Surprise! I know you all weren’t expecting a trip report so soon after the Vancouver Trip report series, but I recently took a day trip to Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley last October 27th and I thought I would share the experience I had with you. Of course, just like the other trip reports, a series of planning posts about Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley will follow this trip report. This is going to be a long one, as I only had one day in Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley to fully experience what this place had to offer. So snuggle up with your favorite Santa Ynez Valley wine and get ready for another trip report.
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Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
I woke up to head to the Santa Ynez Valley at around 5am. I was heading there with a friend of mine who was going to pick me up at 6am. So I got up, took a shower, got dressed, packed my bag, and got ready to head out. He arrived at 6am on the dot, and soon enough we were on our way!
It took us about two hours to get there. On the way we passed the stunning Pacific Coast Highway or PCH as the locals call it. Fortunately, the first half of the day was sunny so we got to see an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean as well as picturesque scenes of the towns we passed through, including Santa Barbara. We then split from the PCH and headed into the mountains to get to the Santa Ynez Valley. Once in the valley, we headed to our first destination: Solvang.
Little Copenhagen
Created after Danish immigrants wanted a settlement that was far away from Midwest winters, Solvang was founded near the Santa Ynez Mission, which was built in 1804 but was quickly abandoned shortly thereafter after the conquest of California. The surrounding area was then bought by Danish immigrants in 1911, and soon they transformed the town into the Solvang it is today. The buildings were changed to reflect Danish architecture in the mid 1940s and that was also when the first windmill was constructed.
The town is incredibly charming. It made me feel like I was back in Copenhagen, strolling along the Nyhavn. The wood-beamed buildings with Danish touches made the whole place feel so unique and interesting. Our first order of business was to get some breakfast. At this point it was about 8:30am and so we went to the Solvang Bakery.
Situated near one of the famous windmills, the Solvang Bakery is a great stop to make if you’re craving breakfast pastries. The bakery sold over 10 different kinds of Danish pastries. Obviously since we were in the Danish capital of America, I treated myself to a Danish. It was so tasty I was tempted to buy another one. But we had a full day ahead so we decided to head to our next attraction.
Mission (Santa Ynez): Impossible
Our next stop was one I was looking forward to: The Mission Santa Ynez. I had never been to a mission before, so I was excited to visit this one. For those of you that don’t know, the Missions are a series of churches that were established by the Franciscan order to convert the local indigenous population, backed by the might of the Spanish conquest. They’re now an iconic part of California and there are 21 of them scattered around the state.
This particular mission was established in 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis and was envisioned to be an in-between mission between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción. It was the third to the last mission to be built in California and is dedicated to St Agnes of Rome. It is now one of the oldest surviving structures in California and needs a lot of repair work every year to maintain it.
Touring the Mission
We entered the mission through the back gate and quickly went to the entrance of the museum. The entrance was a small shop that had a nondescript door that signaled the start of the museum. We paid the 8 dollar entry fee and were soon inside the museum. The museum portion of the mission contained a lot of different religious and cultural artifacts, including old bells that used to be in the mission’s belltower, an old confessional, old sheet music, miniatures of the mission, and vestments.
After perusing the museum, we entered the main mission itself. The whole thing seemed to be made out of wood, which was then painted white and adorned with flowers. The altar was simple but incredibly well constructed. It had a green flower motif to match the rest of the church, and the beams on the roof were painted with that motif as well, giving the whole church a tranquil feeling.
We then exited the mission and entered the gardens. The mission gardens were simple but beautiful. It was anchored by a well-sculpted fountain and there was a cemetery located there too, along with two different altars. We explored a little bit and then decided to head out and make our way over to the town again.
A Stroll Through Denmark
After exiting the mission, we decided that we wanted to explore the town for a bit. Solvang is a tiny town but there were so many other people exploring that day that it gave the area a nice jolt of energy. The first place we went to was this bookstore called the Book Loft. I was mainly interested in this shop not so much for the books but for the Hans Christian Andersen museum they had on the second floor. So as soon as we arrived I bolted up to the second floor to check it out.
It’s a tiny museum that isn’t so much a museum as it was an exhibit. It featured display cases with Hans Christian Andersen (HCA for short) memorabilia, including a whole section for the Little Mermaid, and some artifacts and antiques like an old printing press, artworks, and drawings. There was even a selection of paper cut artworks that were copies of HCA’s own paper cut artwork. Aside from being a talented author, he was also a celebrated artist, and so it was cool getting to see some of his work.
After perusing the exhibit, we decided to walk around for 30 minutes, stopping at any shops that seemed interesting to us. We ended up stopping in a couple of souvenir stores where I bought a magnet, an ice cream parlor, some home goods stores that sold things like candles and pillows, and a sock store. The shop buildings all had that distinct Danish style architecture, and we also found three of the windmills during our walk.
After a while, we decided to leave Solvang for a bit and head to the town of Santa Ynez.
A Western Town and a Vineyard
We got back in the car and drove to the nearby town of Santa Ynez. We explored the main town for a bit. The town of Santa Ynez is concentrated on a single street. We passed old-timey buildings exuding western charm and character, and even popped into the general store for a bit. After checking out the town, we left and headed to our wine tasting reservation at the Sunstone Vineyard.
Located off the main Santa Ynez drag, the Sunstone winery and vineyard is a cozy, sophisticated, and picturesque place to go for wine tasting. Given that the Santa Ynez Valley is known for wine, a winery is an absolute must-visit while you’re here. We got there right at our reservation time and were quickly seated.
All in all we tasted one white, one rose, and four red wines. I’m not an avid wine drinker, but it was still a fun experience getting to taste all these different kinds of wine. My favorite had to be the white wine as I like wines that aren’t too strong. Our server gave us a bit of background on each of the wine’s as we tasted them. It was a great experience and one I would highly recommend.
After our wine tasting, we left the town of Santa Ynez and headed for the nearby town of Los Alamos for lunch.
Some of the Best Bacon EVER!!!
We arrived at Bob’s Well Bread Bakery, which based on our research was the best place for pastries and breakfast. We didn’t have time to head there for breakfast, unfortunately, so we settled with lunch and were happy to learn that they actually served their breakfast dishes all day. So we headed inside and quickly ordered our food, also ordering some Danishes and other baked goods to go.
I had the egg in a frame #2, which was an egg placed in the center of a hollowed out piece of toast with bacon bits. It was DELICIOUS and I wish I could have ordered it again. The bacon especially was perfectly cooked and tasted great. I would highly recommend this dish if you decide to eat here. It was worth going all the way to this little town to experience.
After a quick lunch we explored Los Alamos a little bit. Just like Santa Ynez, everything was concentrated on this one street. There was a general store and a bunch of other establishments, but unlike Solvang this place was kind of dead. So after perusing some shops we ended up leaving and headed for Los Olivos.
Olive Oil in a Small Town
We headed next to a cute little establishment known as the Olive and Lavender Farms. Surprisingly, we were one of the only ones there. The area was small but had very well manicured gardens and a little shop. This place is known for the free olive oil and balsamic tastings they offer. Once we arrived we each got a tray of olive oil and balsamic samples and some bread. We then sat down on their patio for our tasting.
I have to admit that the first three olive oils tasted the same. However, the last 5 all had different flavors, and the orange one was even a little spicy. The balsamic vinegars were all amazing as well, and were a lot stronger in taste than the olive oils, which was to be expected. All in all it was a fun little activity that I would highly recommend especially if you’re a foodie. My friend bought a bottle of the signature blend balsamic, and soon we were on our way back to Solvang to hit up one more place that we needed to see in our Solvang checklist.
The Museum with the Confusing Name
We arrived back in Solvang and headed to the Elverhoj museum. I couldn’t pronounce the name correctly until we entered and saw a sign that said it was pronounced Elver-HOY. This museum was an art and history museum (although the art part of the museum was closed when we were there). The museum was dedicated to the Danish Americans who call this town home.
There were display cases featuring glass figurines native to Denmark, as well as a room that showcased how a Danish immigrant’s home looked decades ago. There was an old stove, a cot for a baby, some tools for farming, and some informational signs that detailed who the typical Danish immigrant was and why they decided to move to America and make their way to Solvang.
It also detailed the history of the town, which was established in 1911 by four Danish immigrants who bought land near the Santa Ynez Mission to establish a Danish colony. The museum also explained how Solvang transformed itself into a popular tourist destination. My favorite part of the museum was the miniature house that had very detailed and themed rooms within it that you could look at. It was a quick 30-minute diversion that I would recommend to anyone wanting to understand Solvang on a deeper level.
After visiting the museum, we headed to our last two attractions for the day. The first of which was something I had wanted to visit for a long time: a pumpkin patch!
All Hail the Pumpkin King!
After the museum we headed to the Solvang Farmer, the local pumpkin patch. We arrived and I swear there were about 1000 pumpkins scattered around. I had never seen so many of them in my life. Some of them were so big I could sit on them. We strolled around the patch for a bit and then decided to head into the nearby cornfield maze. And oh boy we did not know what we were in for.
We paid our entry fee and then headed inside. There was only one entrance and one exit to the maze and the goal of the maze was for you to find these symbols that were scattered around the maze. What they neglected to tell us was that the maze was over 10 acres large and had multiple paths and dead ends. We walked through it for probably 25 minutes and only found one symbol. While the experience was fun, especially seeing other people just as lost as we were, we decided pretty soon that we were killing time being here so we quickly found the exit and left the maze.
We then got in the car and headed to our next destination: OstrichLand!
Feeding Flightless Birds
We drove for a few minutes and arrived at Ostrichland! This place is basically a zoo but focusing specifically on Ostriches and Emus. We arrived, parked, and headed for the entrance. We were told that it would be 7 dollars to enter and 1 dollar to get a pan of bird feed. I paid the 8 dollars and was soon inside the park.
There must have been over 100 ostriches and emus combined throughout the park. The area they occupied was huge and was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. Guests were placing their pans on the wooden and wire fences while waiting for Emus and Ostriches to go up to them and start feeding. The areas we could walk around in were pretty large as well. We walked to one end of the park and started feeding the Ostriches.
They would nip on our pans repeatedly, and I was kind of scared that they were going to peck me or try to take my pan away. But all was well and I was able to empty my pan in about 20 minutes. We then walked around and admired the feathered giants. The emus on the other hand seemed a bit aggressive and I’m convinced if there was no fence, they would have attacked us. After walking through the entire park and snapping photos of the birds, we left Ostrichland and headed for our last stop of the day.
The Dinner to End All Dinners
Our last stop of the day was SY Kitchen, located near where we were a while ago in the town of Santa Ynez. It’s an Italian restaurant with glowing reviews, and since my friend and I both like Italian food, we decided to check it out.
The restaurant is quaint and cozy. We were seated inside thankfully as the sun had set at this point so it was getting kind of cold outdoors. We took a look at the menu and ordered the t-bone sliders, the mushroom pasta, and a truffle pizza. After about 20 minutes, our food arrived. And let me tell you, everything we had was PHENOMENAL!
The sliders were the perfect mix of smokey and delectable. When I took my first bite, there was an explosion of flavor that is hard to describe. The pasta was creamy and oozing with great taste. But the star of the show was the pizza. The black truffle on the pizza was delicious, but the crust was the sleeper hit of the whole meal. While it wasn’t the cheapest meal, it was definitely memorable and I would highly recommend eating here. I can’t wait to go back there for another meal.
Conclusion
This trip, like Sabrina Carpenter’s album, was short and sweet. It made me appreciate going on day trips a lot more. It also got me interested in exploring more of California and the nearby states while I’m still living here. My time in Solvang and the Santa Ynez valley was fun, exciting, and carried with it a lot of firsts for me. I can’t wait to go back, and I’m looking forward to all my future travels.
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