A lot has changed since I last wrote a blog post... We are now over 9 months into our pandemic with Covid and we have since elected a new President (thank goodness). Simply put, 2020 has not been easy, and I sincerely wish you and your loved ones have been well. When I started this blog over 10 years ago, it was very heavily fashion focused (I have even archived many of my old posts) but over time, it became my travel diary. I can't believe my last post was from my Japan trip back in November of 2019. I had no idea at that time that it would be my last oversea travel for a while. The silver lining is... my boyfriend and I have been going on road trips and discovering so many wonderful places all within 2-3 hours outside of LA. We are so lucky to live in California and I can't wait to keep exploring and to share with you these hidden gems.
A few weeks ago, we drove past Santa Barbara out to Solvang. Hold on, wait, am I dreaming? Did I just suddenly go from rolling hills and vineyards to Storybook Land? Streets lined with Scandinavian architecture, Danish motifs, and a handful of windmills! Every corner was so picturesque, I couldn't walk a block without stopping for photos, and I am pretty sure I said the word "cute" a million times that weekend. We stayed at The Landsby which kindly hosted us in their lovely junior suite overlooking the courtyard. All the staff and guests were required to wear a mask in any public area and we felt relatively safe during our stay.
Let's talk food! Here are the few places we ate that weekend and I highly recommend all of them!
- Coffee at Good Seed (The turmeric latte was sooo good!)
- Breakfast / Brunch at Mad & Vin (The eggs Benedict is a must!)
- Late Lunch / Happy Hour at Succulent Cafe (Wow that brussel sprouts!!!)
- Dinner at Ramen Kotori (Ramen in Solvang? Really? Yes, really. It's legit.)
- Pastries at Mortensen's Danish Bakery (Get the pistachio marzipan bar! My mouth is watering just thinking about it...)
Often times when we travel to somewhere new, we check to see if there are any climbing spots. With gyms being closed for the majority of this year, outdoor climbing has been especially precious. We woke up early on a Monday morning, grabbed a coffee and breakfast bowl at Good Seed and headed off to Los Padres National Forest. After half an hour or so, we made a turn onto West Camino Cielo and was literally above the clouds. The approach to The Playgrounds (one of the many climbing areas in the forest) was long but fairly easy and since it was a Monday, we had the entire place to ourselves! We spent a good few hours climbing The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers Crag and overall just enjoyed being outside.
The next day, we stopped at Solvang Farmer Pumpkin Patch to pick up a couple of pumpkins before heading home. If you happen to visit Solvang in the Fall, be sure to stop by. It is a decent sized pumpkin patch with a massive corn maze!
Solvang is most definitely cute. Oops I used the word "cute" again! It really is quaint but I do want to say that it is packed with tourists on the weekends. We were there Sunday through Tuesday and Sunday was so different than Monday. If you want to get a photo in front of the windmill on the weekend, forget about it! I actually woke up at 7am on a weekday to retake a few photos. It really is the only time when no one is around! So if you go, go on weekdays!
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