Santa Barbata, CA - Wilkommen

In the Santa Barbara area are several smaller towns that we wanted to visit and today we headed off for Solvang. On the way we took a detour, just trying to get more into our day. We have been traveling over the Cold Spring Bridge on our way into and out of Santa Barbara. It’s long and the canyon below it is deep so we wanted to see it from below. Here it is, the Cold Spring Bridge, built in 1962 - 1964. At the time it was the one of the longest steel arch bridges in the US and, boy, did it cut the time going to and from Santa Barbara.

Before the bridge, stagecoaches, nicknamed ‘mud wagons’ used the longer route, and stopped at the Cold Spring Tavern in the middle of the journey. Here they enjoyed a respite from the long journey while the horses were changed. The tavern is still open, though only on weekends. It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp but this is Monday and they are not open. Shucks.

On our way down to the bridge, we realized why they put up signs that say: ‘Rock falling area.’  With all the rain we had last weekend, there are mud and sand slides and fallen rocks on a lot of the roads since so many roads cut through steep canyons. They are working diligently to clear all of these but haven’t hit this one yet. This one could have done some real damage.

Finally, as we headed towards Solvang, we drove by the Cachuma Dam. Note how low the water is here, even after the 6” of rain we got last weekend. The spillway hasn't seen water for months. 

Wilkommen - or Welcome in Danish says the small town named Solvang, which is Dutch for ‘sunny field.’ But the people of Solvang have gone way beyond sunny fields. The town was founded in 1911 by Danish settlers relocating from other areas. Actually, between 1850 and 1930 many Danes left Denmark for America to improve their economic conditions. Most landed in the Midwest in states like Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. However, a few then moved much further west in 1910 to escape the harsh Midwest winters and landed in the area north of Santa Barbara where the climate was much more pleasing. Here, they bought 9000 acres and established their town.

Initially, most of the homes were built in the fashion typical of the area and it became just another town in California, with nothing to make it stand out. Then a Lutheran church was built to resemble the churches in Denmark. However, it wasn’t until after WWII that the town developed a concept of ‘Danish Village.’ One citizen built his home in the Danish style and then built the first of the town’s 4 windmills. Another citizen added to this when he gave some of the older buildings a ‘Danish’ look, using the half-timbered style popular in Denmark. The style caught on and many others built buildings and homes in the same style. Now they were cooking and they had a tourist attraction.

Add to this mix lots of restaurants, bakeries and shoppes selling Danish merchandise and you’ve got a major attraction which drew over 1,000,000 tourists per year. Add 2 more this year since Gary and I also have visited.

But what really increased its growth was the movie ‘Sideways’ which spotlighted the wine industry in the area. There must be over 100 tasting rooms in the area. And, vineyards? They cover the country.

But it wasn’t the wine nor the shoppes which drew Gary and me - it was Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery and Coffee Shop. Bent Olsen, the owner, learned baking in Denmark where his family had a bakery but moved the whole family business to Solvang 30 years ago, thinking that there was more opportunity here. Luckily for Solvang and for Gary and me. He has expanded to selling online, of course and sells worldwide now.

Decisions, decisions. I just hate decisions.

Look at this display - and this was only one of the 4 cases which held the fresh-baked goodies that they had for sale.

Well, we've looked and looked, drooled and drooled, now it's time to decide. Cinnamon roll, cheese danish, kringles, butter cookies, coconut macaroons. My, too many choices, too few days. But we chose the cinnamon roll and the bear claw with coffee. For the first course.

To say that they were delicious is understating the facts. We savored every mouthful. Because our wi-fi is weak at our campground, we also planned to update and download in the Solvang Library. Luckily, Gary looked on line to see where it was and learned that it was closed on Mondays. Oh, shucks. Ah, the wi-fi is fabulous here in Olsen’s. We both needed another cup of coffee AND another pastry. We asked if we could stay for an hour or so and there was no problem. They were doing a steady business but much of this was take-out and there were quite a few tables empty.

I downloaded our tax info from Wells Fargo for both my brother and us, I updated all the aps on my IPad, I changed a few reservations, I published several days of my blog and paid some bills online. WOW, fast internet, delicious pastries, coffee and people watching. What could have been better?

Ah, but, we’ve sat and eaten enough, it’s time to explore. Solvang has a plethora of shops and restaurants. It has about 3 ice cream shops and at least 4 bakeries that we saw in our rambles. We saw lots of tourists cruising the streets, most with bags of new purchases in their hands. We also enjoyed the cityscape with all the half-timber buildings and Danish windmills.

There is an interesting Hans Christian Andersen museum in the 2nd floor of the Book Loft on the main street. Not that he ever lived here in Solvang but he was a world known Danish author. What a collection you can see here. Hundreds of his letters, books, manuscripts and photos. Many first editions of his books.

What I found the most intriguing was the cut-outs that he made with his long scissors. These were so dainty and detailed that I couldn’t imagine the patience needed in using long-bladed scissors to cut them out. Not only was he an author but also an artist. 

While we were wandering through town, we heard about a waterfalls south of town a ways. With all the rain we had last weekend, we thought it might be flowing and took off to see it. Sure enough, it was a dry falls no longer. It was flowing and a beautiful ribbon of water streaming down from the high cliff.

And, now it’s time to head home. We began with Danish pastries and ended with a marvelous waterfall.