After 22 years of living in California, I finally hiked up to the infamous Hollywood sign. Cody’s brother Matt was home for his Spring break, and he had brought a friend named Daniel, who is originally from Vietnam, who had never been to L.A. So since he was out here, we thought, “why not hike to the Hollywood sign?” Also because it was 85 degrees and really nice out. AKA perfect for instagram pictures, duh. And of course, I brought Meela, who was such a trooper, because it was not an easy walk on a hot day!
Meela… hahahahahaha. “I made it, bitches.” was her caption on her Instagram. lol.
And here’s the half way mark view
If it wasn’t for Daniel, I honestly don’t know if I would have ever made my way up here. And I freakin live right behind the hill! So many times during my 22 years of life, I have said, “I’m going to hike up there soon,” and yet another year would go by where I wouldn’t do it. But now I can say I finally did it, and it was so worth it. The view you get to see that the top is definitely one of those “wow” moments.
I sent pictures to my parents, and my dad is all about nice views, so he called me and said he was looking out in the backyard and could see the sign…. From Orange County…. Cool, I know! Even though it looked like a little white strip. And then he told me to wave to him lol.
But anywhoooo, one reason I love this city is because of how much history it holds, and when we were driving up the hill of Beachwood drive to get to the start of the hike, I could literally put myself back in time of “old hollywood.”That hill is also what everyone refers to as “Hollywood Hills.” (And no, Lauren Conrad didn’t even live relatively close to “The Hills” on the show lol. Her apartment was a good 30 minutes away from them.)
For those who are interested, here are a few fun facts about the sign and the city:
- Years ago, in 1923, the sign used to read, “HollywoodLand.” Then in 1949, it was shortened to just Hollywood. When they went to take the sign down completely, because of how run down it got, people voiced how much they loved the iconic sign, so they left “Hollywood,” since “land” had already been taken down.” (Although, the sign has been completely re-done since then.)
- Before Hollywood was chosen as the area for film making, Brentwood and Westwood were possibilities as well. (Westwood is where UCLA is located.)
- (Daniel asked about this, so I’ll explain it here too.) Los Angeles is a city AND a county. Just like Orange County. Hollywood is part of LA county, but most people just classify Hollywood as L.A. too. Daniel was amazed at how big LA was, and with how many city’s are within LA. For example, people who live 45 minutes away from the city of Los Angeles, are still in the LA county.
- The then, HollywoodLand sign originally acted as a billboard, and was created to draw in home buyers and help the development of real estate. Long before it became known as the city of the movie industry.
