Check It. Movie clips from Quality Cafe [The Monday Download].

If you're driving down 7th Street in downtown looking for a cool old diner to stop into, don't even bother with Quality Cafe. That's because it doesn't actually exist..unless you're in movie-land.

The restaurant is basically a set, and has acted as a classic diner spot in movies like Ghost World and Training Day. Screen Junkies has a fun mash-up below:

A diner specifically acting as a set, starring in numerous Hollywood films--how quintessentially L.A. is that?

And while we're at it, here's another fun example of another oft-used Hollywood prop.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle (Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument), William Randolph Hearst's estate, is an amazing place to see. It's about four hours north of L.A. and a really beautiful drive up the coast. They are open daily for tours and reservations are recommended. Twenty-eight years in the making, the castle is phenomenal. The newspaper and magazine man really knew how to live it up. Not only is the sheer size of the place (115 rooms in the Main House--"Casa Grande") impressive, but the priceless art each room holds shows the lavish lifestyle Hearst experienced. The pool area, shown above (and also featured in the film Spartacus), is only the beginning. There is Tour 1, the Experience Tour, for first-timers, and then four additional detail tours best suited for returning visitors.

San Luis Obispo (about three hours north of L.A.) is a convenient place to stay the night on the way up or back from San Simeon.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins