my share of piri-piri in Portugal and other places; this was rather mild and tame. The chicken was decently cooked, not overly dry. I enjoyed the green bell peppers. The black eye peas were nicely cooked, but kale was chopped in large pieces with large portions of the stems of the kale. The sauce was a bit too sweet for me as well. But after my 6 mile plus walk....I wasn't going to complain much at all.

Thinking over this morning made me realize that I really should spend more time exploring the city I live in...San Diego. I'm also hope that with our vaccination rates, even with the variants coming into things that this reopening is successful.

Comments

[Soo]

Wow! That was a great walk. I like visiting the market before it gets busy too.

[kat]

that walk was long but a nice way to see your area :)

[Sandy]

I did part of the walk (the bridges on the west side of Balboa Park) and had the same thought, I really should spend more time exploring SD. Some of those canyon trails under the bridges looked like fun, too.

[Kirk]

Yes, it's less crowded early on Soo!

I did enjoy it Kat!

I'm thinking about doing Maple and Florida Canyons Sandy. It'll give me a interesting view of the bridges as well.

[si]

What a coincidence - I was thinking of doing the same walk this coming weekend! (maybe minus the last 2 bridges) Glad to see you enjoyed it.

[Kirk]

I did enjoy the walk Si! Though that last part from the Hillcrest Farmers Market back to Balboa Park seemed a bit boring. So perhaps a stop at Sunnyboy Biscuits or something to break it up might be worthwhile? Have fun!

[Janfrederick]

Awesome! I've done about half those bridges, but now I want to do that 7 bridge loop. It sounds right up my alley and would be a change from the "perimeter of Coronado" trek I've done a few times, which is similar in length.

[Kirk]

Hope you enjoy it Jan!

[Jessica]

I lived in Hillcrest and University Heights for several years, and just as a matter of getting around had walked much of that northern half of the walk many times. However, I never knew it was part of a larger urban trail! I'll have to try it. Looks like AllTrails has a bunch of urban walks in the region. Thanks for this post.

[Kirk]

I am amazed at how much of San Diego I don't know much about....even in my neighborhood Jessica! I've been using Alltrails and some other sites/apps to help me find ways to get out and about.

[Lynnea Fleming]

They're all great bridges indeed! other than the suspension bridge(which I've only walked over a half dozen times or so for fun) all those bridges have been essential to my maneuvering throughout the city. Glad you had a chance to meet them too :)

[Kirk]

I really enjoyed this walk Lynnea!

[caninecologne]

Glad you were able to do the 7 Bridges Walk! It's quite fun. I have done it twice and left super early when it was still nice and cool (and at the time, deserted) out. Bread & Cie was one of the stops too, ha ha.

The Georgia St. Bridge was retrofitted a few years ago and it was weird seeing it taken apart (each block was labeled).

Bert and I have walked "under" the bridges - starting with the Maple Canyon trail which ends in Mission Hills and going back up through Arroyo Canyon.

There are a lot of hidden gems all over San Diego - fun walks and forays into nature that Bert and I discovered (and continue to frequent) during covid times.