Another One Bites the Dust

So, two weekends in a row Darin and I got to cross things off our 2011 bucket list. With the house closely looming, we decided that we needed to get away with the pup and go do something. Ok so that's not entirely true, Darin is a diabetic and he had made an appointment with his Endocrinologist on President's Day months before, and because that holiday is a paid one in my office I thought that it would be nice for us to make the trip a family outing. So Monday morning bright and early we packed up our stuff and hit the road to San Luis Obispo at 8am. I know, why SLO? Well you see his sister goes to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. When she discovered this doctor (she is a diabetic too) she told Darin how wonderful she was and Darin decided to switch and start going to her. The drive isn't too bad, and the scenery is wonderful.

Driving through the country and next to the beach is so calming that I was too busy looking out the windows and before you knew it the 2.5 hour drive was over. Darin went into the office and Shelby and I decided to take a walk. Once Darin was done, we hopped back in the car, en route for Solvang, CA. I had been there as an adolescent, but Darin hadn't. I remembered it being a cool place for photos and food, so it was perfect. Here's a little background on the city:

Named by Sunset magazine as one of the "10 Most Beautiful Small Towns in the Western United States," Solvang's rich heritage dates back to 1911 when adventurous Danish-Americans traversed the plains from Iowa to establish a settlement in the golden state of California. They purchased 9,000 sun-drenched acres of the former Rancho San Carlos de Jonata and situated their new community adjacent to the historic Old Mission Santa Inés. To preserve and promote Danish culture, the founders constructed a Danish folk school and church (the building now houses Bit O'Denmark Restaurant); then built Atterdag College, which opened in 1914 and educated through 1970 (now the site of Solvang Lutheran Home). Founded by Danish immigrants in 1911, Solvang boasts authentic architecture, thatched roofs, old-world craftsmanship and traditional windmills. Over 1 million visitors come each year to experience the northern European culture, cuisine and unique boutique shopping. 

"Danish Capital of America". It was not until 1946, after the end of World War II, that promoters of the idea of a "Danish Village" were finally able to move ahead with plans to redesign the existing facade of the town, and to mandate this style for new construction.

We arrived, found some parking and decided to get something to eat.  We went to this quaint little restaurant called The Little Mermaid and ordered some sandwiches. They weren't too keen with the dog, so we found another place to eat our food, and then decided to walk the city. Darin is a budding photographer, so I thought I would just take in the scenery with our pup and let him do his thing. We wandered around looking at all the cool architecture, and people watched. Because we had the pup, even though some stores had dogs welcome signs, we did not go into any stores and shop. It was very crowded as it seems many people had the bright idea to take the three day weekend up in this village.  I wandered into a bakery to try and get a danish, but after 10 minutes of trying to decide which one to pick, I just gave up. I didn't need all that sugar anyways. We people watched some more and wandered around outside the Hans Christian Andersen museum, but around 2:30 the rain clouds started to loom ominous and our bodies were screaming at us for being up so early after too much the night before. (we had a birthday party we attended) All in all it was a good trip.