26/04: Ventura to Solvang
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
We continue to head north following the PCH. Santa Barbara has lots to offer tourists and we did our best to enjoy it.
"Mission Santa Barbara, widely referred to as the “Queen of the Missions”, is one of the most beautiful buildings in Coastal California. Dating to 1786, the architecture evolved from adobe-brick buildings with thatched roof to more permanent edifices as the mission's population burgeoned. An earthquake in 1812 destroyed the third church built on the site. It's replacement, the present structure is still a functioning Catholic church."
The tour took us through the gardens where we saw the steps to nowhere and the cemetary. The skull and crossbones on the doorway indicate that there is a cemetary attached to the mission.
The inside of the mission.
We wandered around downtown Santa Barbara taking in the beautiful architecture, enjoying the view and checking out a few of the stores.
Santa Barbara harbour is huge --- I can't remember the last time I saw this many boats in one place.
We stopped at a couple of state parks to check out the view as we continued our drive north.
Beautiful beaches and
beautiful flowers
And now for somewhere a little different
"Solvang was founded in 1911 on almost 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish colony far from the midwestern winters."
One of serval windmills and a replica of Copenhagen's Round Tower or Rundetårn in the scale 1:3 that was finished in 1991.
Ed and I really enjoyed walking around Solvang ... felt like home. A small town surround by rolling hills filled with cows and farm fields. Solvang is in a grape growing region and thus has many tasting rooms as well as micro breweries. We decided to have dinner at one of the micro breweries where Ed tried 2 different beers and I had a local wine ... oh we ate some wonderrful food as well.
Solvang is also home to an old mission.
Father Estévan Tapís founded Mission Santa Inés in order to relieve overcrowding at Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción since it was located midway between the two.
"Mission Santa Barbara, widely referred to as the “Queen of the Missions”, is one of the most beautiful buildings in Coastal California. Dating to 1786, the architecture evolved from adobe-brick buildings with thatched roof to more permanent edifices as the mission's population burgeoned. An earthquake in 1812 destroyed the third church built on the site. It's replacement, the present structure is still a functioning Catholic church."
The tour took us through the gardens where we saw the steps to nowhere and the cemetary. The skull and crossbones on the doorway indicate that there is a cemetary attached to the mission.
The inside of the mission.
We wandered around downtown Santa Barbara taking in the beautiful architecture, enjoying the view and checking out a few of the stores.
Santa Barbara harbour is huge --- I can't remember the last time I saw this many boats in one place.
We stopped at a couple of state parks to check out the view as we continued our drive north.
Beautiful beaches and
beautiful flowers
And now for somewhere a little different
"Solvang was founded in 1911 on almost 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish colony far from the midwestern winters."
One of serval windmills and a replica of Copenhagen's Round Tower or Rundetårn in the scale 1:3 that was finished in 1991.
Ed and I really enjoyed walking around Solvang ... felt like home. A small town surround by rolling hills filled with cows and farm fields. Solvang is in a grape growing region and thus has many tasting rooms as well as micro breweries. We decided to have dinner at one of the micro breweries where Ed tried 2 different beers and I had a local wine ... oh we ate some wonderrful food as well.
Solvang is also home to an old mission.
Father Estévan Tapís founded Mission Santa Inés in order to relieve overcrowding at Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción since it was located midway between the two.