Solvang, CA - The Napa Valley of Southern California

Cheryl and I had planned to take a trip after my national exam and came across Solvang, Ca. A beautiful little Danish village nesteld in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. We found an amazing spa and dinner package deal at the famous Hadsten House and couldn't have been more pleased with our decision. We had such a wonderful time and can't wait for the next time we vist Solvang, whenever that may be.

On the way over to Solvang, we made a quick stop in Pismo Beach to enjoy the beautiful weather and get some delicious Dreyer's Ice Cream.

The newly renovated rooms blended classical Europen luxury with a clean modern look. Very attractive and very relaxing. Our room had a flat panel TV, fireplace, mini fridge, and his and hers bathrobes - Wow!

Enjoying the afterglow of a very relaxing massage. Time for dinner and a show :)

The Hadsten House Restaurant: Wine, cheese, and fruit from 3-5pm every night.

I had the lobster bisque followed by the braised short ribs.

Cheryl chose the ceaser salad and the spinach pasta. Everything was delicious.

Bananas foster with strawberrys and vanilla ice cream.

Apple pie with puff pastry, vanilla ice cream with caramel drizzle.

The bill: $0 dollars - not including tip of course.

We barely had enough time to leave the restaurant and drive to the Solvang Festival Theatre. 15 minutes into the trip Cheryl's gut started acting up; and no, I'm not talking about indigestion. She grabbed the phone and called the theatre house only to find out that we were driving the WRONG direction. We had missread the location of the theatre and after finally arriving (with 5 minutes to spare), we realized the theatre was only 5 blocks from our hotel. Doh!

No cameras allowed, but we just had to get a quick camera-phone pic of the enchanting stage.

At intermission, Cheryl and I bundled up with a cup of hot cocoa and watched the stars. The theatre is an open air venue and we were both glad that I doubled back and grabbed the blanket out of the car before the play started.

The evening view right before we went back into the theatre for the rest of "The Music Man" production. Amazing!

The architecture was fantastic and you truly felt as if you were in Denmark.

Stopped in at a local restaurant serving traditional danish meals.

The traditional open faced sandwhich consited of swedish sausage and meatballs, ham and cheese, danish style red cabbage and potatoe salad served on rye bread. Interesting and delicious.

Beautiful architecture was everywhere.

Before heading back to the hotel, we just had to try their famous aebleskivers (prounounced eeble-skeever) covered in delicious raspberry jam and powdered sugar.

On our last night in town, we decided to dine at Pea Soup Andersons. Considering there are only two in California, the other located in Santa Nella, we decided to enjoy some split pea soup before heading North in the morning.