I took a slight detour from PCH, which I very much regret. When you travel alone in a car and have a limited amount of time, its hard to decide just where to stop. Imagine stopping too much and then not having time to see the good stuff, ie Big Sur. I had this fear during my entire trip. I tried to shake it, but it was the fear of missing all the good stuff, not spending time wisely, running out of money, etc etc.
It was generally a relaxing, fun vacation but I did have moments of panic and doubt as to where to go and what to do. It turns out Solvang was my least wise stop.
While these pictures make it seem quaint, don't be fooled. This Danish 'village' is a sickeningly sweet tourist trap that only grandmothers and Dutch quilters should visit. Every building was made to look Danish because a handful of Dutch settlers moved there a hundred years ago...so there were windmills, bakeries with cardboard-like Danish cookies and shops that looked like houses with mean old ladies in them ready to shove unsuspecting children in ovens.
I wandered around the overpriced shops, thinking I might at least get some Solvang cuisine but thinking better of spending $20 on a Dutch sandwich, I shook the dust off my feet and munched on Smart Start as Solvang disappeared into my rearview mirror.
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| Safely out of Solvang, which is in wine country, I stopped on the roadside to take a pic of some grape vines. |
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| I really like this one. I think Robert Mitchum or Brian Keith lived there. |
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| The last picture show. |
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| This was kind of a cute barn, don't you think? I didn't go in though...I'm pretty sure there were Dutch grannies with hot ovens in there. |
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