Nothing witty to write about this time; just a report on our weekend in Solvang. I can't even share personal pictures because our camera decided to poop out on us. [I've snagged a couple of pictures off the Internet, just for effect.] But we did have a nice weekend with a few little adventures.
For those who have experienced Solvang, much of it has not changed. Food is the same - Danish sausages, meatballs, pastries and cookies. We ate at The Little Mermaid to fulfill one of Rosanne's childhood desires and the food was pretty darn good. The main shops are the same so we didn't find a lot that we had to buy. The kids got to experience the grab-all-kinds-of-candy-out-of-barrels-and-pay-too-much-for-it-store. And we hit every toy store in town. What has changed is the number of wine tasting locations in town; I'd estimate 15 to 20. The atmosphere is definitely more "wine country," which makes sense as the vineyards are proliferating.
We spent the night in Santa Maria, which worked out fine. We had hoped to see the Petersons while we were up there, but they'd gone north to help Jeff and his wife move. We did not look up any Halsne relatives; my bad. The drive up there was nice and it was good to be out of the hubbub of Solvang itself.
Sunday morning we ate at the hotel and then headed to Lompoc to see the Mission La Purisima. We hadn't been there in a long time; it was the mission we liked to visit best because it was still pretty unrestored. It's much different now, but is still far enough away from everything that it felt "real." All three kids enjoyed the farm animals - sheep, pigs, donkeys, horses, turkeys, chickens and a bull - and the little ones had a chance to really run around for a while.
We then headed back to Solvang for lunch before the return trip. Eating is our favorite Solvang activity. On Saturday we'd eaten Danish meatballs - wonderful and not at all like Swedish meatballs. Sunday it was sausages - bratwurst and knockwurst. It all came with red cabbage and satisfactory amounts of potatoes. I bought a loaf of limpa bread, thinking it was the bread we always had in smorgasbords, but it's more like rye. Any ideas about what bread I was looking for? All in all, we had a good time. Our drive home took six hours, so that part wasn't so pleasant.
We then headed back to Solvang for lunch before the return trip. Eating is our favorite Solvang activity. On Saturday we'd eaten Danish meatballs - wonderful and not at all like Swedish meatballs. Sunday it was sausages - bratwurst and knockwurst. It all came with red cabbage and satisfactory amounts of potatoes. I bought a loaf of limpa bread, thinking it was the bread we always had in smorgasbords, but it's more like rye. Any ideas about what bread I was looking for? All in all, we had a good time. Our drive home took six hours, so that part wasn't so pleasant.
The lesson we learned from this trip: the kids are pretty decent travelers, but next time we'll aim for a shorter drive.
Eating is my favorite Solvang activity too! Actually.. just eating anywhere is basically my favorite activity. I think I need a new hobby ;-)
ReplyDeleteYour little report made me think of Eric's smorgasbord. The meatballs, spiced apples, and that good bread you were talking about. If I remember right it was dark bread and a little on the sweet side. Some things will never be the same as everything has gone corporate!
ReplyDeleteGuess we'll be looking for that Eric's experience forever. I've just redefined my requirements for heaven: it must be in Ireland, there has to be millions of books, and I must have a Swedish smorgasbord (NOT Norwegian!).
ReplyDeleteThere is a town here in Washington called Leavenworth of which is very similar to Solvang. It's hot in the summer but gorgrous in the wintertime if you like snow that is. Yes I remeber Erics Smorgasbord.
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