Hollywood & Vine

It does take a brave tourist to walk down to this end of Hollywood Boulevard. Those brave souls do not fully understand the dangers that lurk on this stretch of boulevard between Highland and Vine. These brave tourists are only concerned about following the ‘yellow brick road.’ The out of town tourist is fixated with the terrazzo stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and so if there are other unknowns they just prefer to deal with it when the time comes. Unbeknownst to them the drug addicts also ply this stretch of boulevard. And they can be a very aggressive bunch. There are assaults on passersby, locals and tourists alike often.   And the staff at, the Scientology, center, on the boulevard are not immune.  Today, this end of Hollywood is not so well visited by the throngs of tourists and others that flock to the Chinese and Kodak theater complex, at Hollywood & Highland. Of course who can forget the El Capitan theater across the street. No, this end of Hollywood is occupied by the building resembling a record and the Pantages theatre, too. Currently this intersection is undergoing a makeover by the conversion of the various old office buildings to high-end residential use. The Walk of Fame does extend out to this far corner of Hollywood boulevard. We forget that just down the street at Sunset and Vine stood the large radio studio complex of another bygone era. Office buildings now occupy the old site.    It is comforting to see that developers are preserving the old buildings rather than razing them as has been the case in the past.  The drug addicts continue to work the street. While the number of shops that are shuttered are a dime a dozen. No self respecting tourist has any business walking down to this end of the boulevard. And the locals can only rush through and not spend more time than is necessary at this end. Truly, it is the absolute rule to keep your belongings close or they will disappear into thin air. Still one cannot help but ponder and imagine the boulevard as it was at an earlier time. What people have walked the length of the boulevard? Truly, movie stars, kings, queens, presidents, and others have walked Hollywood Boulevard. One can only wonder who has stood here. I try to picture in my mind Howard Hughs walking down the Boulevard of dreams. Even the unappreciated author has walked the entire stretch of Hollywood Boulevard from Orange Street to the Pantages theater. So if you should choose to walk down to this end of Hollywood Boulevard be sure to bring your rose colored glasses as that will make the experience memorable. I possess a very wild imagination and so I don’t require those glasses. And while the construction continues do be careful to watch your step. Because you would want to trip and break your neck by one of the terrazzo stars that have buckled since the construction started.