Places, Earth
Santa Ynez Valley
Santa Ynez Valley
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Places, Earth
Santa Ynez Valley |
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| I started traveling west on 118, continuing on the old highway when the freeway ended. Within about 25 minutes I was surrounded by agricultural land. After a few miles on 126 | |
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west, I merged onto Highway 101 north. Just passed Santa Barbara, finding Highway CA-154 is a little tricky, but for once Mapquest was right and I continued on my way. I arrived at Mission Santa Inez about 9:45. After a quick restroom stop, I toured the Mission inside and out including the gardens and Cemetery. I was mostly interested in photos of the exhibits to fill a blank page in my www.usmissiontrail,com web site, but I shot everything else too. |
 Campanile at Mision Santa Ines. |
 West Mill. | I then asked how to find the Grist Mills. They are no longer part of the Mission property and are on state park land about half a mile east at the bottom of the rise where the Mission sits. Many years ago, when they were under the control of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, I had gotten permission to visit them and drove closer. I hiked past the Stations of the Cross, down a path. At the bottom, turn left, then right. About 500-1000 feet, there is a small side path, down and up a dip, turn left, and there are the |
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mills.The mills are mostly surrounded by farmland and a few scattered houses, it was somewhat magical. I slowly walked the site and took lots of photos. I was told the mills had been recently restored but they looked about as they had almost 20 years earlier. There are two mill buildings and a mill pond. Access to the interior was not possible and the interiors were so dark nothing could be seen through the one small window. Once I had enough photos, I walked back to the Mission. One last look around, a visit to the restroom, and I was off to SantaYnez. | |
| It took only a few minutes to drive to the small town of Santa Ynez and the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Parks-Janeway Carriage House. I decided to eat my sandwich before going in. I was sitting in the car in front of the museum when I saw a woman come out and take off the "open" sign. I freaked out, I had come so far and waited so long to see this museum. I rushed in and begged to see the museum. She relented and let me see the carriage house filled with wonderful wheeled vehicles of yesteryear. She explained that only the orange coach is local, the rest are from all over |
 Rows of carriages at Parks-Janeway Carriage House. |
 Model of the Santa Ynez Valley. | the country. Maybe shewasn't referring to horseless carriages because the first horseless carriage to arrive in the Valley is in the collection. Beside it is a sleigh and next to it an early motorized bus. Next to the bus in a display at the center of the long wall is a stage coach from Yosemite National Park. In the far corner was a popcorn wagon. I texted a photo of it to my wife who loves popcorn and who again chose to stay home with her dogs. I did a quick tour of the other buildings including one with exhibits of all the small communities in the Santa Ynez Valley and a model railroad. |
| I noticed two cream separators and asked about them. Turns out this was a major milk producing region before the wineries moved in. Since the museum was short staffed and I had begged to see the museum, I felt somewhat imposing, so I took a quick look at the several buildings and headed back to Solvang. | |
 Windmill, Solvang wouldn't be solvang without a windmill. |
Solvang is famous as a Danish community with Danish theme architecture, shops, food, and museums. Parking was tight in the central tourist area of Solvang and I drove around a little, but suddenly a block away there was plenty of parking, just two blocks from the  This large shoe is a popular photo stop in front of Solvang Shoe Store. |
| activity. I had a map that I printed on-line but it wasn't very clear so I just wandered looking at all the shops and eats. I found the famous "red shoe" in front of the Solvang Shoe Store | |
| and continued. I photographed a few windmills but it seems that over the years, other ethnic businesses have moved in, such as an Italian restaurant. I love Italian food, but not in a Danish community. I just wandered, looking at things of interest. I found theHans Christian Andersen Museum which is in the back of the second floor of a book store filled with old and new book of all description, including many children's books, many by Hans Christian Andersen. I sometimes forget how many classic children's stories he authored. |
 Shoe making work bench in the Hans Christian Andersen Museum. |
 Wildling Museum. |
A few blocks more, past a small park with a bust of good old Hans, and across the street is Wildling Museum, a small art museum worth visiting. I wandered the two floor admiring exhibits, including an exhibit on "Fire and Ice." I got information where I could find Ebleskiver, a spherical Danish pancake pastry. I was told there was only one place to go for this prize, so off I went. Ironically it was across the street from the red shoe, but I hadn't walked that side of the street earlier. There are two options here, a threesome to go or eat on the sidewalk, or go |
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in for a full meal. Since my wife had stayed home and I didn't feel like dining alone, I just got the three Ebleskivers to eat on a bench along the sidewalk. I texted a photo to my wife to show her what she was missing. Satisfied they were delicious, I went inside and got another three Ebleskiver to go, along
with an Ebleskiver pan, a bag of mix, and a recipe. By the time I returned to the car I was tired, so I drove the two short blocks to the Elverhoj Museum of Art and History. The now museum was once a home built about 1948 in the |
 Ebleskivers. |
 Elverhoj Museum of Art and History. |
Danish style and construction using no nails, was made from hand carved wood, and used other techniques rendering the house, beautiful. When the parents died, the children didn't want to live in the house that lacked some modern features, but also wanted the house preserved, thus a
museum was the perfect solution. Besides being a beautiful setting, the house is filled with beautiful art and other historical objects. This is a wonderful museum and worth traveling the four block from the touristy section of town. |
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By now I was worn out and headed home the way I had come past a lake, an ocean, hills, scenery, cities and towns, and farmland. Once home, I warmed up the three Ebleskivers to share with my wife. | |
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