As very little boys, my brother & I were obsessed with Matchbox cars. For Christmas one year, my mother made us this giant 6 foot felt map of Hollywood for us to drive our cars around on. It contains all of our favorite family landmarks:
- Cahuenga Pass down from Burbank past the Hollywood Bowl and turning into Highland.
- The Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd.
- Hollywood High School (my dad’s alma mater) at the corner of Highland & Sunset Blvd.
- My grandfather’s print shop farther down Highland on the east side.
- The McDonald’s just south of Hollywood & Vine. (It’s still there, tucked behind the Arclight parking structure. As a kid, you could see it straight from the Dome across the parking lot. Surprised that the Dome didn’t make it in as a landmark!)
- The Capitol Records building up Vine.
- First Presbyterian Church (where my grandfather took the Youngs for decades) on Gower just south of Franklin.
- The windy road from Franklin up to the Griffith Observatory.
- The Hollywood Sign and transmitter tower on Mount Lee.
- The Hollywood Reservoir (which my father loves.)