Anniversary Weekend in Solvang

We ended up going during Danish Days, which occurs every September. It's a nice small-town-festival type of atmosphere, focusing (obviously) on the town's Danish heritage. Heavy on sausages, aeblskivers, Danish dancing, and enough cotton candy and face-painting to distract even the most ADD child.

My wife and I especially liked the outdoor theater, which holds a series of plays throughout the summer. The local college sponsors PCPA Theater nights, and the auditorium is open-air. Curl up under a wool blanket with a cup of hot cocoa, and it makes for a memorable experience on a summer night.

There are loads of wineries in the region, all within a short drive from Solvang, Santa Ynez, Ballard or one of the other Santa Ynez Valley towns.

Quicksilver Farms (5 minutes north of Solvang on Alamo Pintado Road) has miniature horses, which kids would find kinda cool.

Apple picking at a local orchard is a nice, slow, quiet kind of activity, and the apples we picked were very delicious.

Quick Tips:

Solvang in itself is probably not a destination for an entire weekend. Even with the Danish Days celebration, there probably isn't enough to do within the town itself. Luckily, within a 20-minute drive are about 30 local wineries, and the Santa Ynez Valley (wherein Solvang is located) is an up-and-coming new wine region. Danish culture in the morning, new California wines for the afternoon -- overall a pretty nice combination.

Best Way To Get Around:

Drive there. Its about 40 minutes northwest of Santa Barbara, and about 2 hours north of Los Angeles on a good day (good luck). There are also tour buses that pass through the town if you're so inclined. The town itself is small and can be handled by walking fairly easily.

Tucked away about three blocks from the main drag is this fairly large one-story inn with gardens both in front and out back. The facade is very nice and quaint and definitely looks old world. One of the gates is made from a transformed wrought-iron wagon wheel!

Our room (Rose Haven) was very nicely laid out, with drapes and a very flowery comforter. The bathroom was nothing special (with its yellow-tiled counter, it looked sort of like a kitchen), but was definitely adequate. Ours was one of two rooms with an adjacent parking space, which is a plus. (There is ample parking for the other rooms, just out in the main parking). The continental breakfast consisted of danishes (of course), coffee, orange juice, and several cereals.

Overall, it's a good place to stay and the innkeeper and staff were very helpful. It's a bit on the expensive side ($140 per night for Saturday and Sunday), especially for the level of accommodations, but I think part of that was because we went on a festival weekend. If we go back, I'd want to stay at another place, though-for variety's sake and also to be a little closer to the center of town.

A bit over-the-top Danish in decor, but then again, so is most everything in this town! Cozy and busy, especially since it's on the main street. We had dinner here our first night. Didn't like it. Wouldn't go back.

I was adventurous and had Hokkebof (pronounced hockey-boof) - essentially Salisbury Steak mixed with onions, with an egg, sunny-side-up, on top. My wife had lemon-herb chicken. Neither were spectacular, although that's not the reason we wouldn't go back. It was more the service.

Maybe they were busy, so I'll give that as a caveat. The servers were indifferent - I had my hand raised for quite some time before I had to get up to get someone's attention (and we were sitting near the kitchen). They didn't bring us condiments, and we had to ask several times for them. Overall a lackluster performance.

Quick and efficient. The food was standard fare, but good and satisfying. My wife had a cheeseburger and salad. I had an aeblskiver. The service was fast and attentive. The food was out in a reasonable amount of time. We had a good view of the parade route from the front window of the restaurant, and we could've sat out on the patio for an even better view if we wanted. Prices were very reasonable.

Squarely within the center of town, this restaurant serves up a combination of Danish cuisine and typical American food you'd find at any diner. Nothing flashy... despite the murals of different Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale scenes on the wall (Princess & the Pea, Thumbelina, Little Mermaid, the one with seven swans, others too). The restaurant was clean and the staff attentive. We had breakfast here and had no problem whatsoever.

I heard they have the best aeblskivers here... they actually had postcards of just their aeblskiver! Didn't get to try it from this restaurant, though.

Finally... can't beat the location. You'd probably be walking within its general vicinity while surveying the town anyway, and it’s a nice place to stop by for a snack.

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA) holds a summer-long series of presentations in Solvang. This year they had a combination of old standards (Fiddler on the Roof) and newer, smaller productions (Bullshot Crummond and The Wildest!!!). We saw an older, mid-1950s play called "Light Up The Sky." It was a good comedy (a play-about-a-play type play) and professionally done. The actors were skilled and the performances were very entertaining.

The best part of the show however was the venue. The Festival Theater is in the middle of downtown Solvang and seats only a few hundred, making for a very intimate setting. Its also outdoors, which on a summer night in the California Mountains, is just plain perfect. We curled up under wool blankets and sipped some hot cocoa while watching the show. Afterwards, the walk back to the hotel took five minutes. Overall, a relaxing and stress-free way to watch a play.

What it is: small-town festival, with a Danish twist.

As you may already know if you've searched the town on google, Solvang was established in 1911 by Midwestern Danish farmers who moved here to start a community, which would highlight their Danish heritage. A college was started here, and over the next several decades, the community grew around it. While Atterdag College is gone, the community survives it, and takes full advantage of its Danish heritage with lots of windmills, farmhouses built in Danish style, and costumed characters throughout.

Danish Days takes that to the extreme, with a horse-drawn carriage carrying the towns chorus group, a traditional breakfast of aeblskiver and sausage, Danish dancing . . . the whole works. The town square also hosts several shows, including a comedy/juggling team, a band, singing, and more, with carnival-style booths surrounding it. It's an enjoyable time, especially if you have kids, who will definitely get a kick out of the over-the-top Viking-associated activities and souvenirs. Hans Christian Andersen was walking around handing out stuff and telling stories.

What it isn't: Denmark

Not that it wants to be, either, so I don't think it’s a criticism by any means. It’s also not as educational as one would expect, although they make an attempt at this by having a video of Denmark and Danish history available for continuous viewing. While the kids will have a great time, it’s a bit thin on adult-level enjoyment, and beyond eating and looking around, there's not much for adults really to do. The entire time would make for a very enjoyable afternoon or entire day, but unless you know someone there or are involved in the festival, there's probably no reason to make an entire weekend of the festival itself. We had planned on going to the festival in the morning and having a wine-tasting trip in the afternoon, which I think worked out well for us, enjoying both without getting too much of either.

Bottom Line: It's fun, definitely something new, and very enjoyable for kids especially. It's not enough to carry an entire weekend, though.