The Sights... Hollywood!

Hollywood Blvd and the Chinese Theater - many celebrities have imprinted hands and feet in cement outside of this theater. As I walked around and saw the famous names laid forever in dried mud, I wondered what it must be like as a current actor to be asked to lay your name beside the greats... I would never feel worthy enough.

Shirley Temple is one of favorite actresses. She was so young and spent many an hour inside bars with her mom and manager, while they discussed her work and pay she would just sit patiently and wait. My great-grandfather was a bartender inside a frequented bar and one day decided to create a special drink just for her, maybe you've heard of the Shirley Temple? When I was young, that too was my drink! So awesome!

Although difficult to see, in the upper left hand side is a sign at Hollywood and Vine. I knew this intersection was famous but could not recall what for, according to Wikipedia it gained fame in the 1920s for being the center of radio and movie-related businesses. Although there is not much there now, you can see that the sidewalk is adorned with Stars as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood sign - this is about as close as we could get. It sits amoung a beautiful area in the mountains and looks over the city, as seen in the picture below.

This is the Griffith Observatory. It's a great FREE way to learn a bit about space. The dome to the left contains a high powered telescope that scientists use to observe the sky, day and night. Of couse, it is also the location for many a movie scene. Can you think of your favorite?

For those of you that are fans of Kat Von D, here's a shot of her tatoo parlor, LA Ink. Only minutes from my cousin's apartment, it's not in the best part of town.

This picture did not turn out great, but the top sign is a higway marker for the famous Route 66. In my previous blog post I included a picture of the "End of the Road" in Santa Monica.

Although these are only a few of the sites to see in LA, we managed to cram it into a day and a half. Not too bad! I look forward to returning and being able to spend more time exploring to see the beauty and infamy that's almost at every corner!