Exploring Danish Heritage and Small Town Charm on a Road Trip to Solvang, CA

Embark on a road trip with us from Los Angeles through the Central California towns of Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Solvang, and Ojai!

SANTA BARBARA

On our way up the coast from Los Angeles we stopped by the Santa Barbara marina for a water-side lunch and also enjoyed the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum where we learned about the city's long and storied history with the ocean. From fishing to whaling to deep sea diving, we really grew to appreciate to huge role the sea plays in the lives of local people.

LOMPOC

The next morning we drove to Lompoc, California, for my skydiving experience with Santa Barbara Skydiving! A bucket list item for sure! The worst part is the anticipation as the airplane ascends. Once you jump, the 120 mile per hour wind kicks in. You really don't begin to appreciate the stunning high altitude views until your parachute opens. I am glad I did it...but personally I don't feel the need to do it again. lol

SOLVANG

After arriving in Solvang, we perused the Santa Ines Mission, and enjoyed the historical Danish Elverhoj Museum as well! We really felt like we had a taste of Danish life in the museum, with displays of traditional dress, smoke pipes, wooden clog shoes, spinning wheels, and a display of those delicious aebleskiver pastry desserts! The diorama of old Solvang in the rear cottage shows just how much the town has grown since it's inception. We enjoyed learning more about the Viking culture and language as well.

Another great place to explore is the California Nature Art Museum, with our favorite exhibit, Lulu Hyggelig. She's California's first permanent Thomas Dambo troll, built out of recycled wine barrels!

Lulu Hyggelig at California Nature Art Museum

And speaking of aebleskiver pastries, the best place in town to try them (so we were told) is Solvang Restaurant, which has a walk-up window in the front selling aebleskivers. They sell them in a container of three, with jam and powdered sugar or with those toppings and vanilla ice cream. The aebleskiver pastries themselves are like a pancake-tasting dough ball. They are very heavy, but taste great with the jam and sugar on top. My husband ordered the aebleskivers a la mode (with ice cream), but without the jam. This lessened the sweetness a bit. Oh, and beware of the honey bees attracted to the jam!

We're sure all of the restaurants in Solvang are acceptable, but one restaurant in particular stood out to us, Toscana Pizzeria! Don't let the name fool you. We didn't have pizza here, but ordered the off menu sea bass with rosemary potatoes, and a delicious watermelon salad. They have an extensive wine selection as well. And a special shout out to Cafe Dolce for making a vegan chocolate gelato, with flakes of real chocolate inside! Yum!

If you come to Solvang during the month of December, you can enjoy their Julefest holiday celebration! This includes special events like a parade and tree lighting ceremony, as well as ongoing events such as the nightly light & music show!

Julefest light & music show at Solvang Park

Our favorite lodging thus far has been The Winston hotel, with a great central location, self check-in, and spacious rooms.

OJAI

On our return drive back to L.A. we stopped by the Ojai Olive Oil Company. We learned a lot about the 8 different types of olive trees they have on the property, the history of the property itself, and how they harvest and process the olives to make their specialty oils. Some of their olive oils are infused with other oils, like lemon, mandarin orange, or garlic, which creates some unique and tasty flavors. They also sell other products made from olive oil and wood, and vinegars as well. Support the local olive oil industry here in California and make sure you stop by for one of their free tours and olive oil tastings, currently on Wednesdays, Saturdays or Sundays from 10 to 4.

The town of Ojai also has many nice shops, restaurants and parks. It's main street architecture (Ojai Ave) is designed in an old Spanish mission theme. We enjoyed fresh gourmet sandwiches and stumbled upon their Sunday Ojai Certified Farmers Market where we purchased some fresh plums, grapes, dates and breads! You can catch an outdoor concert at the Libbey Bowl as well. A place we really enjoyed eating at was Ojai Coffee Roasting Co! Their sandwiches and acai bowls are amazingly good, and healthy!

For a romantic weekend escape in Central California, Solvang and its surrounding areas are perfect! We highly recommend you give them a try!