California - Day 8 - the Hollywood area

Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara

Tuesday, 8 March 2022

I talked to my cousin Elaine over the phone yesterday, having only realized in the last few days that she lived down here in the Los Angeles area (I thought she was in San Francisco).  I was impressed to learn that she's a schoolteacher, which is one of our hardest and most important jobs.  But it meant that, because I didn't plan ahead, I wouldn't be able to get together with her because I'm only planning to be here a few days, while she can't get time off until the weekend.  But we had a nice little visit on the phone anyway, and next time I come through I'll plan ahead.

So since I wouldn't be able to see her, I rearranged my tour of the Hollywood area.  I know this is going to sound incredibly stupid, but what I really wanted to see was "beautiful downtown Burbank" as we heard about on Laugh-In.  Remember that?  And I really wanted to see the Hollywood sign because, for some reason, I have trouble believing it's real.  I mean, I know it must be because I've heard about it and seen photos for decades, but I just wanted to see for myself.  And I wanted to take a look at La Brea Tar Pits, which looked like they might be visible from the street.  Just random stuff like that.

today's route

It was a nearly 90-mile drive to get as far as Burbank, but the traffic was much easier than I'd expected.

Along the way I kept seeing highway signs that said things like Liberty Cyn, and Lindero Cyn, as examples.  For quite a while I figured this "cyn" was something specific to California - I've found state-specific things like this all along my travels.  But eventually I worked it out that "cyn" stands for "canyon."

While passing Calabasas, pop. about 23,000, I saw a sign for Pepperdine University.  I've heard of that school but don't know much about it so I looked it up.  It's oriented around the Church of Christ, is headquartered in Malibu and has a number of campuses around the world.  Including in Calabasas.  It's known for its graduate research programs.

I passed the Los Angeles city limits, where the sign said the population was 4,045,___ (I missed the last part).  So lots of people just within that one city.  As of 2020, there were 18.7 million people living in the metropolitan area.

Burbank (pop. 107,000) is actually very attractive - or at least the part I saw was. 

This is a block of beautiful downtown Burbank.

With traffic slow-downs, it was 2 hours by the time we got here and we were all ready to get out for a bit, so I parked in the first empty spot I found.  It turned out to be across the street from a very large green park and right next to a senior living place.

See enlarged sign below.

This sign was a surprise.

I passed the Bob Hope Gate to the Burbank Studios, formerly the NBC Studios.  This was the home for Laugh-In, as well as the Tonight Show and a long long list of other well-known programs.  Here's the link if you want to see it.   https://en.wikipedia.org/The-Burbank-Studios

Honestly, Burbank looked like a very pleasant, reasonable-sized city and I was ready to consider moving there, though I wasn't at all sure about the cost of living there.  It has a Tesla dealership.

But everything looks clean.  Nice uniform storefronts, even on the 7/11.

Heading south I passed the Los Angeles Zoo and the turn for Griffith Park and Observatory, which was where that classic scene from Rebel Without A Cause was filmed.

I passed St. Finbar Catholic Church; I had to look up St. Finbar, not having heard of him, and learned he was Irish, lived 550-623 AD, and is now the patron saint of the city of Cork.

I passed a sign for Los Feliz, pop. about 38,000, which I thought looked like the high rent district.  I looked it up to see if I was right and, yeah, apparently so.  For such a small town/neighborhood, it's got an enormous number of celebrities living there.  Just as 3 examples of current residents: Casey Affleck, Jim Parsons, Kiefer Sutherland.

I passed an exotic looking building labeled the Hollywood Sikh Temple.  I couldn't take a photo and none of the ones online are free of restrictions.

I was aiming for a place I'd found online called the Barnsdall Art Park, where I thought the dogs and I could maybe walk around a bit.  Turns out it was good we'd gotten out in Burbank because the park was up a steep incline and there seemed to be other dogs up there.  But we did walk around the parking area a bit.  And while I stood waiting for the kids to stop sniffing something, I looked up and suddenly saw the Hollywood sign.  I couldn't get any kind of angle for a photo myself, but this one I found online looks like what I saw.

It really is up there.  And for some reason all I could think of was Dory Previn's song about it, including these lyrics:

       The Hollywood sign seems to smile

       Like it's constantly saying "cheese"

       I doubt if the Statue of Liberty

       Ever welcomed more refugees. 

And later she gets even more pointed:

       I hope the Hollywood sign

       Cries for the town it touches

       The Lady of Lourdes in her grotto

       Saw fewer cripples and crutches.

She could really make a point.  But the sign I saw didn't carry any baggage with me, and I thought it looked like a movie from the 1930s - cheesy, not "cheese."

We drove from there into an area labeled Little Armenia.  It was settled by survivors of the Turkish genocide of the Armenians during WWI.

And I passed a sign telling me I'd find the office of Congressman Adam Schiff just down thataway.  That was actually a lucky sight because I still tend to think of the Hollywood area as a made-up place, and that reminded me that real people live here who vote.

Along those lines, I passed Hollywood High School, also reminding me that people grow up here - that it's a real place to live.

All over the place I saw billboards advertising movies that seemed to be explaining why they should receive Oscars.  I also saw several billboards with the message: STDCheck.org.

I saw several pet boarding places like Pet Hotels and Wag Hotels.  People around here must do a lot of traveling.

I saw lots of Art Deco buildings along Wilshire Blvd.  And lots of birds of paradise in full bloom.

I've found several Miracle Miles in my travels, and one of them is here is Los Angeles.  I passed a sign for the "Museum Row on the Miracle Mile," which I learned is a series of 4 museums (including La Brea Tar Pits).  One of those is the Petersen Automotive Museum, and without knowing that's what it was I took a photo of the outside because of its unique look.

This is just part of it - all I could get while sitting at a traffic light.

I decided not to actually visit the tar pits because they were charging $12 for senior admission, and I just didn't have enough time (a 2-hour drive back to the campground, remember?) to do it justice.  But I drove by the outside and, while the tar pit that's being actively excavated is hidden behind a fence, another one is easy to see between the bars of another fence.

This is an internet photo, but it's pretty much what I saw.

I saw a sign near a bus stop that said: "Stop practicing your Oscar speech and start focusing on the long journey to the podium."  Good advice in any endeavor.

Heading out of town I passed a sign saying Cahuenga Pass elev. 745'.  I thought I must have read that wrong, because what pass is only 745'?  But I looked it up and yes, that's right.  It's the lowest pass through the Santa Monica Mountains.

I passed turns for Tarzana and Mulholland Drive.  So many places I've heard of.  I guess I'm not sure why someone would want to spend their time visiting here by gawking at the homes of celebrities when there are so many other real places to visit.  But we all have our own ideas.

I saw more Teslas, BMWs, Porches and Mercedes in today's driving than I have in maybe all my other travels combined.  And I saw a Hawaii license plate - in fact, one from almost every state, though I don't think I saw Mississippi.

It looked like this town was made up of self-contained neighborhoods like in Boston, with their own little grocery stores and other services.  Makes sense - who can waste time trying to drive in this area just to pick up something for supper.

I saw a CA license plate that said NOWSCTY.  Now Scotty?  As in Star Trek?

Back in Santa Barbara, I drove around in town for a while trying to find some gasoline I could afford.  Which I sort of did.  And saw more of the town, which looks as fancy as I'd thought, though I think there are regular people living here too, based on who I saw in the CVS parking lot.

It was a lot of driving and I was tired at the end, but I'm glad I made the trip and am only sorry I couldn't see my cousin while I was there.