More Sights to See

Sit back and relax as I take you for a tour from the passenger’s seat. No long winded explanations or lengthy historical backgrounds, just a glimpse of the rest of the Hollywood area. Buckle up and here we go…

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From Griffith Park and Los Feliz Blvd. we “gps” our way west to Beverly Hills via Laurel Canyon Blvd. and Mulholland Drive.

First, we end up in Universal City off of Lankershim Boulevard where we pass Bob Hope Drive and then James Stewart Avenue. In the picture below, notice the “private” sign under the right turn into James Stewart Avenue. Also circled is the next street, Gate 3, with an arrow pointing right.

Lots of cool stuff is happening on right angles from here! This is the home of Universal Studios,  just one of many other film industries in the area.

We turn around and wind our way up on a narrow street in Studio City where even garbage cans can’t detract from the splendor of these homes.

Finally, we intersect Laurel Canyon Boulevard…

…and Mulholland Drive.

At the top of Mulholland we pull into a turnout and take in the view of the San Fernando Valley, Simi Hills, Fryman Canyon, and the San Gabriel Mountains.

From here we flow south into Beverly Glen Boulevard.

Not too shabby!

We take a left and head east on…

Next turn…

We turn onto Santa Monica Boulevard and pass a turquoise and gold domed building, the Beverly Hills City Hall.

A few minutes later we turn onto the junction of Sunset Boulevard again and head toward the iconic mile and a half Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

This cute restaurant catches my attention:

And of course, today is Cinco de Mayo, so I have to honor the festivity here…

…and this bright pink building, appropriately named, Pink Taco…

Now we can say we traveled on Sunset Strip. When I was a little girl a weekly private detective TV series, 77 Sunset Strip, was popular and I can still hum the catchy theme song and click my fingers twice.

Hollywood Boulevard runs parallel to Sunset, one block away.

So, we head back to the Walk of Fame before driving back to Lake Elsinore. We pass the back of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the oldest continually operating Hotel in LA. Its doors opened May 15, 1927. (en.m.wikipedia.org) If you watch the Late Late Show with James Corden, you may recognize the landmark as one of the set’s 3-D recreated backdrops.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is across the street this time and from this angle I capture the street level view.

It’s bustling now with a sidewalk filled with people.

Across the street, fans line up at El Capitan to purchase tickets for today’s opening of The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

A minute later we pass a Scientology information center, just one of several I have seen in LA.

Driving into LA I caught a glimpse of a giant gold SCIENTOLOGY sign against an impressive periwinkle colored building. Unfortunately we passed by before I could get a picture.

 latimes.com

After crossing Vine Street, the historic Pantages Theatre looms on the left.

This Art Deco theater opened on June 4, 1930 as a venue for vaudeville performances and first-run movies. From 1949-1959 the Pantages hosted the Academy Awards. Today, it hosts live theater performances. Currently The Body Guard is playing here and is advertised extensively on local TV … And I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I will always love you ooh-ooh…

Back on the 101 and traffic!

It takes us 3 1/2 hours to get back to Lake Elsinore.