The Hollywood & Highland complex

 Here's a close up of the stairways into the Hollywood & Highland mall and entertainment center complex.  From the right angle below (I shot this pic from across Hollywood Blvd.), or from the balconies up there, you get a good view of the world famous Hollywood sign up on the hill. #steveemigphoto

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Growing up, when I heard of Hollywood, it was always Hollywood & Vine that seemed to be the center of activity.  That stems from the Golden Age of movies, back in the 1940's and 1950's.  These days, it's the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue that draws the most tourists, and a lot of L.A. locals as well.  Hollywood and Highland is the main cross streets, but Hollywood & Highland, with an ampersand, is the name of the biggest complex there.  It's an upscale mall, that wraps around, above, and encompasses the Dolby Theater (where the Oscars are held annually), and the famous Grauman's (now called the TCL) Chinese Theater, which dates to the 1920's, and is where the stars' hand and foot prints are in the cement.  

A wider view of the Hollywood & Highland entry way.  The giant elephants and Egyptian styling are inspired by the set of the 1916 epic silent movie by D.W. Griffith, Intolerance.  This area was built the same size as the massive set for that movie.  You can see one of the many tour buses that drive around Hollywood in front of the complex.  #steveemigphoto

The Hollywood & Highland complex offers many different dining options, as well as shopping, and the Loews Hotel attached to the back of the complex.  You can find a list of all the stores and restaurants on their website, linked above.  The Red Line subway train route, which stretches from downtown L.A. to North Hollywood, has a stop in this complex, as well, making travel without driving (and trying to find parking) much easier.

In the immediate area of Hollywood and Highland, you'll also find the historic El Capitan Theater, The former Masonic Temple, which is now home to the Jimmy Kimmel Show, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, the Hollywood Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, and Guinness Book of World Records Museum, as well as dozens of other specialty and tourist shops.  The world renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the stars of the stars embedded in it, stretches both directions from Hollywood and Highland.  All of this, and the history of Hollywood as the movie capitol of the world, is why these cross streets are one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world.  

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