No matter how many times you see celebrity-studded movie premieres at Grauman’s Chinese on Entertainment Tonight, it’s still a pleasure to take in those coral-red pagoda walls and copper turrets rising like an opium hallucination above Hollywood Boulevard.

Opened in 1927, the world’s most famous cinema was the brainchild of silent-era impresario Sid Grauman, the creator of the enormously successful Egyptian Theater nearby who next dreamed of an Oriental fantasy that would dazzle the generations.  Working with megastar partners Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Grauman spent $2 million importing luxurious artifacts from China, including bronze temple bells, stone Heaven Dogs and a thirty-foot-high stone dragon.

The opening ceremony was the most sought-after social event in Hollywood history, with thousands of sightseers packing the boulevard as stars arrived to see Cecil B DeMille’s King of Kings; a riot even broke out and the LA police had to be brought in.  But the theater’s signature attraction – the footprints, handprints and signatures of Hollywood stars from Cary Grant to Rita Hayworth – was invented by “pure accident,” Grauman once confessed.  He was visiting the construction site when he accidentally stepped in the concrete; his partner, silent film goddess Pickford happened to be with him at the time, and he suggested she do the same, quickly followed by Fairbanks.

After the success of opening night, every star in Hollywood wanted to make his or her mark – and not just with palm or feet.  In the decades since, John Wayne left his fist mark, Groucho Marx impressed his cigar, Gene Autrey’s singing horse left its hooves, Betty Grable – an imprint of her shapely legs and Star Wars robot R2D2 left its tread pattern.  Marilyn Monroe even left a rhinestone stud to dot the “I” in her name, but it was (unsurprisingly) pilfered by a souvenir-hunter.

The famous HOLLYWOOD sign has a less glamorous origin than most people think: It was built as a real estate publicity stunt.  In 1923, a development company wanted to promote a housing project in the then-empty district known as Hollywood by erecting its name in fifty-foot-high white letters, each of which blazed with hundreds of electric bulbs: HOLLYWOODLAND.  (Nobody is quite certain why the area was first called “Hollywood” in the 1800s, but it was probably after the holly trees that grew there when it was farmland).

The extravagant PR creation was only expected to remain for about 18 months, but it happened to coincide with the surge of film studios arriving in this corner of Los Angeles, making the name Hollywood recognized around the world.  The giant sign soon became an American cultural icon, so associated with the cinema industry that in 1932 a rejected starlet named Peg Entwistle committed suicide by climbing the maintenance stairs behind the letter “H” and throwing herself off.

Still, over the years, the sign would pay its own dues as it battled the weather, vandalism and neglect.  In 1949, after a drunken caretaker drove his truck into the letter H and knocked it down, a restoration effort began.  City officials ordered that the last four letters, LAND, be removed, so it would promote the neighborhood rather than the old real estate development.  But without steady funds, the sign continued to deteriorate until the first O cracked in half and the third O collapsed, leaving only HuLLYWO D by the 1960s – a rather sorry sight.  Finally, in the 1970s, it was none other than Playboy magnate Hugh Heffner who galvanized California celebrities, including movie stars and the rocker Alice Cooper, to finance a completely new version of the sign.  In 1978, the slightly shorter letters (45 feet) were unveiled and, after a touch of cosmetic surgery during a 2005 spruce-up, they are still going strong today.

From the Hollywood nightlife to the San Diego Zoo, Southern California can entertain even the least enthusiastic! So grab your sun block and your red carpet attire, we’re going back to California!

Go behind the scenes with us as we visit some of the must see sights of Southern California, such as the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles!  The sign sure is famous, but together we’ll uncover the less-than-famous story of how it came to be.  Also on our list of vacation stops is Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.  This sight has been the cornerstone of Hollywood for over 75 years.

If relaxation and family time are on your trip agenda then visiting the San Diego Zoo should be priority.  We’ll learn all about one of the world’s largest zoos and the more than 4,000 species that live there!

Lastly, if your laid back vacation means people watching and window shopping, then the most famous street in Beverly Hills is where we’ll take you.  So kick back, unwind, and take a stroll down Rodeo Drive!

California, the Golden State, is known for the famous Golden Gate Bridge in the heart of San Francisco.  On a day without fog, the bridge is a remarkable sight:

When vacationing in the Napa area make sure to take a trip to Sonoma.  Here are some of the area’s must-see sights to make your California vacation more memorable:

Sonoma Square
Visit Old Sonoma Square, site of the Bear Flag Revolt and the last of the 21 missions built in California.

Cheese Factory
Be sure to stop at the cheese factory, where you can sample some of the world’s finest cheese.

Sonoma State Historic Park
Visit Sonoma State Historic Park in the center of charming old Sonoma. In the center of a large, tree-covered park is the old city hall. The historic buildings of the state park border the city park, inviting visitors to rest and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. There is a $2 state park fee.

If you are looking for a relaxing California vacation, consider taking the Napa Valley Wine Train featuring beautiful scenery and spectacular food.

Few cities have been so entirely linked to a literary figure as Monterey is with John Steinbeck.  The Nobel Prize-winning author set three of his most popular novels here, including the whimsical Cannery Row, which he wrote after moving back from New York to California in 1944.  The title setting for the book was a colorful waterfront lane officially called Ocean View Avenue, whose inhabitants had long included Spanish, Japanese and Italian fishermen.  In the early 1900s, a boom in demand for canned sardines led to dozens of canneries sprouting up: Constructed from corrugated iron and worked by rough immigrant laborers, they became famous for their unpleasant odors, eccentric characters and less-than-hygienic conditions.  Steinbeck added even more color with eccentric characters such as the marine biologist Ed Ricketts, who became “Doc” in the novel.  Ironically, not long after the book’s release, the cannery industry collapsed from over-fishing.  But tourism came to Monterey’s rescue: In 1958, Ocean View Avenue was officially renamed Cannery Row after the bestselling book, and many of the rusting canneries were saved and restored, starting with the Sardine Factory Restaurant in the 1960s.   Today, the waterfront is one of the most beloved attractions in California.  Steinbeck’s character Doc would no doubt have approved that the ocean offshore is now a marine reserve – and also that, if he so chose, he would have little difficulty in finding the ingredients for his beloved Beer Milkshake in the Monterey waterfront bars.

When traveling the California coast, here are some of the must-see Monterey sights:

Lover’s Park
Visit Lover’s Park on the jagged coast of Pacific Grove and view the area that black and orange Monarch butterflies call their winter home.

Paths of History
Take the Paths of History self-guided tour that will introduce you to Monterey’s past and present. Many of the adobe buildings along the path are free and open to the public and represent much of Monterey’s architectural image.

Ventana Vineyards
Visit Ventana Vineyards and sample some of their award-winning wines. Then relax next door at Tarpy’s Roadhouse, where you can enjoy creative American country cuisine.

If you plan on traveling to San Francisco anytime during mid-October and early November, you simply can’t pass up the opportunity to attend a concert or two at the San Francisco Jazz Festival! Arguably one of the world’s best jazz festivals, this three week-long festival celebrates traditional and groundbreaking figures in the jazz movement bringing local and national musicians to venues throughout San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.

Musical entertainment ranges from jazz to bepop to big bands, ensuring there is a little something for everyone. Take in the big-name performances at the Herbst Theatre, club shows at the Great American Music Hall or take an afternoon jazz cruise aboard the SF Spirit Yacht, or admire the work of visual and performing artists in dance and photography. Most shows are throughout the evening, with family matinees in the afternoon. So get ready to sway to the smooth sounds and tap your feet to the beat at this a must-attend California cultural experience!

As anyone who strolls down Jack Kerouac Lane can guess, San Francisco is a city that relishes its literary memories.  In the 1950s, a flood of free-spirited writers rejecting the leaden conformity of Cold War society traveled here to create the “San Francisco Renaissance.”  These bohemians congregated in the low-rent Italian neighborhood of North Beach, frequenting the smoky jazz bars and cheap pasta joints in the area.

The most famous resident was Kerouac, author of On The Road, who coined the term “beat generation” to describe his restless friends.  (The name came from underground slang, and mixed a sense of being downtrodden and rebellious, Kerouac said, with “beatific” and saintly; San Francisco newspaper writer Herb Caen later transformed “beat” into the popular term “beatnik” a few years later).  Kerouac arrived here with his friend Neal Cassidy, who appears as the character Dean Moriarty in On the Road, and the poet Allen Ginsberg, who debuted his epic poem Howl at a riotous reading in the neighborhood Six Gallery, a literary event that turned into a famous all-night party.

Today, the City Lights Bookstore (cnr. Columbus Avenue and Jack Kerouac Alley) is one of the city’s most beloved shrines: It was founded in 1952 by the beat poet Lawrence Ferlenghetti, and remains one of America’s great bookstores.  After browsing the collection, pull up a chair at the Vesuvio Bar next door; in the ‘50s, this was the beats’ favorite watering hole.  It was here that Kerouac was way-laid on his way to meet the great author of Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller; while the elderly Miller waited, Kerouac became too drunk to leave.  Kerouac’s boozing and willingness to push himself to the limits would finally be his destruction: He died of complications due to alcoholism in 1969, only 47 years old.