Los Angeles 2017...I

During a recent road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, after going through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada, I finally arrived in L.A. late in the evening. I was so excited to be back in Los Angeles (my first time back there since 2005)! After checking into my hotel downtown, I couldn't just sit there. So I walked a block over to the freeway to shoot some "light trails" of the traffic. From there, I decided to make my way over to the Hollywood & Highland area to see what was going on. Once I got there, it was jam-packed the same way I remember from back in the day. And if you've ever been to that area, you know the "cast of characters" were out in full force. I'm talking about Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Catwoman (2 of them), Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson and Tina Turner. And I'm talking about "look-a-likes", of course. They were all walking around, chatting and posing for photos with lots of people. But the kicker was that you had to pay them to take their pictures. Not me, I'm not the one!

My walk along Hollywood Boulevard was pretty cool. I walked past the Hollywood Theater, Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not, El Capitan Theatre and the Dolby Theater (formerly Kodak Theater). While chatting in front of the TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese Theater), the famous TMZ Celebrity Tour Bus pulled up. It was cool seeing the bus in person as opposed to seeing it on television. Since I was there, I went into the Hard Rock Cafe for a quick bite to eat. After that, I continued my walk...passing the Hollywoodland Experience, Madame Tussaud's Hollywood and Mel's Drive-In restaurant. And a walk along Hollywood Boulevard isn't complete without checking out the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You can't help but to see the stars as you walk, but checking them out takes a bit of time. Especially since everyone is trying to look and take photos of them. But the one star that you will not see during your walk of fame walk is Muhammad Ali's star. Ali's star is actually on the wall of the entrance to the Dolby Theater. Why is it there, you ask? That's because Muhammad Ali "did not want the name of Muhammad to be stepped on". Boom!