Things to Do in North America

Housed in the 1935 Art Deco, pink-and-green marble Max Factor Building, this former museum of make-up (which has been partially preserved here) now hosts the largest collection of Hollywood memorabilia in the world. In addition to movie props, sets and costumes, the archives here include over 1,000 vintage photographs from Tinseltown history.

Arranged chronologically from the silent film era to modern entertainment production, temporary exhibits have included career retrospectives of stars like Lucille Ball and Michael Jackson, and permanent exhibits include an entire floor of horror-themed set pieces and props from frightening movies like Silence of the Lambs and Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as gory TV shows like Dexter and The Walking Dead. One of the museum's most prestigious features is a large, permanent exhibition of historian-authenticated Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.

Located across the street from the Hollywood and Highland mall complex (where parking is available), the museum includes a comprehensive library, a screening room, and a souvenir-ready gift shop. Open from Wednesday to Sunday, docent-led tours are available for groups of 12 or more.

The 20th-century artwork displayed on the gently inclining white walls of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum often take second place to the building's landmark Frank Lloyd Wright design.

The great architect's last work is an uplifting sight, from both outside and within, and a thorough restoration program was completed in 2008. Unwinding like a coil of white ribbon, the exhibition space spirals upwards around a central skylight.

As well as hosting changing exhibitions of photographs and paintings, the Guggenheim's permanent collection includes works by Gauguin, Picasso, van Gogh, Monet, and other early Modern masters.

The most-visited link in the House of Blues music club/restaurant chain, this joint is hopping every night of the week with established and emerging musical acts from a wide variety of genres -- but with a focus on the blues. The club itself was built to resemble a tin shack from the Deep South, and there's a metal box of Mississippi Delta mud beneath the performance stage.

Renowned for fostering artists like local L.A. glam-metal parody band Steel Panther and hosting the occasional burlesque show, the House of Blues is most popular for its Sunday morning Gospel Brunch, which features a huge choir in church robes, and a groaning board of a Southern menu. The soul-food-inspired Crossroads Restaurant also has weekday happy hours and live blues shows on Friday and Saturday nights, and dinnertime concerts can be booked in the red-lit Voodoo Lounge every night of the week.

Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, Independence Square sits at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets providing a place to take in public art, admire local architecture and people watch. Those who visit the attraction should know they're standing on a piece of important history, which can be explored through the public art standing on the square.

Littered around Independence Square you'll find four bronze statues created by sculptor Raymond Kaskey titled "Transportation," "Commerce," "Industry" and "Future." The Transportation statue is of an African American laborer, paying homage to the city's first railroads from the 1850s. The creation of this metro is what laid the foundation for Charlotte becoming a major transportation hub. You'll also notice an eagle, which gives a nod to the city's advancements in aviation. Next is the Commerce statue, which depicts someone panning for gold, commemorating the discovery of this valuable precious metal near Charlotte in 1799. You'll also notice a figure of a banker underneath that's part of the statue that references the opening of the U.S. Mint in the city in 1837. Then there's the Industry statue, which shows a female textile factory worker with her child, representing a time before laws that banned such a practice. This art-spoken story all ties together with the Transportation, Commerce and Industry statues gazing toward the "Future" statue -- a sculpture of a mother with a child and the state dogwood flower -- representing the city's fruitful economic past paving the way for a positive future.

The history behind the name of the square is interesting, although controversial. According to The Big Story, an Associated Press news website, the square is named after the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Some people believe this document was signed on May 20, 1775 -- before the colonies approved Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Past the eastern end of the Plaza Tapatía, you'll find the Hospicio Cabañas Cultural Institute. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the massive stone building was constructed in 1805, but its fortress-like appearance gives it a more ancient air.

Bishop Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo founded the institute as an orphanage and home for the elderly and homeless. He called it la Casa de la Misericordia, or The House of Mercy. Interrupted occasionally by major wars and revolutions, the building functioned as an orphanage for nearly two hundred years until 1980, when the children were moved to a more modern location. Today the gracious old building hosts art exhibits, art and music classes, and an art cinema.

The cultural institute now contains 23 courtyards, a theater, a collection of folk art and a regular roster of temporary exhibits, but it's best known for a chapel adorned with 57 frescos by world renowned muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. The site also houses the world's largest collection of the Orozco's drawings. Guided tours of the building and murals are available on the half hour.