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| MISSION SANTA INES |
We are heading down the California coast, on our first road trip of
2014, when we decide to stop for a little taste of Scandinavia.
Solvang (pop.25,245),which means “sunny field” in Danish, is
located 46 miles west of Santa Barbara, and 15 miles north of the
Pacific coast. It was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish educators.
With
over one-half the residents being of Danish descent, the city council
decided in 1945 to cultivate their heritage by developing a “Danish
Village” to attract tourists. The Danish motif idea was clearly
successful, because the city is currently a very popular tourist
destination with thousands of visitors annually.
We had just finished our first Christmas away from Minnesota and
missed Aunt Rozanne's Swedish smörgåsbord and my niece Mary
Ellen's traditional oyster stew. (We searched all over San Diego for
Swedish sausage and lefse without any luck.) No doubt, this little
bit of nostalgia enhanced our appreciation for a “taste of
Scandinavia” in Solvang. We loved our Danish dinner at the RedViking Inn enough to return for a second night. The Danish sausage,
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, heavy brown gravy, pickled red cabbage and
crispybread reminded us of our moms' home cooking.
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| RED VIKING |
The
Mission Santa Inés,
located on the eastern edge of Solvang, is a good diversion from
“everything Danish.” It was built in 1804 on a hill overlooking
the rolling green hills of Santa Ynez Valley. It is the 19th
of the 21 California Missions that were built by the Franciscans
between 1769 and 1823.
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| MISSION SANTA INES |
In
addition to the beautiful chapel, there is a museum with significant
original art work, including the only mission period painting by a
native Indian convert.
Outside the mission, on a tree-lined path overlooking the rolling
green hills, is the El Calvario. It consists of 14 wooden crosses,
each with a colorful painting depicting one of the Stations of the
Cross. The crosses, combined with a lovely setting, made this a very
special place to linger.
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| EL CALVARIO |
“Always to go forward & never to turn back,” is a favorite quote that is
frequently seen on plaques in the California Missions. It is by
Junίpero Serra, who
founded the first nine missions with the goal to convert the native
Americans to Christianity and promote the Catholic Church. He started
his journey from Mexico with a seriously infected leg and was clearly
on a mission until his death in 1784.
* * * * *
We also found
time to enjoy wine-tasting. With over 80 wineries in the area, we had
a lot of choices. Santa Barbara County, with its five distinct
wine-growing valleys, is one of the top wine regions in the world.
The local Pinot Noir was made famous by the 2004 movie “Sideways”
which was filmed in Solvang and nearby Buellton. There is no end to
picturesque wineries surrounded by vineyards, charming old towns,
ranches and farmland. It is beautiful year-round, even in January,
when the grapes are dormant, and the grass is not as green, and the
foilage not as lush, as other times of the year. I prefer the
off-season for travel because it's less crowded, cheaper, and
you can travel more freely, often without reservations. We were fortunate
to have sunny, warm 70 degree days.
This was a
nice leisurely place to hang out for a couple of days and I would
like to return. I am kind of surprised that I appreciated the
Scandinavian heritage as much as I did.
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| NEARBY WINERY |
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| SANTA YNEZ VALLEY |
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| LOS OLIVOS TASTING ROOM |
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