Hurray For Hollywood, Or...Just Say "Cheese-y"!

It's one of the most popular tourist destinations in Los Angeles. In fact, this famous area of Hollywood Blvd. attracts over 15 million visitors per year. Which is probably one reason I try to avoid this place. However, a tourist blog of LA wouldn't be complete without including a page of Hollywood History!

So, thanks to a couple of free passes my friend had, and her willingness to join me, we headed out for the Hollywood Wax Museum. And, since we were going there anyway, we thought we'd hit the Guinness Book of World Records Museum across the street (our free passes included this place, too) and take a stroll along the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see the famous footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

1st stop: The Hollywood Wax Museum. It's a good thing we had free passes, because I'd be pretty disappointed if I had to pay full price to see this. The first section we toured was the "horror exhibit" with appearances by Linda Blair, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hannibal Lechter of Silence of the Lambs and Vincent Price...at least I think this was Vincent Price.

After that, we checked out the "Movie and T.V Stars". I think I might have enjoyed it a little more if the waxed figures resembled the actual celebrities they were modeled after. Some were okay (the Samuel Jackson figure, Humphrey Bogart and Clint Eastwood) , but you can judge for yourself: does this really look like Lucille Ball or Marilyn Monroe? And, why do all the waxed figures look to be about 5 foot 5 inches... Hmm. I didn't realize everyone in Hollywood was the same height! My recommendation? If you're into this stuff, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum just opened about a block away and it looks more authentic and up-to-date.

2nd stop: the Guinness Book of World Records Museum. Another disappointment. Probably owned by the same people as the Wax Museum. This place is jam-packed with trivia and exhibits featuring all the various world record holders. There's the worlds' tallest man, the world's smallest woman, the world's largest cucumber, the world's oldest cat, the world's largest apple pie...etc. Personally, I thought this place might set the record for the world's biggest waste of time.

3rd stop: Walking along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The sidewalk along Hollywood Blvd. is embedded with more than 2,000 stars featuring the names of celebrities honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. The very first star was awarded to Joanne Woodward in 1960. And, in 1978, the city of LA designated the Walk of Fame as a historical landmark. For obvious reasons, there's been a crowd of people around Michael Jackson's star...and Tim McGraw's is also quite popular.

Last stop: The footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater. This famous movie theater opened in 1927 and has been the site of more Hollywood premieres than any other theater around. On any given day, you'll see bunches of tourists milling about in the forecourt area gazing down at the many star's footprints and handprints immortalized in cement. Walking in this area really gave us "tourist overload"! People everywhere either posing for their photos or taking them. Street "performers" dressed as Marilyn and Elvis (hired by the theater) coming at you offering free passes to movies or discounted rates on star tours... enough already. All of the sudden, the desire to leave Hollywood outweighed the need for more photos. So, I "borrowed" a couple - including a shot of Grauman's Chinese Theater in the 1950's.

We didn't have time to check out the rest of this area...The Kodak Theatre, the shops and cafes at Hollywood and Highland...that would take a whole other day. We were tired, hot and in need of an escape plan.

Even though this place is a little bit tacky and way too "tourist-y" for me, if you've never been here before, you should go once just to say you've seen it. Afterall, 15 million tourists can't be wrong!

Quick Tips:
1- Parking around here isn't easy! It's VERY hard to find street parking, and the parking lots in this area charge $10-20/per day to park. Take an extra moment and drive around the area to find the cheapest (and safest) parking lot.
2- To avoid paying full price for tickets to these venues, go online to see if there are discounted tickets available. Membership websites like www.goldstar.com offer discounted tickets to all sorts of events around town.
3- Directions