Don't be confused! I'm still in California. I am in Solvang, the Danish capital of America. In 1911, a group of Danish midwesterners moved to California and founded the town of Solvang. They recreated towns that they had originated from in the Old Country. Solvang is full of restaurants serving Danish/German food. More importantly, it is full of bakeries!! Solvang also has a museum dedicated especially to Hans Christian Andersen and all of his books. That is one reason I chose one of his quotes for my opener today. It is a quaint small museum. My favorite part was seeing so many different copies of his stories in print.
I first learned of Solvang about four years ago when I read Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (pictured below), One of the characters in the book visits Solvang, and since I had never heard of it before, I looked it up. The pictures online alone were enough to pull me here. I waited patiently through the four years. I have also looked up the town on city-data.com, and they have almost zero violent crime here. It is a safe, lovely, friendly town. I hope my pictures make you want to visit. Remember Madonna Inn from yesterday? It's only about one hour away, so you can stay there on your girls' trip and just drive down here for the day!
On the way to Solvang this morning, I stopped at Pismo Beach. I found the neatest park called Dinosaur Cave Park. The pictures below will show you how the park got its name. (And I included the dinosaur!) I also walked on the actual beach a little bit too. You'll see that as I move south, the beaches continue to change. That amazes me so much. The beaches in California are vastly different from each other depending on how far north or south you are. This has been a real learning experience for me.
As I move south, I am also reminded of another of my favorite books, Ramona, by Helen Hunt Jackson. The author wrote the book to describe, not in a complimentary way, the problems between the Indians, Mexicans, and Americans in the days of California's early statehood. She also weaved in a love story. As I move south, I am nearing the area where Ramona and her true love Alessandro traveled as she escaped Senora Moreno and the only home she had ever known. I hope I have placed a desire in you to read this book too. (It is also pictured below.)
Tomorrow I have another day in Solvang, and the hotel clerk has already told me that they bring in pastries from one of the local bakeries for breakfast each morning. Yes, I'll take some pictures before I dig in. Also, tomorrow I get to meet one of my favorite animals too. I'm not telling yet; you'll have to check back later!
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