Navigating Hillcrest During Pride Week: Your Ultimate Bluestocking Books Guide

 

🌈 Navigating Hillcrest During San Diego Pride Week (July 11–19)

Expect heavy traffic congestion, strict no-parking zones, and major street closures throughout Hillcrest as our community celebrates San Diego Pride! 

Street closures roll out heavily starting Friday, July 18, through the massive parade on Saturday, July 19. Because Bluestocking Books is located at 3817 Fifth Avenue—just blocks from the main parade path—driving and parking nearby will be nearly impossible.

We highly encourage you to utilize alternative transit to pick up your book orders and summer reads.

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🚌 Smart Transit Options to Visit the Shop

• Free Pride Shuttle
  Park your vehicle for free at the Old Naval Hospital parking lots (Park Blvd. & Presidents Way). Hop on the free San Diego Pride Shuttle, which drops off at Essex and Vermont Street—just a short walk to our shop. 
• Public Transit (MTS)
  Ride the MTS Trolley to a nearby station and catch a bus into Hillcrest. Please note that bus routes 1, 3, 10, 11, and 120 will utilize detours on Saturday, July 19. Check the MTS Pride Parade Alerts Page for updated stop locations.
• Bikes & Scooters
  Beat the traffic entirely by using two wheels! A dedicated bike and scooter corral will be hosted nearby at Balboa Drive and El Prado.
• Ride Share
  Avoid parking hassles by booking a rideshare service. Expect surge pricing and plan for drop-offs a few blocks away from the main street closures.

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📚 Pride Weekend Store Hours

Despite the street chaos, Bluestocking Books will remain open for our regular business hours to make sure you can get your books:

• Saturday, July 18: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
• Sunday, July 19: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

📚 Plan Ahead and Stay Safe

Plan ahead, expect delays, and give yourself extra time to grab your summer reads! We highly encourage you to utilize alternative transit, our curbside service, or our direct digital storefronts:

• 🚗 Easy Curbside Pickup: Skip the parking hassle! Order ahead on the Bluestocking Books website or phone in your order. Pay when you place your order and specify curbside pickup. When you pull up outside the front of the store, just call us to let us know you're there, and we will bring your books straight out to your car!
• 📦 Mail Delivery (New Books): Prefer to stay home entirely? You can order brand-new books through our affiliate portal at Bookshop.org/shop/bluestockingbooks. Your books will ship directly to your door while still supporting our local shop!
• 🎧 Audiobooks: Get immediate access to your next listen by purchasing audiobooks through our affiliate page at Libro.fm/bluestockingbooks. You can listen instantly while supporting us!

💥 Open 10–3 on July 4th

Planning to stock up on summer reads for the long holiday weekend? Please note that Bluestocking Books will have shortened hours on the Fourth of July so our team can celebrate the holiday with family and friends.

Be sure to drop by early to grab your books before we close!

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📅 July 4th Store Hours

• Friday, July 4th: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Shortened Hours)

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📦 Beat the Holiday Rush

Avoid the last-minute rush by placing your orders ahead of time:

• Online Store: Order directly on the Bluestocking Books Website and specify curbside pickup in the order notes. Call us when you are nearing the shop and we will bring your books out to your vehicle.
• Call Ahead: Phone in your book choices, prepay, and we will bring them straight to your car when you pull up outside!

Stay safe and hydrated, plan your route ahead of time, and pop in to show us your festive Pride style when you pick up your reads. Thank you for supporting our independent shop during this busy time! Don't forget to call us when you pull up if you are using our curbside pickup option.

Pages of Pride, Chapters of Joy

Pride Shines On

America's Finest City is preparing for their largest single-day civic event in the region - San Diego Pride. Pride season in San Diego proves that LGBTQ+ visibility cannot be contained to a single day or month, and brings a positive wave of queer joy to the sunny streets of Hillcrest, our uptown gayborhood. From the book release party at Gossip Grill for "The Lesbian Bar Chronicles" on July 2nd to the San Diego Pride Dyke March on July 11th, our community continues to create spaces where lesbian, queer, and trans women can safely love and celebrate as their authentic selves.

Book Signing

Mirroring this year's official Pride theme, "Pride Shines On", Rachel Karp's new book, "The Lesbian Bar Chronicles: The Living History and Hopeful Future of America's Dyke Dives and Sapphic Spaces", has just hit the streets. Join Rachel Karp for a book signing and community story event at Gossip Grill on July 2nd starting at 6:30PM. Bluestocking Books will be selling physical copies of the book at the event. If you can't attend the event, you can purchase the book at Bluestocking Books and we will get it signed for you and ready for pick up or shipping at our store.

Rachel Karp's Journey

Lesbian bars are so much more than a place to get a drink. For over a century, they’ve acted as community posts, political organizing grounds, and sanctuaries. Yet whereas in the 1980s there were an estimated 200 lesbian bars across the US, the current count sits at a few dozen.


In The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, author and co-creator of the hit podcast Cruising Rachel Karp embarks across the country with her wife and best friend to chronicle the stories of the remaining US lesbian bars. Recent narratives have claimed lesbian bars are dying, but Karp’s group finds many of the places they visit to be thriving, their communities sustaining themselves over decades of change and challenges.


Weaving together over 100 hours of immersive interviews with bar owners, staff, and regulars, Karp highlights places like:

• Chicago spot Nobody’s Darling, where readers meet “the mayor” Shirley J, who in the 1970s was instrumental in the birth of house music.

• Frankie’s in Oklahoma City, where readers attend a “family night” to learn how a lesbian bar can birth a chosen family.

• Redz, a Chicana lesbian bar in East LA involved in the precedent setting court case that followed years of arrests for patrons wearing men’s clothing.

• Gossip Grill, a Hillcrest staple and a living legend, this beloved space takes center stage in chapter 17 of The Lesbian Chronicles. The bar is also the official home base for the San Diego King's Club, the longest-running drag king troupe in North America.

A heartfelt reclamation of queer history and queer lives, Karp’s narrative examines how these beacons for community and inclusion can teach us to live openly, cultivate connection, and continue to take up space.

Pages and Progress: Bluestocking Books is More Than a Bookstore

Beyond the bar spaces in our community, Bluestocking Books as also a safe haven where patrons and community members can relax and be themselves. More than a bookstore, Bluestocking Books is a third space, offering sanctuary and human connection.

The staff focuses on maintaining a space of radical inclusivity, where everyone is welcome to browse the literature, discover new perspectives at their own pace, and escape the pressures of the outside world for just a little while. We center diverse voices and progressive ideas by promoting community events and stocking the shelves with an array of subjects. These efforts, of course, include displaying an extensive selection of LGBTQ+ titles spanning history to gender studies and gay and lesbian fiction. In fact, we are told we house the largest selection of lesbian fiction, mysteries, westerns, and romance folks have seen, as well as some premier long out-of-print books. Come visit us during Pride season and all year 'round!

Lesbian fiction section at
Bluestocking Books.

"I am a Woman in Love with a Woman"
Collectible pulp paperback at
Bluestocking Books.

"Stone Butch Blues" is available at Bluestocking Books!

New gender studies books are stocked at Bluestocking Books.

You Are Here: Public Transportation Routes for San Diego Book Crawl 2026

 

 Participate in the 2026 San Diego Book Crawl by MTS bus and trolley!

Tips for taking public transit during the San Diego Book Crawl:

• Paying for the bus is easy. For a single ride, you can use exact change, a debit or credit card and NFC.

• While planning to visiting multiple bookstores, download the Pronto app or purchase a Pronto pass card.

• Children 5 and under ride free on San Diego MTS (bus/trolley) without a card.

• Youth 18 and under ride free with a Youth PRONTO card or app.

• On weekends, up to two kids 12 and under ride free per paid adult. A physical Youth PRONTO card must be registered for free fare.

• Weekdays offer more rides per route than Saturdays.

• On Sundays there may be a longer wait between rides – a benefit when you want to spend more time at a book shop.

Routes:

The routes outlined below are suggestions; alternative options are available. Refer to the MTS Trip Planner or apps like Moovit and One Bus Away for real time arrival details and to plan your personal best routes.

Starting from Coronado heading north and from downtown:

Bay Books to Libelula Books and Co.: Take Bus Routes 901 and 12

Bay Books to The Library Shop (downtown San Diego location): Bus Route 901

The Library Shop (downtown) to Libelula Books and Co: Bus Routes 12 or 929. Alternatively, you can ride the San Diego Trolley: take the UC San Diego Blue Line or the Orange Line.

The Library Shop (downtown) to Hey Books!: Bus Routes 5 or 901.

Hey Books! to The Library Shop (Mission Hills location): Bus Routes 3 and 10.

Starting from the San Diego uptown area:

The Library Shop (Mission Hills) to Bluestocking Books: Bus Route 10 (this route is walkable for those who are able).

Bluestocking Books to Verbatim Books: Bus Route 10.

Verbatim Books to The Book Catapult and Hey Books!: Bus Route 2.

Verbatim Bookstore to Meet Cute: Bus Route 1 or Bus Route 2 to the Orange Line Trolley.

Meet Cute to Mysterious Galaxy: Bus Routes 1 and 10 with walking. Keep in mind, this trip will run you an hour and a half.

Alternative Route:

The Library Shop (Mission Hills) to La Playa Books: Bus Route 10 to Bus Route 28.

La Playa Books to Mysterious Galaxy: Bus Route 28.

Starting from North County:

Check the North County Transit schedule for the best routes based on your location.

The Bookstore at UC San Diego to Bird Rock Bookshop: Bus Route 30 (this route includes walking).

The Bookstore at UC San Diego to Warwick’s: Bus Route 30 (this route includes walking).

Bird Rock Bookshop to Warwick’s: Bus Route 30 (this route includes walking).

The San Diego Book Crawl takes place April 25-27, 2026. Visit all 15 bookstores to earn the most swag and the biggest bragging rights!