Los Angeles Tourist Trap Tips by Dabs Top 5 Page for this destination

Celebrity spotting

I think there's a belief when people travel to LA that the city is teeming with celebrities and that you are sure to bump into one or two during your visit. I'm not celebrity crazy although I wouldn't complain should I spot Orlando Bloom or Viggo Mortensen (and I would like to personally thank Peter Jackson for casting them both in three epic 4 hour movies).

I have been to Los Angeles many times over the years and granted, I have not been searching for celebrities but until my October 2006 trip not once did I spot even a minor celebrity unless you count the taping of the Tonight Show we went to see. And even then it was only Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) and Motorhead.

Finally in October 2006, I was walking through the Grove shopping complex near the Farmers Market and I heard this familiar voice and I turned around to spot Jerry Stiller, best known as George Costanza's father on "Seinfeld" and his wife Anne Meara. About time!!!

In October 2007, I'm pretty sure I saw Paul Giamatti at the Farmer's Market but I was trying not to stare. In December 2010 I got to see part of "Extra" taping at the Grove, Mario Lopez is a celebrity still, I think...In October 2012, I saw Steve Carrell while out trick or treating with a friend's kids. But a visit to Bar Marmont, which I was sure was teeming with all kinds of celebrities? Not even a D lister!

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive Review

I'm not a shopaholic, at home or on vacation, and I think spending a $1,000 or more on a purse just because it has interlocking Ls and Vs on it is absurd so for me Rodeo Drive (pronounced ro-DAY-o) is a perfect example of a tourist trap. Overpriced shops, window shopping tourists sniffing out celebrities, celebrities with oversized sunglasses pretending they don't want to be recognized, haughty salesclerks, really, it's pretty close to my idea of h*ll

Fun Alternatives: Give me your money ;-)

Hollywoodland Hollywood Sign Review

Visitors to Los Angeles always want to see the "Hollywood" sign but once you see it and realize that you can't even get all that close to it you'll probably be like me and wonder what the big deal is.

Unique Suggestions: The offical Hollywood Sign website has suggestions on the best places to photograph the sign from and my guidebook says there are trails in Griffith Park that get you closer, I took mine from Barnsdall Park.

Fun Alternatives: Even if seeing the sign isn't terribly interesting, some of the history of the sign is. The original sign spelled out "Hollywoodland" in 50 foot tall white letters adorned with 4,000 lights and was put up in 1923 to promote a real estate development. By 1949, the sign was a bit worse for wear and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce agreed to maintain it but without "land". And the lightbulbs.

By the 1960s it was again suffering from neglect and some of the letters sliding down the mountainside. Papa Bunny Hugh Hefner came to the rescue in 1978 along with celebrities who adopted letters for $28,000, Gene Autry adopted one of the Ls, Alice Cooper one of the Os, Hugh Hefner the Y.

1932 was also a significant year for the sign, Peg Entwistle, an aspiring actress, climbed to the top of the H and hurled herself to her death. The sign that had probably once symbolized her hopes and dreams became a symbol of failure and rejection. Another interesting note, her stepson Brian Keith, best known for his role on Family Affair, also committed suicide just not as dramatically.