24 Hours in Solvang, CA

While Kyle was training in Port Hueneme, CA, and I was still in Monterey, we met up halfway in the adorable Danish town of Solvang. USA Today named Solvang one of "The Best Historic Small Towns in America" and it definitely met the mark of being amazing! It was recommended to me by several friends and like anything, we kind of just ran out of time to make a trip to visit.

I texted Kyle on a Thursday and said, "Hey do you want to meet up this weekend?". The answer was, "of course", but that meant either of us would be driving two hours each and we really couldn't meet until Saturday because of his school schedule. The easy option was to go to on our favorites, Paso Robles, but Kyle pushed me to "try something new". I searched online for hotels and was honestly a little scared! The town is so small that there aren't a ton of hotels or chains. Kyle found a nice Marriott about 10 minutes away, but I really wanted to be in the downtown.

So, I left out of Monterey on Saturday morning with no idea of where we would stay. We agreed to meet up at the Cracker Barrel in Santa Maria and then we would go from there. We took the plunge and decided to go to Solvang (with no hotel reservation). We drove the main downtown and found some cute hotels. They were either booked or $1,000 night (I'm not joking). We found one little roadside motel called Solvang Inn and Cottages. I googled it and the pictures that I saw were a little interesting, but I decided to walk in and see if they had a room we could check out. Thankfully they did and it looked WAY better than the photos. It was clean and plenty of space for us and the kids and a little corner to tuck Huxie into. And it was right outside of the pool, which was perfect for Char! I think the room was around $200, which seemed to be the going rate for the hotels in the area. It also included a breakfast at the danish bakery next door, called Olsen's , which we learned was owned by the same owner as our hotel!

Our cottage

We immediately took a dip in the pool. Charlotte has missed swimming so much, so any chance that we can go, we do. After a nice swim, we loaded up the double stroller to walk around Solvang. We were surprised at how hot it was! The area was experiencing a heat wave and that definitely prepared us for the FL heat. Our first stop was at a beautiful tasting room, Sanger Wines, right of off the main road. The kids played on the patio and turf while we tasted. The atmosphere was beautiful. We continued to walk around the area and visited another tasting room called, Casa Cassara, which was absolutely amazing for our kids. The owners greeted us with crayons, markers, coloring books and fresh strawberries and pretzels for them to snack on. They also had an old piano that played itself and the kids loved it! I highly recommend this room if you are looking for a family-friendly tasting room.

Sanger Tasting Room

Exploring 

Casa Cassara Tasting Room

We were getting hungry at this point, so we ventured over to Toscana, which was recommended to us by multiple people. We were so sad that they were completely full and unable to accommodate us, so we headed to Succulent Cafe. Hux was asleep at this point, so we enjoyed a semi-quiet meal while he napped. We had the brussel sprouts and scallops and they were amazing! Everything was farm to table and the atmosphere was amazing.

After dinner we headed back to get ready for bed. Everyone was really tired and I am not even joking when I say that we were all laying down by 7:45pm. We closed all the blinds, turned on the sound machine and tried to be as quiet as possible to get Huxie down for bed. Of course, Charlotte had to go to the bathroom, which required her to walk past the crib, so he woke up and cried for a bit. Never a dull moment when traveling with kids.

We were up early and headed across the street to Paula's Pancake House, which is about the CUTEST breakfast place I've ever been too. Charlotte got to watch the oranges be squeezed and we enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast. Next we venturned to the Hans Christian Anderson Park.  The entire town pays homage to Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote over 160 fairytales including The Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling and The Snow Queen (Frozen). We enjoyed playing at the park and then headed back to our room for a swim! It was time to pack up, check out and head out. First, we needed to get a picture with the Little Mermaid Statue!

Little Mermaid Statue

On our way out, we stopped at Shoestring Winery for a tasting. This vineyard was absolutely beautiful and the wine was yummy too. The owners of the vineyard recently passed away, so it was very interesting and sad to hear about their story and legacy. Their son now runs the winery and they even had goats that we were able to feed and pet.

On our drive in, we saw Ostrichland and I knew we had to make a stop there. Talk about a CASH COW business. They have over 200 ostriches on property that you can feed and take photos with. The kids loved it! Be sure to wash your hands after!

We were starving, so before Kyle and I split and went our separate ways, we had lunch at an amazing place, Industrial Eats, right at the interstate. Their menu changes daily and the food was incredible! We were sad to say good-bye to Daddy, but it was an amazing 24 hours in a beautiful place.

Glass Bottle Cokes at Industrial Eats.. Then my phone died. 

Two other notable places that we didn't make it to:

Pea Soup Anderson's (you'll see signs on the interstate on your way to Solvang). They are famous for their Pea Soup and serve over 2 million/bowls year.

Quicksilver Ranch - miniature horse farm. We didn't end up going because Google said it was closed on Sunday, but another family told us that wasn't true, so I would definitely call ahead. You cannot feed or pet them, but you can look at them! :)