I mentioned it in an earlier post, but my brother lives in San Diego.
Last summer my family and I went out to see him and his wife. It's a thrill to me that one of my favourite children's authors, Dr Seuss, spent much of his life in the area.
Ted Geisel (his real name) lived for many, many years at La Jolla, a well-heeled and lovely town a few miles north of the city.
Driving around this part of the California coast gives you an insight into where Dr Seuss got the inspiration for his art work. The trees that line the wide open streets are surely the truffula trees from The Lorax.
We visited San Diego Zoo (well worth a visit) and in the ape enclosure we saw a spiky-haired monkey (sorry, can't recall its name) that was a dead-ringer for the Grinch.
On our final day of the visit, we went over to the island of Coronado (home to the Hotel del, itself thought to be the inspiration for the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz).
We popped in to the Stephen Clayton Gallery, which sells fantastically wild and creative limited edition prints of Ted Geisel's paintings done when off duty from his Dr Seuss books. There were also examples of Geisel's 3-D animal sculptures. They really have to be seen to be believed. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be a website for the gallery for you to link through to.
We gawped at these wonderful pieces of art for well over an hour.
If you're ever passing...
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