A rainy weekend in Solvang

This weekend was more rain here in Los Angeles. The winters here are incredibly mild, with temperatures rarely dipping below the 60s. It is however the only time it ever rains. So we decided to get away for a little trip to Santa Ynez Valley, where we visited one of our favorite spots, Solvang, CA. We arrived late Friday night and stayed at the Kronborg Inn and slept in till 9:30 the next morning (I remember when 9:30 was early...). We headed into town and had a light breakfast at one of the Danish bakeries, then visited a few of the stores. One of them was the Book Loft, a used bookstore that also houses the Hans Christian Anderson Museum. Here's Jay browsing for books, and a shot of the entrance to the museum:



We also popped into the Solvang Antique Center, which is full of some of the most beautiful (and expensive) pieces I've ever seen. We try to visit every time we go, just to drool over the unusual and rare furniture, jewelry, paintings, and other items. Afterwards we popped into the Mandolina tasting room to sample some of their lovely wines.

Solvang is full of little shops, most of which we've never even been in. It's also surrounded by wineries and beautiful scenery, also most of which we haven't visited yet! We often visit Gainey Vineyard and Curtis Winery, and we always stop at Bridlewood Winery. Normally we picnic on the beautiful grounds at Bridlewood, but because of the rain this time we headed to Buellton to have lunch at a place called Pea Soup Anderson's. Jay loved the split pea soup and sausages we had for lunch....

After our delicious lunch we headed to Bridlewood where we sampled wines and picked up several months worth of wine club shipments. Yay for wine club! Bridlewood is lovely, and here are a few shots of the tasting room and the grounds:


We then left Solvang and headed back to Los Angeles, but stopped along the way to take pictures and have dinner with our friend Linda in Ventura. Jay was taking a few pictures when we dropped the D300... oh sad day when the lens is broken! There was much lamenting over the accident. Lucky thing the Nikon repair center is close by!

The view of Santa Ynez Valley from Vista Point:


And the intrepid photographer just before the tragic accident: