Hillcrest Pride Flag

On our list of the best activities in San Diego.

A 65-foot pole at University Avenue and Normal Street carries the rainbow flag that marks Hillcrest as San Diego's LGBT cultural district, at the corner where the city's Pride parade begins each year. It functions less like a monument and more like a meeting point: neighbors have gathered under it for celebrations, and after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando it was the first place the community came together to mourn. The flag flies at Pride Plaza, on the eastern edge of the strip lined with the neighborhood's bars, restaurants and shops.