Solvang and More

Jill's Journal: Between 1850 and the early 1900s, about one out of every 10 Danes left Denmark and emigrated elsewhere. Many of them ended up in the Midwestern United States. One group of Danes left the Midwest after some time and ventured even further west to California. In 1911 they began a Danish village on 9,000 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley. The unbelievably beautiful weather must have been a “velkommen” respite from what they were accustomed to in Scandinavia and then in the Midwest.

The new settlement was named “Solvang,” which means “sunny field” in Danish.

Today, just 101 years later, Solvang has been named one of the nation’s top five US destinations with “international flair.” There’s just over 5,000 residents who call “Little Denmark” home, but the amount of visitors swells the ranks daily. Many of the buildings represent traditional Danish architecture and the amount of Danish bakeries, smorgasbords, restaurants, merchants, and stores is dizzying. There’s so much to love about this adorable little town, which is best seen on foot. And while so many confirmed tourist spots quickly lose their charm, this one sweeps visitors up in the fun and never gets old.

The girls are in front of the exact replica of Denmark’s famous Little Mermaid statue, which is of course based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. I later showed the girls a picture of me in front of the original Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen from 20 years ago (20!). They were not impressed. There’s nothing like kids to keep one humble and remind one that the past doesn’t matter as much as the present.

We visited the historic Bethania Lutheran Church, the first building in Solvang to depart from typical California architecture and be built in traditional Danish style. Inside, a small ship hangs from the ceiling, paying tribute to Denmark’s seafaring history.

Even the local park/playground is whimsical (and a favorite of the girls).

In neighboring Los Olivos, Denmark seems a world away. Here the architecture is all American and very rustic. This little shop, Global Gardens, is renowned for its olive oil.

Wine tastings are big business in this area, but the girls are way too young for this area’s famed crop. However, they did get to experience their very first tasting…of olive oils and balsamic vinegars! I think they felt very grown-up and very much enjoyed the whole experience. We tasted 15 or so different oils and vinegars, complete with dipping bread. It’s amazing how much the flavor varies from one to the next.

The 2004 Academy Award-winning movie “Sideways” was filmed almost entirely on location in Buellton and Solvang (and the surrounding wine country). This hotel served as “The Windmill” where several pivotal hotel scenes were filmed. It’s really the Days Inn in Buellton.

The restaurants and wineries in the film all go by their real names (and the ostrich farm we visited a few days ago is even mentioned when Thomas Haden Church gets caught with his pants down and runs from Solvang to Buellton naked). We stopped in to try the wine at Kalyra, where Sandra Oh acted as a wine pourer.

I don’t recall this being shown in “Sideways,” but it’s a wonderful tribute to our country’s flag on the main street, Avenue of the Flags, in Buellton. Five or six statues of people are pledging their allegiance.

Between Solvang and Buellton is this gate at the entrance to Monty Roberts’ Flag Is Up Farms. Roberts is world-famous as the “horse whisperer.” As is common with so many of the wonderful farms around here, he welcomes visitors to the farm. The girls and I spotted the man himself in an office as we walked by a window.

Roberts’ most famous horse is probably Shy Boy, a wild mustang who chose life with Monty over returning to his herd.

Here’s a random barn at Flag Is Up, complete with horses waiting patiently. Next door is River Edge Farm, which my Thoroughbred friends would recognize as Marty Wygod’s place. It’s lovely and would fit into Kentucky very nicely.

Of course, where there aren’t horses in this area, there can be found grapevines. The weather is warm during the day and cool at night, ideal for developing the perfect grapes for wine. It’s picturesque, isn’t it?

California’s “Kentucky of the West”

Jill's Journal: We’ve been in the Santa Ynez Valley – which includes the neighboring small towns of Buellton, Solvang, Los Olivos, Ballard, and Santa Ynez itself, all around 15 miles inland and just above Santa Barbara – since Sunday and it took us less than 30 seconds to fall in love with the area. Seriously. The picturesque, rolling hills are dotted with vineyards, but – even better – there’s bucolic horse farms (Thoroughbred, Icelandic, miniature, and more) at every turn. We are smitten. When we spotted literature proclaiming this area the “Kentucky of the west; California’s horse country,” at least that explained why we like it so much. Oh yes, we like it here very, very much.

If we ever decide to call California home again, this is the spot (well, not necessarily the exact place in the photo above, but the general area!). Or it would be if we had a few million to spare. Unfortunately, real estate with a few acres here is outrageously priced (yes, we like it enough to have checked!).

With as taken as we are by the area, it’s no surprise we’re not the first ones to have felt this way. Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo was not far from here. He used it as his retreat during his presidency and it became known as the “Western White House.” Among the international dignitaries he hosted here were Queen Elizabeth II and Mikhail Gorbachev. And it turns out Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was/is here too. There goes the neighborhood!

We’ve spent some time in the darling little Danish town of Solvang, which just celebrated its 100-year anniversary last year. Rob and I have both been here before, both separately and together, and it’s touristy but just such a delight. This meticulous, picturesque, pedestrian-friendly little village has flower-lined streets and windmills and is the closest thing to Denmark here in America.

I want to shrink our girls and put them in these traditional Danish clothes! How adorable would that be?

Ornamental storks appear on rooftops all over the town. The Danes consider them good luck (as do the Dutch…I wonder how many European cultures do?).

There’s a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer of just about every good fairy tale known to children…

…and a small museum dedicated to him and his 160+ fairy tales known the world over…

…which includes things like authentic correspondence from the man himself, who lived from 1805 to 1875.

In next-door Buellton, one can’t pass up a visit to Pea Soup Andersen’s, a stopover for travelers since 1924.

The rest of the food is nothing to write home about, but the signature split pea soup is delicious. Andersen’s serves over two million bowls of it annually.