So just a couple-ish hours’ drive northwest from LA is a favorite destination I’ve been so pleased to get back to. It’s the Santa Ynez Valley! The area’s got diverse and dramatic beauty, lots to do – and some pretty eclectic overlays of history!

As local place names suggest, the valley includes multiple cultures at its heart. The name “Santa Ynez” (which is also a town) comes from the days when California was claimed by Spain. Then there are names like Cachuma Lake which have Native American origins. And down the road from Santa Ynez, the town of Buellton gets its handle from Gold Rush pioneers Rufus and Alonzo Buell who modestly named a Mexican land grant purchase after themselves. 

This mingling of monikers is par for the course here in the west. But amidst all of the above in the Santa Ynez Valley, there’s also a town called Solvang. That translates to “sunny field” – 

In Danish!

With this variety of cultural influences all residing elbow to elbow, it can be a bit to process! But on my happy return a few weeks back, I decided to try and give each its due.

I started by diverting a little from my usual coastal route to hunt down Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park. High in the mountains above Santa Barbara, this site wasn’t exactly the most comfortable to reach – but the reward was a mesmerizing collection of Chumash Indian wall paintings thought to date back to the 1600’s or earlier!

The road up is pretty winding and narrow, and there’s only room for maybe a couple cars at a time to pull off and park – which meant I had to wait my turn farther down the mountain until vehicles that had beaten me to it that morning snaked their way back past. Then I got my chance to continue on through the properly eerie atmosphere provided by our well known “June gloom” fog, and up to a secluded sandstone cave. Beyond the serious fencing were cave walls covered with fascinating pieces of enigmatic artwork (enigmatic to me, anyway) left by the Chumash centuries ago. An advantage to the lack of parking is that I got to contemplate the designs and patterns on my own – to imagine the hands that drew them, and try to guess at their meanings…

Connecting with Chumash culture will be a bit easier once the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center opens its doors in Santa Ynez (which I think will be pretty soon)! The complex looks fantastic from the outside, and I’m sure will shed more light on the art and artists whose ancient work I was thrilled to see.

Just a ways farther along Mission Drive (a name that pretty much spoils any suspense), I stopped at another cultural namesake – the Old Mission Santa Inés:

It’s one of the chain of Spanish missions built by Franciscans all along the California coast. Mission Santa Inés was founded in 1804 (some 200 years after those cave paintings), altering the name of the valley – as well as the fates of the original inhabitants around it.

Moving ahead about another century to 1911, a new generation of settlers established yet another foothold in what would become the quaint town of Solvang:

A group of Danish Americans looking to trade harsh Iowa winters for a milder clime, purchased 9,000 acres worth of “sunny field” to become the new owners of part of that same Mexican land grant the Buells bought into. As I understand, it was their original aim to make Solvang an American community where together they could keep Denmark in their hearts, while not necessarily keeping it in town architecture or ethos. After World War II, however, the patriotic notion to indulge (quite rightly!) in some Danish pride really kicked into gear, and residents were encouraged to embrace and run full-speed with the town’s Danish heritage.

Today Solvang is a popular destination where visitors can feel a little like they’ve switched continents for a time! They can wander the scenic streets and count the windmills, sample delicious Danish pastries like Kringles and Butter Rings, dine on Danish sausages or meatballs with some pickled red cabbage on the side, and shop for clothes, antiques and every kind of kitschy Scandinavian souvenir.

For my money, you can’t help but love a town where buckets full of cookies are a thing!

There’s food on offer in Solvang from other parts of the world – but I opted for lunch at the Red Viking Restaurant where I picked an outside seat and heartily enjoyed a sandwich of Tilsit cheese with radish and bell pepper on pumpernickel, with potato salad. But really, that part was just a ruse to get to a plate of Æbleskivers with jam!

To add a more substantial taste of Danish culture to my literal one, I wandered a few blocks away from the busy, tourist-filled sidewalks to visit the Elverjøj Museum of History and Art :

Here in what was once a traditionally built Danish residence, you can get a feel for what life in a village home in Denmark might have been like back in the day – Æbleskivers and all!

The museum also offers temporary art exhibits outside of the Danish vein. I caught the “Music of Love” exhibit (there until August 13) – a cool collection of photos by rock photographer Henry Diltz. And staff members were wonderfully eager to share their knowledge of Solvang and all things Danish!

Among other popular activities in the valley is tasting local wines! Being more of a movie connoisseur, myself (i.e., I’m widely not considered a connoisseur of fine food or wine…), I like to savor the fact that the hilarious and heart-tugging movie Sideways was filmed all around Buellton and Solvang!

After a full day of braving crowds to sample Solvang’s Danish delights, I often feel a little pull to take one more palate cleansing pause at the Mission, just on the other side of a high, thick wall from the clamor. 

It seems a timeless spot to contemplate all the people who might have taken in the view there before me, and who appreciated the land in whatsoever name they knew it by…

Will there be any other layers of names added over these? Maybe not in my time. But hey, you never know – Vandenberg Space Force Base is only about 30 miles from Solvang, and their interstellar activities just may attract would-be colonists from other worlds someday!

I have to hope they wouldn’t be looking to invade though, but would be as charmed as I am by the Santa Ynez Valley, and simply come to it in peace –

Maybe with buckets full of cookies. That would be nice!

Cheers!