Solvang, California

The town of Solvang is a Danish community that is about thirty minutes north from Rancho Oso. The main town center is about three blocks in radius and is full of gift shops, restaurants and much more. In addition to the strong Danish influences, you can also find German and Dutch as well. This is evident in the authentic food that can be found in many restaurants and the architecture that is prevalent in this area. This is a wonderful area to explore and walk around if shopping and these ethnic influences appeal to you. To get some authentic Danish food during our visit, we stopped at Heidelberg Inn Restaurant & Beergarden for an early dinner. The menu had a small selection of Danish/German sausage dishes, open-faced sandwiches (a Danish tradition) as well as American fare. Suzanne stayed with a pastrami sandwich with soup and Brad ventured into the world of Danish sausage which came with sauerkraut, red cabbage, fried potatoes and a pork sausage. The portions were definitely enough but both meals were just okay. You might want to try one of the other restaurants in town touting similar food. After dinner for our dessert, we frequented two out of the four bakeries that are in this area...we had to sample the fruit danishes and cinnamon crisps. They were all delicious.

Some other places that might be of interest to you while in Solvang: the free Elverhoj Museum, dedicated to the Danish American experience and Danish ancestry; Old Mission Santa Ines; the free Hans Christian Andersen Museum; and the Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum (admission $10 per adult).