Silver Lake is one of L.A.'s most featured neighborhoods, named after one of two reservoirs around which it was drawn. Sunset Junction, Silver Lake's urban center, is located at the intersection of Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevards, two main L.A. streets that otherwise run parallel all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Until the mid-1950s, the Junction served as the site of the branching of two inter-urban railway lines. The neighborhood was also home to Walt Disney's first large studio from 1925 to 1939, located at Hyperion Avenue and Griffith Park Boulevard. Since then, the area has become renowned as a community that’s continuously in flux, home to a population that is diverse even by Los Angeles County's multicultural standards. Despite all the recent Silver Lake media coverage, it can still be hard to find the lesser known places worth visiting. Read on to discover Silver Lake’s must-see hidden gems.

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Norma Jeane Mortenson was born in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926. The world knows her today as Marilyn Monroe, who became one of the biggest movie stars of the 1950s and early 1960s, only to have her life cut short at age 36. Monroe was known for her comedic performances in classics like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot. Eager to escape typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio - her dramatic turn in Bus Stop earned critical praise and garnered a Golden Globe nomination. In the decades since her controversial death - officially ruled a “probable suicide” - Monroe has become a legendary movie star, international sex symbol, and pop culture icon. Read on for Los Angeles locations where you can discover Marilyn Monroe’s enduring legacy, from her favorite hotels and restaurants, to one of the world’s foremost collections of Marilyn memorabilia.

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Some of L.A.’s most popular restaurants and cafes are also marketplaces where you can pick up a wedge of perfect blue cheese, some dried beans or an artisan chocolate bar. Some places carry items primarily from their own kitchen. Others spotlight their favorite purveyors. Either way, shopping these spots is a fun way to stock your fridge and pantry, not to mention score some great gifts.

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