I’m re-running some of my Favorite Places this winter for two reasons: To give myself some time off for other activities, and to share some of my Favorite Places with new readers who may have missed some of these spots.
Solvang, California is a small town founded by Danish immigrants and built to preserve their Danish culture. My folks “discovered” this little town in the 60′s and would take us here for day trips. None of us have ever been to Denmark but we like to believe it looks like this.
The architecture is a definite attraction. All of the buildings are built in the Danish style with blue-green copper roofs and lots of windmills. There are also many storks on tops of roofs – a symbol of good luck.
Another attraction: walking from shop to shop purchasing all kinds of fun things. My favorite purchases have been unusual kitchen gadgets, linens, yarn and, of course, books. The most popular purchase by all family members are those made at the Danish Bakeries. Although this is a small town, there are five bakeries here. We usually buy pastries and an onion-cheese bread. Solvang is where we first learned to eat Abelskivers – pancakes in the form of a ball. My dad became very good at making these.
We were here the first week of January (2009) and noticed that Solvang has changed some. Although still true to it’s Danish architecture, it’s now definitely a town built around tourism. I noticed more high-end gift shops and several new wine tasting rooms. The movie “Sideways” was filmed here which is probably bringing in more visitors. But in spite of the changes it’s still one of my favorite places.
If you’re interested in visiting, Solvang is located about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara. Take highway 101 and exit at Buellton (home of Andersen Pea Soup) and go east about 3 miles.
[Update: When my daughters, granddaughters and I made a road trip down Hiway 101 to see my mom the end November, we made a quick stop in Solvang. Everything was exactly the same. The purpose of this quick detour? To stop at one of Solvang's best bakeries and bring some "danish" pastries home to Grandma. It brought back some great memories as she bit into that apple danish.]
I hope you’ll join me again next Sunday for more Favorite Places. If you’d like to join in, just grab the button at the top of this post, put it on your blog along with info about one of your Favorite Places. Come back and leave a link in the comment section and we’ll all come and visit you.
When we went to Napa it was not long after the movie Sideways, and in every winery gift shop there was info about Solvang! (and of course pinot noir bottles around the displays!)
What a charming town! I would love to visit there one day.
Looks like a cute place…we have several places like that here in Michigan. Frankenmuth-German town and German architecture and Holland- of course Holland influences!!
This post reminds me of a place my parents took us in the early 60′s: Holland, Michigan. Don’t you love the getaways, even if they’re still in the states?!
5 bakeries?! I’m there
Margot, I want to thank you for posting your wonderful Joyfully Retired blog. It depicts my dreams for my own future retirement. Just as I was thinking it was just a pipedream, I found you and realized it really is possible to live as happily as I had hoped.