This time around the trip to the US was a total contrast to my last one.. It was not my first time. I was not traveling alone. Also, another thing that was different is I didn’t really have a plan, an agenda, unlike my last trip there.
We reached LA two days before Christmas & got settled into my uncle’s house.They kept asking us if we had plans, if there was anything specific we wanted to do, see & the only response we had was “we are just going to take it a day at a time, plus its a working holiday”.
Now since we had a month there, we did want to do a couple of road trips. But had no concrete plans. For some reason. I suddenly thought of Solvang and remembered an aunt mentioning they were headed there on their way back to SF, and this was from a conversation I had back in 2017, which was my first trip to us. It has been 5 years, but still somehow the name of the town stayed on my mind.
I looked up Solvang online and saw that it was Danish Village in CA and the Santa Ynez Valley, a Mini Amsterdam. The pictures and the place looked very cozy and quaint, and I shared this thought and idea with my partner, who jumped in and said yeah, let’s rent a car and go for it. Digging deeper, I found that Two days was more than enough to explore that town, and there were quite a few other places around there, including Santa Barbara. So we decided to do a trip just before New Year’s and come back for New Years to LA.
Again, the only thing that we planned was Car rental and we saw quite a few accommodation options were available, so we decided to just wing it. The day arrived. We were ready, armed with our backpacks. That morning it was raining and it continued to rain much after we reached Solvang as well. We did stop along the way to grab a bite to eat and it was pouring.The place was beautiful [1st pic]. It was located next to a lake and looked like a place where people came to do some fishing.
Took us around 3hrs, with multiple stops [sometimes for a loo break, other times to stretch our legs or just take in the view all around us. Finally reached Solvang, drove around trying to find a hotel or a motel, or some kind of Information Centre until we spotted this very old, rustic looking place that had rooms available sign. Parked the car, walked into the reception and got ourselves a room within minutes. The girl behind the counter was very sweet and helpful. She informed us that there would be freshly baked pastries available which were made at the local bakery in the morning.
We then headed towards our room, which was on the first floor. But wait, we had a surprise in store. We opened the door and there were another flight of stairs to get to the actual room. How cool, right?
A big bed, a small seating area, a restroom and a window that opened out to the town below. It looked like a room you see on a show or a movie. We rested awhile before heading out to explore the town. We saw a bunch of small streets, a whole bunch of people and plenty of festive lights [the holiday season]. The entire town looked like a small village, frozen in time.
As we walked around, we noticed there were quite a few small cafes and restaurants, bars and shops. It was lovely. All around us, we saw were couples and families with little kids and dogs. We did pick up a few souvenirs for friends and family. Spent some time having fun at a store selling different kinds of hats and caps, and generally strolled about. Some of the cafes had outdoor seatings and a nice fire going, which was perfect for the rains & chill.
After about two hours, we could hear our stomach grumbling and began looking for a place to go grab a bite at. Went into a place that looked interesting. Found seats at the bar counter. Ordered ourselves a bottle of a local drink While we figured out what we wanted for dinner. I ordered a bowl of chilli [since I had never had one], and my partner ordered a Mac & cheese. Food was good, the place was lovely. Buzzing with people chattering away animatedly.
We walked around some more before heading back to the room to call it a day. Next morning, we were up early. Looked out the window to see if any of the cafes nearby were open and saw the coffee shop open when we saw a whole bunch of cops go into the coffee shop and we followed suit.
We grabbed ourselves a cup of coffee along with a small bite to eat before making plans for the day. We decided to check out, but not before driving around and exploring the town further. We managed to grab a yummy breakfast at one of the dinners that was open.Before hitting the road.
As we drove around.I spotted a ranch that said visitors were welcome and looked at my partner with excited eyes. He decided to indulge me and we drove into the ranch just to see what it was all about and if we would actually be allowed to walk around and check out the horses.
Lo behold, we were. We spent a good hour walking around the place – talking to the horses, petting them if that’s what it’s called.Before building the place adieu. The place had horses that were sent there for training, to retire or for a holiday. It was a massive place with different sections. The only area we were told to steer clear of was the shed that had the horses waiting for their training sessions. As we drove out, the rains began to pelt down heavy and we keyed in our next destination into the map…
More to continue…
This time around the trip to the US was a total contrast to my last one.. It was not my first time. I was not traveling alone. Also, another thing that was different is I didn’t really have a plan, an agenda, unlike my last trip there.
We reached LA 2 days before Christmas & got settled into my uncle’s house.They kept asking us if we had plans, if there was anything specific we wanted to do, see & the only response we had was “we are just going to take it a day at a time, plus its a working holiday”.
Now since we had a month there, we did want to do a couple of road trips. But had no concrete plans. For some reason.I suddenly thought of Solvang and remembered an aunt mentioning they were headed there on their way back to SF, and this was from a conversation I had back in 2017, which was my first trip to us. It has been 5 years, but still somehow the name of the town stayed on my mind.
I looked up Solvang online and saw that it was Danish Village in CA and the Santa Ynez Valley, a Mini Amsterdam. The pictures and the place looked very cozy and quaint, and I shared this thought and idea with my partner, who jumped in and said yeah, let’s rent a car and go for it. Digging deeper, I found that Two days was more than enough to explore that town, and there were quite a few other places around there, including Santa Barbara. So we decided to do a trip just before New Year’s and maybe come back for New Years to LA.
Again, the only thing that we planned was.Car rental and we saw quite a few accommodation options were available, so we decided to just wing it. The day arrived. We were ready, armed with our backpacks.And headed out to pick up the rental car and hit the road. That morning it was raining and it continued to rain much after we reached Solvang as well. We did stop along the way to grab a bite to eat and it was pouring.The place was beautiful. It was located next to a lake and looked like a place where people came to do some fishing.
We reached Solvang, drove around trying to find a hotel or a motel, or some kind of Information Center until we spotted this very old, rustic looking place.That had rooms available sign blinking outside. Pulled in, Parked the car, walked into the reception and got ourselves a room within minutes. The Girl behind the counter was very sweet and helpful and even pointed us to a brochure that was on the stand which could give us some information about the town. She also went on to tell us that morning there were fresh pastries available which were made at the local bakery.
The room was stunning. It was on the first floor. We opened the door and there were another flight of stairs to get to the actual room.A big bed, a small seating area, a restroom and a window that opened out to the town below. It was very different and looked almost like it had just popped out of a TV show or a movie. We rested a while before deciding to go exploring the town. We saw a bunch of small streets, a whole bunch of people and plenty of lights, because it was the holiday season. I even spotted a windmill on a building.
As we walked around, we noticed there were quite a few small cafes and restaurants, bars.And shops. It was lovely. All we saw were happy couples and families with little kids and dogs Being the place like we were. We walked into a store and picked up a few souvenirs for friends and family.Spend some time having fun at a store selling different kinds of hats and caps. Some of the cafes had outdoor seatings and a nice fire going, which was perfect for the rains & chill.
After about two hours.We could hear our stomach grumbling.And looked for a place to go grab a bite at. Went into a place that looked interesting.Found seats at the bar counter.Ordered ourselves a bottle of a local drink While we figured out what we wanted for dinner. I ordered a bowl of chili.What I had never had one, and my partner ordered a burger. If I remember right. Food was good, the place was lovely.Buzzing with people.And everybody had a smile on their face.
We walked around some more before heading back to the room to call it a day. Next morning, we were up early. And looked out the window to see if any of the cafes nearby were open and saw the coffee shop open and made a beeline for it. We saw a whole bunch of cops go into the coffee shop and thought it must be quite a popular one.
We grabbed ourselves a cup of coffee along with a small bite to eat before Making plans for the day. We decided to check out and head out, but not before driving around and exploring the town further. We managed to grab a yummy breakfast at one of the dinners that was open.Before hitting the road.
As we drove around.I spotted a ranch that said visitors were welcome and looked at my partner with excited eyes. .He decided to indulge me and we drove into the ranch just to see what it was all about and if we would actually be allowed to walk around and check out the horses.
Lo behold, we were. We spent a good hour walking around the place – talking to the horses, petting them if that’s what it’s called.Before building the place adieu. The place had horses that were sent there for training, to retire or for a holiday. It was a massive place with different sections. The only area we were told to steer clear of was the shed that had the horses waiting for their training sessions. As we drove out, the rains began to pelt down heavy and we keyed in our next destination into the map…
More to continue…
