Thursday Door – Solvang
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Dan Antion at No Facility invites us to join in by creating a Thursday Doors post and then sharing the link in his blog anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
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I made a reservation to Banff, Canada in August 2021 for our anniversary. Canada extended the border closing several times. By April, I didn’t want to wait any longer. I canceled the booking and made a reservation to go to Santa Barbara, which is 120 miles from home. While in Santa Barbara, we took a half-day trip to Solvang, which is 33 miles north of Santa Barbara. The last time we visited Solvang was about 20 years ago. I went back with great expectations.
Here is a brief history of Solvang.
Solvang, “The Danish Capital of America” is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Solvang’s origins date back to 1804 when Mission Santa Inés was founded by the Spanish under Esteban Tápis.
In 1911, adventurous Danish-Americans traversed the plains from Iowa to the golden state of California. They purchased 9,000 acres of the former Rancho San Carlos de Jonata and situated their new community next to the historic Old Mission Santa Inés during the Mexican period.
It was not until 1946, after World War II, that promoters of the idea of a “Danish Village” could finally move ahead with plans to redesign the existing facade of the town and to mandate this style for new construction.
To establish a Danish community far from Midwestern winters, they took on its distinctive Danish-themed architecture beginning in 1947 and has since become a prominent tourist destination. Solvang was incorporated as a city on May 1, 1985.
Though only about 10% of residents in the 21st century are Danish, the town attracts many tourists from the Nordic countries and has been the subject of several Danish royal visits, most recently by Prince Henrik in 2011.
I had planned several places to visit and things to do in Solvang.
1. Windmills. There are five of them. We got the map from the tourist center. The map shows the locations of the windmills. We visited all but didn’t take photos of all of them.
2. Danish pastries and sweets. The last time we went to Solvang was about 20 years ago. I loved the pastries. Yet this time, the pastries were not appealing to us anymore. They looked too sweet, and we cut down at least 70% carb intake since the last visit.
3. Shopping. I stopped any travel collection for many years. We only went in and out of the souvenir shops but bought nothing.
4. Wine tasting. I was going to take a wine tour but didn’t have enough time. Also, we would not spend money on purchasing wine. There was wine sampling in many locations downtown. They all open at 12:00 noon. We passed by one, but we didn’t go back (no photos).
5. Candle manufacture. I remember visiting the candle manufacture. I watched them making candles by dipping into the different colors of wax, then carved the soft wax into beautiful patterns. I found two addresses, but they were closed permanently (no photos).
6. Cuckoo clock shop. I always dream of getting a cuckoo clock or Grandfather clock. I know it will never happen because my husband doesn’t even like to hear the chime under our eaves. Besides, some of them cost thousands of dollars. I still wanted to visit. We found one. I took a video, but the owner stopped me in 15 seconds. There were many items from artists placed there on consignment. They have copyrights.
I enjoyed the colorful Danish architecture. All the buildings have unique styles of doors. It was an enjoyable half-day trip.
I hope you enjoyed the highlights of Solvang and the colorful doors!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
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The Showers of Blessings 
Such a beautiful town Miriam. I do hope to get out to the West Coast someday and am going to add Solvang to my list of possible places to visit. I also love Cuckoo clocks and love that picture.
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A beautiful spot . . . I love the windmills as they remind me of my Dutch heritage.
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Oh, good to know about your Dutch heritage, Mark! You must write something about that!
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I should, it’s quite interesting. My grandfather hid Jews during WWII.
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Yes, you should, Mark. Start with writing short stories and add more details later on. It would be interesting.
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Hi Miriam, this is a lovely post. I really enjoyed your gorgeous photographs and learning about this town. I had no idea there was a town which such a strong Danish influence in the USA. It really is such a diverse and interesting country with its melting pot history comprising of so many different people and cultures.
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Very interesting, Miriam. I’d never heard of Solvang until this post. Thanks for sharing!
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We passed through this town nearly 40 years ago. We went back to visit a couple of times! Thank you for reading, Debra!
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I had no idea this place existed!
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I went to Solvang about 30 years ago. It looks pretty much the same. What nice memories you’ve given me, Miriam. I love the pictures.
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I think Santa Barbara and Solvang are about the same as years ago, Jacqui! The newer thing is that the restaurants block off some areas on the sidewalks for dining outdoor because of Covid. It turned out to be, looks like some European countries.
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Thank you, Miriam, for the tour through your beautiful photos. More than a decade ago, a friend of min took me there. I really enjoyed the visit. Hope to revisit it in the future. 🙂
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Good to hear that you visited Solvang more than a decade ago, Amy. Our revisit was enjoyable. We didn’t use a map last time. By using a map, we saw what we wanted to see without just wandering around. But after a while, the buildings all looked so similar! 🙂 Yeah, hope you could visit again.
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Such a lovely town through your lens.
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I like the architecture of this town, Amy.
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It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. It’s such a charming place and my in- laws used to go every year. We will have to stop by and visit it again next time we need down south:)
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You’re right, Denise. It’s a charming place. It was a relaxing afternoon. 😍
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Hubby and I visited Solvang a few times around 1990 when we were living in CA. A delightful place to visit! Thanks so much for sharing.
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Wow, Bette, when did you move to Maine? I’ve visited Solvang three times now. It’s a charming place.
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There’s a place called Helen, GA, that has the same architecture. Beautiful pictures, Miriam! 🙂
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Oh, thank you, Yvette! I’m going to check it out! 😊
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What a cool place, Miriam! It’s kind of amazing how they reworked the town into a Danish village. So charming with the windmills and distinct architecture. What a great place to visit. And I’m glad you resisted the sweets. That would be hard to do. Lovely post!
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It’s a nice small tourist town, Diana. There’s not too much to see beyond the area. I’m glad the businesses are still open. Carbs produce energy but we’re not burning it fast anymore.
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We avoid carbs and sugar too, Miriam, but we splurge a little when on vacation. 😀
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So did I, Diana. When were in Amsterdam, I wanted to eat Belgium waffles. I also liked all the muffins with lots of nuts in Germany. 😁
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🙂
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I enjoyed reading & watching picture. Wonderful windmill , chocolate factory,clock ext. Beautiful architecture buildings & doors .I like. 👌🌷
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I’m glad you liked the pictures, Rajkkhoja! There were a lot to see in a small town! 😊😊
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Where is town & name?
Thank you so much 🌷.
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It’s Solvang in California.
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Ok, Thanks Miriam. Iam so happy.🙏
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You’re welcome, Rajkkhoja. 🙏
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Nice to see Solvang and Cuckoo clocks are so amazing and so that shoo is where I would like to visit too
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It’s nice to see interesting and beautiful things to break our routine, Yvette.
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😊
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glad you had a good trip miriam! xo
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Thank you, Carol! How have you been?
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Miriam, you’ve increased my education today! I had no idea there was a Danish village anywhere in California, and your pictures gave me a virtual tour. I happen to love windmills, so those are my fave pictures 🙂
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That’s wonderful, Zelda! When we went to Amsterdam, I wanted to take a good photo of the windmill, but we were not anywhere near one when we were walking. When I saw one, the tour bus was not facing the windmill. It was good that I could take good photos at Solvang. I’m glad you liked those photos! 🙂
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I’m strictly an armchair traveler so it was great!
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Thank you for sharing, Zelda!
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You’re most welcome!
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😊🙏
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I really enjoyed reading about and seeing photos from Solvang. I’ve been to Santa Barbara (many years ago) but I didn’t know anything about this town. I’m glad you were able to manage a nice vacation during these difficult time. Banff is beautiful. I hope you do get there when travel restrictions ease.
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So lovely to see Solvang featured in your post, I enjoyed reading 🙂 It is a beautiful town.
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