Lovely Solvang, California
Debbie and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to the Central Coast of California. The Central Coast has become one of our most "frequent" vacation destinations, given that we have now been there four times in the five years we've been together. It is sort of "our" place to go for a romantic getaway. We first went there together as a couple a few months after we started dating in 2004, and it was so wonderful that we've gone back again and again. We've visited slightly different areas each time we've gone to the region, as the Central Coast is large and all of it is beautiful. Also, on every one of our visits, we've found the time to visit our friends Jeff and Lise, who live in Santa Maria (which, astoundingly enough, is a town in the Central Coast). I first met Jeff and Lise when the three of us were teachers together at Lincoln School during the "Costa Rica days" some 15 years ago, and we have remained friends since. Therefore, our itinerary for this particular trip was to first spend a night in Santa Maria at Jeff and Lise's, and then proceed on to spend a few days in the quaint little Danish town of Solvang, near the southern boundary of the Central Coast.
Day 1
We began our journey per our planned schedule at around 9:00 am on the morning of Saturday, May 16, 2009. We had a bit of an adventure trying to fill up with gas - we hadn't filled up the day before, so we decided to stop at the closest gas station on the way out of Rosamond - a gas station that I began boycotting three years ago after it repeatedly failed me (bad pumps, bad card readers, closed pumps, and other issues I can't even remember now). I actually ventured back to that gas station about one and a half years ago for some particularly irrational reason I don't recall now, and amazingly enough, I once again had a problem with a pump and had to drive to another gas station. So on Saturday morning we pulled up to the gas station and I attempted to get gas. First, the card reader machine was all screwed up and punching in the numbers was very difficult if not impossible (I think the machine was possessed, as it seemed to key in numbers on its own). Finally, I realized that it was rejecting my card (more on this issue later). So I tried a second card, and after about 5 minutes of battling my way through the malfunctioning key-pad, I finally (supposedly) got the pump to turn on. Then, no gas would come out. At this point Debbie tried the pump, as she has not had as many problems with this gas station as I have. It refused to work for her either. And no, it isn't something to do with these weird California pumps and something unique about my car; I am aware of these weird California pumps and how to "coax" them into releasing their precious fuel. There is just something ridiculously screwed up with this gas station. So we pulled forward to another pump, and the card reader for this pump was all screwed up as well, but in a different way (no sound and certain pads simply wouldn't respond). In the end, the whole machine locked up and told us to request assistance with a cashier inside if we wanted to continue the transaction. We cancelled the transaction and left the gas station. We crossed the freeway overpass and pulled up to a BRAND NEW gas station in Rosamond. This is pretty exciting as Rosamond is kind of a run-down little town in the desert and when something new opens up it is quite an exhilarating event for "all involved" (and I'm definitely involved in the pulse of new events in the town of Rosamond). I actually walked to this store from our house a few months ago after it opened up - Debbie had the car that day and I just couldn't contain myself - where I proceeded to buy myself a Monster. By itself, buying a Monster is an incredibly exciting event, notwithstanding buying a Monster in a brand-new gas station convenience store in a run-down town in the middle of the Mojave desert.
Where was I? What, were you expecting stories of a trip to the California Central Coast and not rants about malfunctioning gas stations? Oh. But I'm not quite done yet…
Oh yes, so we pulled up to this spanking new gas station. After trying several cards, and having them all rejected, I went inside and requested assistance. The cashier informed me that this gas station only takes debit cards. I certainly have a debit card but I am not going to use it when I can use my credit card and earn cash back. That's just stupid (and I'm stubborn). I've never heard of a gas station that only takes debit cards. What if I was a business traveler and had to use my corporate credit card for my rental car refueling transactions? Guess I wouldn't be going to this particular gas station in Rosamond, California. So it was on to another gas station a couple blocks away. I tried my Mastercard - once again rejected. I tried my American Express - success!! At least my travails at the previous two gas stations hadn't managed to completely lock up all my credit cards. And amazingly enough - gas came out of the pump!! Within five minutes we had a full tank of gas and were on our way. We finally pulled out of Rosamond at 9:38 am.
Of course, I was quite irritated at this point because of the fact that my Mastercard was once again rejected. This is a whole other issue. The credit card company put a hold on our card because we had to get Debbie an emergency root canal week before last, and the credit card company, in its vigilance against fraud, "momentarily" put a hold on the card after the $1000 plus root canal transaction. This root canal had occurred on the previous Monday. I first learned the card was locked up the next day (Tuesday) when I tried to activate my new Skype premium account online and it failed. I called Chase (the credit card company) and thanked them for their vigilance, but asked them if they would please fix my card. They were very nice and after doing "something" said that they had restored my card's access to the "highest level". So I got back online and tried to complete the Skype transaction. It failed. I got back on the phone with Chase, and the (different) customer service representative explained to me that the card had a hold placed on it due to a root canal transaction. Really?! That's amazing. The agent sat on the phone with me as she herself instructed me to try and process the Skype transaction again. And again. And again. Each time, she paused, talked to her manager, and got back on the line to assure me she had placed the card at some new "highest level of authority". Finally, after TEN attempts (which she told me to do), the transaction went through. Thursday - I use the card at Albertson's; it works. Yay! Friday - Debbie and I are at Albertson's again and we try to use the card. Rejected. Therefore, per our plan, Saturday morning before we began our trip to the Central Coast, we once again called Chase to figure out what was wrong. They explained that a hold had been placed on the card due to the root canal transaction. Really?! Gee, didn't know that, I've only been on the phone with you guys 3 times now and we've already talked about all that and you've repeatedly claimed with 100% confidence that the problem was fixed. I also explained the situation where the card would briefly work, only to fail again. They didn't seem to understand any of this, but claimed ONCE AGAIN that we had been given the highest level of clearance on the card. And so, five minutes later, we drive to the gas station bright-eyed and ready to begin our Central Coast trip (we just need gas!), and the card doesn't work.
Yes, I was a bit irritated as we FINALLY headed south on the 14 freeway to begin our weekend getaway, but I really didn't care that much. We were in for a wonderful extended weekend, we have plenty of backup plans for monetary facilitation (and stuff) beyond that single credit card, and I wasn't going to let something like asinine customer service in India ruin my day. If I let asinine customer service in India ruin my day, every day would be ruined, right?! Or something. But I still have fun writing about these little adventures. Part of the experience…
We hit the 138 and headed west, which is usually a good idea. We even saw a lake or a reservoir or something like that. And maybe a few crack houses. In any event, we arrived at Interstate 5 and headed north for a distance. We headed over the "grapevine" (no snow, since it's May), and soon after that we came upon the exit to highway 166. We hit the 166 and headed west, across the picturesque Central Valley. This drive is mostly mile after mile of farmland, with apple orchards, and fields of various fruits and vegetables. I love it. Around 11:30 am we came to the exciting town of Cuyama. Debbie had this thought that she remembered there being a "Burger King on the right and a Subway on the left" in a town called Cuyama, so we were thinking the town of Cuyama would be a good place to stop. All we saw was a run-down general store and a closed up restaurant. Suddenly, however, after a brief one mile separation, we entered the town of NEW Cuyama. This was truly exciting. If Old Cuyama didn't have what we were looking for, certainly New Cuyama would. Well, no Burger King or Subway appeared, just another (albeit newer) general store. But we did see a sign for something called the "Burger Barn", so we kept our eyes peeled. We almost missed it, but just as we were on the outskirts of town, about to leave the lovely metropolis of New Cuyama behind and head back into the fields, Debbie spotted the Burger Barn down a brief torn-up road on the left side of the highway. So we made our way to the Burger Barn, which was quite old and needed some renovation, but still rather quaint and a welcome place to stop for lunch.
The one and only Burger Barn of New Cuyama, California
I ordered the garlic burger and onion rings and Debbie got chicken fingers, fries, and a wondrous order of fried zuccinni. Have I ever mentioned that one of Debbie's true loves, beside a certain bad-ass scimitar wielding dark elf named Drizz't Do'Urden and a certain small-clawed otter wannabe complaining cat-monster named Isabella C. Riley, is fried zuccinni? Anyway, I attacked my burger in the Burger Barn, and suddenly was full in a matter of 2.6 minutes. It was quite delicious. We bid farewell to the nice lady running the restaurant (assisted by her daughter, who didn't seem terribly pleased with her life in New Cuyama), and hit the road again. I cracked open a Mountain Dew and settled into post-Burger Barn grease induced bliss. (and the sugar and caffeine didn't hurt either; neurotransmitters are awesome!!)
I believe we may have used some Red Matter and the resultant mini black hole produced a small tear in the space-time continuum (or perhaps New Cuyama was the source of the black hole), but in any event, we suddenly arrived at Jeff and Lise's in Santa Maria much sooner than we had expected. At 1:13 pm, we pulled up to their house. We had estimated 2 pm. No one was home, so we ambled around to the backyard and there was a note on the door, which they had left open for us. I actually didn't notice the note and went tearing past it through the open door on my way to the restroom because I REALLY had to use the facilities after downing a Mountain Dew and an additional 40 ounces of water after lunch (the greasy food made me really thirsty, but I think in true Lance fashion I may have slightly over-estimated my water replacement requirements for proper equilibrium restoration). Just as I was emerging from the restroom, Lise showed up with her son Evan. They had rushed off to the store but of course we had shown up during their absence. It was wonderful to see Lise, and we all settled down in chairs in their beautiful back yard and chatted, while Evan informed us of various exciting things. Evan just turned six and will be starting first grade in the fall. A couple hours into our visit, Jeff showed up with their younger son, Sean. Sean is just turning three, so he is still "challenged" by the waning days of his terrible-twos. Thus, Sean doesn't play too well with Evan right now; they do better off in "separated scenarios." So Jeff had spent the day with Sean at the beach (Sean had apparently had a wonderful, positive day), and Lise had spent the day with Evan. Jeff settled down with us and we all chatted. It was also great to see Jeff. Jeff and I had classrooms near each other at Lincoln (we both taught in the middle school and high school), and we used to hang out every day on the lovely Lincoln campus either during morning break time or lunch. Such good memories!
As we all chatted, Sean and Evan attempted to play on a new slip-and-slide that Jeff had set up for them in the yard. They didn't really play that well together, but the situation didn't completely deteriorate to tears or fists, either. Lise sat calmly at a distance letting her boys sort out their differences without intervening too closely. It was actually pretty impressive parenting, something Debbie and I observed from both Jeff and Lise as we have watched them with their boys. They both warned us that Sean is a bit "difficult" right now, but honestly he is still a very good boy, and they are doing amazing jobs as parents. The boys have boundaries - and Evan is very well-behaved so he rarely if ever tests any of the boundaries anyway - and those boundaries are firmly and consistently enforced. But this enforcement is done in a very calm, easy-going way on the part of Jeff and Lise the parents, without a large dose of drama. Perhaps everyone has their own parenting style, and I have no way of knowing which style is best as I have never been a parent, but in my observations over the years, if I was ever a parent, I would aspire to the parenting style that I have observed in Lise and Jeff.
Evan and Sean on their new slip-and-slide
At some point during the afternoon, Debbie got back on the phone with Chase the credit card company (recall our insane problems with them from earlier in the day?) and decided to kick their ass. She can really kick ass well when she wants to, and this time she went into full Debbie ninja-kick-ass mode. After about 45 minutes on the phone with them (our fifth conversation with them over this issue in as many days in my estimation), she resolved the issue. And I can say that we haven't had a single problem with that credit card since that last conversation. Isn't my wife amazing?
And so the afternoon proceeded. At some point Sean dressed up like a horse and hid in the laundry basket, and at another point Evan and I sat down at his laptop, where he gave me an internet tour of his favorite sites, which included Sponge Bob kicking robots and the penguins of Madagascar being wonderfully insane. Someday I will go to Antarctica and meet some wonderfully insane penguins of my own and write all about it. It will happen!! We of course talked a bit with Jack the Cat, who was actually the first to greet us when we drove up to the house. Poor Jack is getting old - Jeff and Lise have now had him for 13 years, just after left Costa Rica and returned to California - and he was already several years old when they adopted him. Jack is an easy-going, large orange cat, but the poor guy now has a serious limp which seems to originate in his left shoulder. Lise isn't sure what it is and may take him to the vet soon if it doesn't clear. Do cats get arthritis? We also got to meet the new kitties - Lise especially has always loved cats, and they usually have had 3-4 running around the premises (with Jack the one constant). Well, recently due to various reasons, Jack was the only cat left in the family, so when Lise learned that a friend had two baby kittens (sisters) to give away, she jumped at it and Jeff had to agree. So we met these two tiny sisters, who are currently holed up in Jeff and Lise's master bathroom to segregate them from Jack. Jack is a very nice cat, but he may just need a bit of an adjustment period to grow accustomed to these newest members of the Pawley family. The new kitties are named Cookie and Cartwheel (Sean named Cookie, Evan named Cartwheel). Cookie is very quiet and gentle; Cartwheel is wild and crazy.
Debbie and Lise in the kitchen during dinner preparations
We had a lovely dinner of steak, sitting under the umbrella outside on the backyard patio furniture. As the sun lowered in the sky, the day began to cool a bit; right as our visit started, an early season heat wave had hit California. The temperatures had exceeded 100 in the Central Valley that day, and near 80 in Santa Maria, which is quite hot for there. After dinner, we retired inside, where Lise, Evan, occasionally Sean, myself, and Jack settled down in the living room to begin Madagascar 2 (more wonderfully insane penguins) while Jeff and Debbie hung out in the kitchen cleaning up, with Jeff occasionally having the opportunity to demonstrate to Debbie his awesome electric fly swatter racquet. Debbie REALLY liked that thing and now wants one. Eventually it was dark outside, and we were all settled in the living room, engrossed in Madagascar 2. Cute movie! Of course, I haven't seen the first one, but perhaps it doesn't matter.
Jeff and crazy Sean after the Madagascar movie
And that more or less concluded day one. Shortly after the end of the movie, Debbie and I climbed the stairs to the awesome guest room they have in the "loft" second floor of the house. They have recently added a bathroom up there, so the guest room is perfect now. After briefly cleaning up, we were off to bed (10 pm is late for us) and I quickly fell asleep.
Day 2
The next morning dawned a bit foggy (of course; it's the Central Coast). I pulled out my video camera, intent on taking some video of Jeff and Lise's awesome backyard, but the video camera had somehow completely discharged since the last time I used it in December during our Cancun, Mexico trip (perhaps it has the swine flu). It simply would not turn on. So I plugged it in and tried to take some test video. Well, the coloring of the video was all screwed up and washed out, and I could tell that it was in some sort of night mode, but since I haven't used the camera in 6 months, I can't remember anything about it now. I left the video camera plugged in and Debbie and I went downstairs. We had one of our lovely mornings with Lise in the kitchen, as we all sat around sipping on tea and coffee and chatting about various things. Evan and Sean were of course already up - they are the reason Lise was up. As soon as the morning chaos had ensued, per somewhat of a normal weekend routine I believe, Jeff had retreated to a downstairs guest bedroom and closed the door in an attempt to get more sleep. Jeff had been gone for half the week in Los Angeles acting as chaperone for a bunch of junior high students on their two night "field trip" to Los Angeles - he is a junior high world history teacher and has been for nearly 20 years - so he was needless to say a bit exhausted. And then these crazy Rileys show up at his doorstep! Anyway, Lise and Debbie and I sat around chatting and sipping our drinks and nibbling on mango and super-special banana bread, while Evan played on his computer and Sean had a morning meltdown (which, again, Lise handled very well, in my view).
After breakfast, I wandered upstairs and checked on the video camera. Amazingly, it had charged back up to a significant degree. I took it outside and attempted to play with the settings and also film some of the awesome back yard, but to no avail. I could not get the camera out of night mode and thus the sun (which was now blazing as the fog had burned off) was washing everything out. While I was stumbling around the backyard in a state of complete bafflement muttering to myself and squinting as I stared at the camera view-screen and pushed various buttons, a separate drama unfolded in the house. Lise had gone into the bathroom to check on the kittens, and had discovered that they were missing. Debbie and I walked the perimeter of their property (I was already outside) while Jeff (now awake) and Lise attempted to locate the tiny felines. The kitties could still not be located, so I proceeded to continue wandering around the house. I had given up on the video at this point, but I just really love their great backyard. They have a 1.5 acre lot, and Lise's parents Diane and Wayne live in a semi-mother-in-law unit connected to the main house. Diane and Wayne are wonderful people, both with advanced degrees in the natural sciences (plants and animals). They have indeed lived amazing lives. In the 60s, Diane spent time as a young woman in Africa in the Peace Corps before returning to the States and eventually meeting and marrying Wayne when they were both in graduate school at Cornell University. Wayne finished his doctorate and they eventually took their family (Lise and her brother Bryan) back to Africa, where Lise and Bryan grew up primarily in the country of Zambia, while Wayne worked at Universities and Diane taught in labs and secondary schools. Over the years Lise has related much enjoyment and fond memories from her time growing up in Africa.
As a result of Wayne and Diane's tender loving care, the yard at Jeff and Lise's (and Wayne and Diane's) is a wonderful place. Beyond the grass, it is filled with an abundance of various plants, bushes, trees, and flowers that I couldn't even begin to properly name or classify. There is also a wonderful Zen garden that Diane developed, and I have always loved spending a few moments of morning serenity inside the calming shade of that garden in every visit I have made to Jeff and Lise's. As I wandered through the yard, I came across Wayne as he held a hose and watered a group of plants and flowers. He and I chatted for a time, and I shared with him our excitement for our upcoming new lives in Taiwan. He began relaying a tale of a time he and Diane wandered through the Yucatan of Mexico, when he was in the region doing field research. At one point, he served as the "academic scientist" as part of a group guiding tourists around the Mayan ruins of the Yucatan region. This was in 1971, as I recall him saying. He described seeing the Mayans ruins at that time, and how they were still very untouched and "non-touristy", some of these ruins only being in their early stages of study at the time. I told him of my trip to Tikal in Guatemala in the mid 90s, and how that had been a wonderful experience, and how in comparison our recent journey to Chichenitza had seemed quite commercialized.
As we were talking, Debbie joined us, and explained that the kitties were still missing. Wayne nodded calmly, gave a half-smile, almost a wink, and said, "No worries, they've just found a nice secluded spot in the bathroom closet, I'm sure. They're still there." We spent a bit more time talking to Wayne and then returned to the house.
The morning lingered on, as the search for the cats continued. During a lull in the drama, Debbie, myself, Lise, and Diane chatted about a time in Zambia when Diane wrote a children's play called "Zoom" that became a national success (and no, this has nothing to do with the "Zoom" from PBS; this production occurred years before the PBS production). I had seen a "cast picture" on Facebook a few months ago, featuring Lise and her brother Bryan, and knowing we would soon be seeing Jeff and Lise again I had searched the internet briefly trying to figure out what this Zoom thing was all about. During my research, I had run across a website built and written by Diane, and there was a section where she had talked briefly about the play. So I brought it up again that Sunday morning, and Lise and Diane happily began chatting about their memories from this special event. Lise brought out a "memory book" that Diane had made of the experience which contained various pictures of the production. I believe the play was something about earth, animals, evolution, and the interaction with humans, and it even started way out in outer space at the dawn of time. The children were dressed up as various different animals, trees, and humans, in my understanding. Diane has an ear for music, and can "hear" songs and thus has a gift for the art of musical creation (something I can definitely appreciate with my love of music). As she created the script for this play, she could "hear" various musical pieces playing along in her head. But she doesn't have the rigorous musical training necessary to actually write a complete musical piece with full instruments and vocal parts. So at the time, she enlisted the help of a band. They would sit, and she would hum and sing the music to the band members, and they would create music together. Through this collaboration, the musical score to her play was born. The play managed to gain a spot at the Zambia National Theater, and was even televised nationally. Members of the Zambian government came to the performance. All in all, it was a wonderful story, and Debbie and I delighted in hearing Diane and Lise fondly recall the experience.
As we sat there talking, Wayne joined us. Lise once again expressed concern over the cats, and Wayne looked at his daughter and said, "They're in the closet, no worries…" Literally a few minutes later, Jeff suddenly yelled from the bedroom that the kitties had been found…in the closet. The closet had of course been carefully and exhaustively searched, but Jeff finally got tired of those more subtle efforts and had started stomping through the closet, banging the walls and everything else, which achieved the desired effect of drawing the kitties from their hiding spot. There was apparently some sort of small hole in the sink cabinet on the side where it adjoined to the bathroom closet; this hole formed a nice "tunnel" allowing those silly kitties a secret passageway to the wonderfully dark and comfy confines of the closet. They had been missing for some two and a half hours now, but the whole time they were simply sleeping contentedly somewhere in the closet (or perhaps in the secret passageway). Crazy cats.
I glanced at the clock at some point during the morning drama and realized it very nearly not morning anymore. I began packing up our belongings, and within a few minutes, we bid farewell to everyone. Let's see; I think that would be: Lise, Jeff, Evan, Sean, Wayne, Diane, Jack, Cartwheel, and Cookie. (!) After a wonderful visit, we pulled out of the driveway and headed out of Santa Maria. We hit the 101 freeway south, and within about 25 miles we arrived at the 246 exit. We got off in the little town of Buellton, and immediately headed back north a bit on the frontage road, quickly arriving at the Firestone Brewery Restaurant. Firestone makes a number of beers, and their brewery is actually in Paso Robles, several miles to the north (near Morro Bay which Debbie and I toured last year and which also contains a number of wineries). While the restaurant in Buellton is "just" a restaurant, it is still pretty cool because it is the only Firestone Restaurant that exists, as far as I understand. Jeff had given us the recommendation, and it was perfect timing - lunchtime - as we pulled into the parking lot. We went inside and after a brief perusal of the menu, ordered a Margherita pizza and two tastings. This is the cool thing about this restaurant - just like going to a winery, you can purchase a "tasting" - but of course, in this case, the tasting is beer, not wine. As I like beer much more than wine, I was rather intrigued and grateful for Jeff's suggestion. Soon, our pizza and tastings arrived. The tastings came in four good sized "shot glasses", secured in these little wooden holders. The four beers were Pale 31 ("aromatic California pale ale"), Double Barrel Ale ("barrel fermented British pale ale"), Union Jack IPA ("aggressively hopped India pale ale"), and Walkers Reserve ("darker, chocolate malt porter"). And let me say that ordering pizza was the perfect complement to these beers. I tore into the pizza and began sampling my beers. My favorite beer was the Double Barrel Ale, which also happens to be their best-selling beer and the one that I believe is in widest distribution in California (and perhaps other states). Guess I'm just a commercial sell-out! I also liked the porter, as I felt it had a deep rich taste and seemed to go well with the pizza. The porter was quite heavy, and I wouldn't want to have more than one, but it was still a good beer. Actually, the other two beers were good, too, but since this was a "tasting" I assessed my relative opinions of all four. All in all, this was honestly one of the most enjoyable lunches I have had in a long time. Debbie also enjoyed her beers, but I think she got just as much enjoyment (perhaps more) out of watching how content I was tearing into the pizza and sampling the tasty brews.
Me, proud of my beers
Me, drinking my beers
After this delightful lunch, we hit the road and within literally 5 minutes we arrived in the town of Solvang. Right at the edge of town as we drove in (thus not yet affording a good view of the town itself), was our hotel, Hadsten House. We immediately checked in and were immediately impressed. We had discovered Hadsten House through Trip Advisor, as it was the top-rated hotel on that site for Solvang. It was indeed a very nice hotel, and not super-expensive (cheaper, I believe, than the hotel we stayed at last year in Morro Bay, which, though larger, simply wasn't as nice a room or establishment).
Hadsten House Inn and Spa, Solvang, California
After a few minutes moving things into our room, we hit the town. We headed down 246, which in Solvang is known as "Mission Drive." Almost immediately we passed a Thomas Kincaid Gallery and a "year round" Christmas store, so Debbie was immediately happy. Apparently there was a very immediate series of instantaneous (and immediate) occurrences bubbling into the universe right about the time we descended upon the ethereal plane of Solvang, California. Excuse me. On the left side of the road (across the street from us) I spotted something that really got my attention - Paula's Pancake House. Hmmm….but for now we continued walking. Must investigate Paula later. A couple blocks later, we arrived at the Presidio Wine Shoppe, a tasting room for Presidio Vineyard wines. This fantastic day got better, again through the work of Jeff. As we were chatting with Jeff the day before, he had commented that one of his students (from 15 years ago) now worked at the Presidio Tasting Room in Solvang. Jeff had immediately (immediately) called the Tasting Room and his old student (Chris Schumey) answered the phone. Jeff chatted with Chris briefly and at the end of the conversation said, "Make sure you treat my friends right." So we strolled into the Presidio Wine Shoppe around 3 pm that afternoon, and who was behind the wine tasting counter but a certain lively personality named Chris Schumey. Chris was a very friendly, cool guy, and he promptly and artfully struck up an enjoyable conversation with us. He started pouring us wines and suspiciously mentioned nothing about the tasting fee. The "official" menu listed six wines as part of the tasting fee (if I recall correctly), but it soon appeared that Chris was giving us tastings of a variety of wines (I think I lost count). Chris was amused by my comments on the wine, as I really don't like wine that much but I still enjoy wine tastings and attempting to discern the subtle textures and tannins as they converse with my palette (I have no idea what that means). Plus, in case you didn't know it, wine is a little bit intoxicating. Debbie suggested I start with some white wines, and I agreed, saying, "Yes, I think I would prefer a sweet wine to a dry one." Chris, per his expertise, provided me some samples of various white sweet wines. I liked some and not others. Then, he randomly gave me some dry wines, and I randomly liked some but not others. He commented that my palette was a bit scattered and hard to pin down. Debbie stuck with red wines, and Chris soon gave up on white wines for me and just started giving me the same samples as Debbie, as my feedback was so ludicrous. Chris asked Debbie if she wanted to sample a new type of wine, but she turned him down and continued with requests within her particular area (I think she primarily likes Merlots and Syrahs). I replied grandly that she needed a more diverse and sophisticated palette such as mine to truly appreciate the art of the vintners craft. Debbie raised her eyebrows and Chris burst into laughter. In the end, Debbie decided she really liked the 2005 Estate Syrah ("Aromas of white cracked pepper and meaty sausage aromatics with toasty oak background. Spicy fruit flavors and supple tannins round out this rich wine"). Actually, I seriously agreed with her - seriously. I swear I could actually taste the white cracked pepper in the aftertaste. The 2006 Syrah was no good with its bursting blackberries or something. Hmmm. Anyway, we bought the 2005 Syrah, which happened to be the second most expensive wine in the tasting offerings (next to the 2007 Estate Pinot Noir), so I must say Debbie has good taste. But then Chris didn't charge us for either tasting, so in a sense we got a pretty good deal.
We bid farewell to Chris after a lovely time in the Presidio, and headed down to Copenhagen Street, which is really the main drag in Solvang. It was actually pretty hot in Solvang as the late afternoon sun beat down (the heat wave was still in full force), so we spent just a bit more time briefly glancing at a few shops and restaurants here and there, planning to make a more thorough jaunt down Copenhagen Street the following day. We did, however, make one very important stop - the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Debbie LOVES chocolate, and I'm certainly not opposed to it, so we decided to just check out the store and see what it might have to offer. What it had to offer was: an Almond Turtle and a Kahlua Truffle for Debbie, and an incredible BUCKET for me! Yes, a BUCKET! I was so excited I could barely contain myself, as I love buckets. It was a milk chocolate crunchy peanut butter bucket, and it was huge. Goodness. I saved it for later (just ate it a few days ago after letting it melt briefly on the top of the stove), as Debbie did with her treats.
We strolled a bit more down Copenhagen, and then made our way back up to Mission Drive and back to our hotel. By this time it was about 4:30, so we stopped briefly at the hotel restaurant, where they serve wine and cheese to the guests everyday from 3 -5 pm. Debbie and I each had a glass of wine, and we chatted with the bartender (also the restaurant manager, I believe) who was a friendly, very California-type fellow (you can decide what I mean by this and whether it is a good or bad thing; I'm not sure myself). The restaurant was filled with a number of guests partaking in the free wine and cheese, and Debbie struck up a conversation with two ladies sitting at the bar with us. It turned out these two ladies were sisters, and this was the first trip they had ever taken together. One sister was in her 60s and a full 15 years older than her younger sibling, so these two had never really gotten to know each other well growing up all those years ago. So here they were on a weekend sister get-away together. Pretty cool. They were both nice ladies; the older sister lived in Pasadena, had a serene grace about her, and seemed kind of religious; the younger sister ("the wild one", by her own description) lived in Las Vegas, had been married five times, and liked horses. Cool. I enjoyed the younger sister's subtle scowl and complete disengagement from the conversation as Debbie and the older sister turned the conversation toward a more "spiritual" slant. Wine will do that! (cause philosophical meanderings and scowls, that is). As for myself, I was watching the Celtics game and wondering if I had yet gotten that Loli Loli song from Three 6 Mafia.
The bartender had talked up the restaurant dinner menu as we sat there sipping our wine, so after bidding farewell to the sisters and taking just a brief break in the hotel room, we were back at the Hadsten House Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant got very good reviews of its own in Trip Advisor, and it was indeed a very nicely designed interior (and we would soon find out about the food). Debbie and I found a nice spot in the corner and sat close to each other; we were early (it was only 5:30) so the restaurant was not very full at this point. We quite enjoyed the romantic, secluded setting. I must say it is indeed wonderful spending quality time with my wife. For an appetizer we ordered the "grilled crab stuffed prosciutto wrapped shrimp" which was incredibly delicious. I learned that "prosciutto" is some sort of fancy way of saying ham. Debbie ordered the "braised short ribs", and I ordered some sort of spinach pasta, which had just been added to their menu a couple days earlier, and which I have no memory now of its actual fancy name (it wasn't just "spinach pasta"). Whatever it was, it was very good. I was full in no time, as was Debbie and we had to request boxes to save over half our dinner. We retired to our rooms, and spent a wonderful evening relaxing and enjoying each other's company.
Day 3
The next morning we awoke early (as is customary for us). We returned briefly to the hotel restaurant for their free morning breakfast. Nothing fancy about the breakfast in my opinion; I wish they had had cinnamon rolls and maybe some yogurt and granola, but what are you gonna do? Despite my gluttony from the previous day and my lack of enthusiasm over the breakfast offerings, I decided to return to the buffet line for seconds, including an additional pastry and an additional serving of scrambled eggs. What is wrong with me?
We cleaned up, and by 9:30 am, we were in our car headed down Mission Drive toward the opposite end of Solvang. Solvang is not a very big town, and more or less ends at Alisal Road. When we reached Alisal Road this particular morning, we took a right onto Alisal and passed through a bit more of the town before quickly heading out into the country. I believe the heat wave was moderating slightly, because the fog didn't burn off quite as quickly this morning, and in fact there were still a number of fog tatters and wisps flitting around the hills as we drove out into the country. Our destination: Nojoqi Falls. This was a recommendation from Lise. She has been there several times on field trips with her third graders, I believe, and she advised us that the drive to the Falls by way of Solvang is a MUCH preferred route to simply driving in from the 101. I believe the Falls are only a couple miles from the 101 freeway, so the drive from that direction is simply not as nice. This particular drive down Alisal Road was beautiful. It is a bit late in the season and summer has almost taken hold, so the hills aren't as lush and green as they are in the winter, but the area was still very beautiful in my opinion. After about a 15 minute drive, we arrived at Nojoqi Falls County Park. It was a nicely kept park, and there were very few people. Amazingly enough, even though it is only a few miles off the 101 freeway, this little park is relatively "undiscovered" and does not receive an insane number of visitors. Such a discovery is a gem given the crazy crowds of southern California, where it seems no matter where you go (yes, even in nature) people are everywhere. We arrived at the park around 10 am, and it was still cool, foggy, and quiet. The area was in deep shade; trees and ferns abounded. What a wonderful change from the desert! I think there may have even been some hobbits peering at us from the edges of the surrounding forest. Within literally 10 minutes - and we even took several breaks to kiss as we crossed over bridges, which is of course necessary when in Middle Earth - we arrived at the Nojoqi Falls. The Falls had very little water cascading down their 100 foot drop given the lateness of the season - apparently in winter the site can be quite breathtaking - but the rock face was completely covered in thick moss. I read the little plaque next to the Falls, and it explained that these falls are unique, and act similar to stalactites in a cave, whereby the buildup of calcium due to the action of the water causes the limestone rock face of the falls to actually build OUTWARD instead of eroding inward as most waterfalls do. Fascinating! After a wonderful pause at these picturesque falls, and a nice chat with a middle-aged "odd couple" from San Diego (relaxed, peaceful woman who looked to be nearing enlightenment and intense, neurotic guy who was nice but perhaps slightly insane), we made the short return to the car, albeit with perhaps another stolen kiss or two across a bridge.
Me and Debbie at Nojoqi Falls
We arrived back in Solvang around 11 am and commenced (after parking the car of course) another walking tour through the town. We first stopped at the Thomas Kincaid gallery. Debbie fell in love with a little 5x7 print of one of his quaint cottages, and I encouraged her to buy it but she couldn't quite do it. The lady running the gallery was very nice and (as we were the only ones in there) she showed us the really cool effects various drawings have as light is added and then dimmed. We then visited the crazy "Forever Christmas Store." Debbie was in heaven, but most of this store was a bit beyond me. I did like these tricky little miniature boxes they had, which I think had nothing to do with Christmas but were just strange so that made me happy. I was so fascinated the lady had to come out from behind the counter to show me how to open the tricky little miniature boxes. After the Forever Christmas Store, we visited various other establishments, like a Cuckoo Clock Store (wow, Cuckoo Clocks are expensive!), a Candle Store (oh goodness), and an "Iron Art" store (again, mostly silly, but we did buy a Solvang shot glass there). As we were walking around, Debbie stayed on the lookout for a restaurant (any restaurant) that had something called "Jagerschnitzel". She remembered jagerschnitzel fondly from her days in Germany as well as a previous trip to Solvang, and thus she was hoping to partake in its culinary pleasures while we were in Solvang. We inspected the menu of every restaurant and café we passed by (and we more or less covered the town), but try as we might, we could not find a restaurant that served jagerschnitzel. Debbie was sad. As we were completing our rounds in search of jagerschnitzel and heading back in the general direction of our hotel, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a little restaurant called "Paula's Pancake House." Hmmm…that looked familiar...I encouraged us to cross the street and make sure that Paula's Pancake House didn't have jagerschnitzel. It didn't, but conveniently, it was lunchtime, and I casually mentioned to Debbie that perhaps we could consider eating lunch at Paula's Pancake House. Though a bit in mourning over not finding her beloved jagerschnitzel, she gave up her search (for the time being) and agreed to have lunch with me at this intriguingly titled restaurant.
Darling Debbie at Paula's Pancake House. Isn't she gorgeous?
Debbie ordered a burger with grilled onions on a French roll, and after much deliberation over the broad array of breakfast offerings (they of course serve breakfast all day at Paula's Pancake House), I ordered Paula's Special with whipped cream and blueberries. Oh my. What arrived in front of me was astounding. I had to ask Debbie what she had during this lunch as I was writing this up to help me recall, because I honestly sort of stopped paying attention to the world around me as these pancakes were delivered. Paula's Special consists of two large, Danish style pancakes. I've never had Danish pancakes before, but after eating these, I may never be able to think of pancakes in the same way again. I think all pancakes will pale in comparison, unless perhaps I find myself in Copenhagen someday and order actual in-country Danish pancakes. All I can say is this may have been one of the most enjoyable meals of my life. Oh my god. Syrup, whipped cream, blueberries, pancakes…I was in heaven. I actually had to stop eating to give my poor gastrointestinal processes a break, as I tend to eat fast, and this dish may just be 2000 calories. But that didn't stop me. I paused for a full 10 minutes, I believe, looking up at Debbie with a bemused smile on my face and telling her I was feeling dizzy and perhaps a little sick. She just rolled her eyes. But I soldiered on, and soon my plate was empty.
The legendary Paula's Pancake has arrived
Me, up to the task
We left Paula's Pancake house around 1:30 pm (I'm not sure when we entered), and once again wandered through the town. We were planning on doing some wine tasting at local vineyards that afternoon, so still had a bit of time per our schedule. This post-Paula's Solvang jaunt is very fuzzy for me. I stumbled along after Debbie, in a very content state, very very full. At one point Debbie discovered a Quilt Store, and we entered. She got very excited when she laid her eyes on the perfect new purse for herself - she has been on the lookout for a new purse, and this little quilted thing was just what she had been looking for. I thought it was wonderful too (then again, everything seemed wonderful right about then). We also looked at a bunch of expensive quilts and they were all just wonderful. Debbie actually agreed to buy this purse that she liked so much, which made me happy (I like it when she buys things she likes; she loves to shop but she rarely follows through and actually purchases things). After the Quilt Store we spent a bit more time wandering around, with Debbie still searching for jagerschnitzel. At one point, we entered some sort of little inner courtyard area near Alisal Road with various restaurants and shops, and I just sat down on a bench and stared off into space as Debbie searched the various restaurants within for her jagerschnitzel. Shortly after that, we headed back to the hotel.
Around 3 pm, we got in the car and headed back down the 246 toward Alisal Road and the end of town. This time, however, we stayed on Highway 246. A few miles out of town we turned left onto Alamo Pintado Road, and were immediately surrounded by farmland and vineyards.
Map of Solvang and surroundings
A few miles down the road, we found Buttonwood Farm Winery on our right (actually, we missed it the first time and had to turn around), and drove in. We arrived at the tasting room and were greeted by a nice tasting lady inside. Debbie and I purchased a single tasting between the two of us, which I believe was 6 different wines. As we were on our second tasting (nothing spectacular), a group came in consisting of three men and one lady. They were all from Washington D.C., and soon Debbie (and to a lesser extent, me), had joined them in a rousing conversation (they were imbibing wine at a rather fast clip and became rather friendly rather quickly). At one point Debbie shared with them the story of how the two of us met, which they loved, and then at some other point the lady in their group (classy and pretty, probably in her mid to late 40s) pulled out an old faded photo of her husband all dressed up in his fighter pilot suit in front of his military fighter jet from some 20 years or more earlier. She was apparently very enamored with her husband (which is very sweet, I must say) - and apparently missing him; I think this was some sort of "business trip" with some sketchily defined business connections between the four of them that I could never figure out. Two of the gentlemen were lawyers, the other gentleman was a career Air Force officer who was the commander of "something" back "near" D.C.; they all were somehow involved in the government/military but artfully didn't reveal just how. In any event, Debbie really hit it off with them and before long the poor tasting lady was left alone behind the counter, watching the party develop (as probably often happens in her line of work when dealing in intoxicating beverages). I would briefly turn back to the tasting lady, and make some comment about the wine to be polite and help cue her for the next pouring. At some point I made sure to pay for the tasting, and then Debbie (on about the fourth request) cajoled me outside to retrieve the camera so we could take a "group" photo. Goodness!
Winetasting camaraderie among perfect strangers. Are we sideways?
After various rounds of picture taking, we departed (escaped) Buttonwood Farms. The tasting lady at Buttonwood had listed a couple nearby vineyards, and when Debbie had heard the name of one of them - Lincourt - her ears had immediately perked up. On a different Solvang trip perhaps 10 years ago, Debbie had toured a winery somewhere near Solvang, and had tasted the best Syrah she has ever tasted. At the time, she only bought one bottle, but to this day she has told me about that wonderful Syrah and wished she had bought a case. As she heard the name Lincourt, she was almost sure that was the place. We had gone down Alamo Pintado Road principally in search of this mystery vineyard in the hopes of rediscovering her awesome Syrah. As we turned left off of Alamo Pintado and into the long drive leading up to Lincourt, Debbie was sure we had found the place. The drive wound past a picturesque field of grapevines, and then on up to the tasting room house. We entered the tasting room with anticipation and began our samples, once again ordering one tasting for the two of us. This was actually a pretty enjoyable tasting. I obviously don't know that much about wine, and perhaps it was the distraction of the D.C. group, but I wasn't terribly impressed with my wine tasting experience at Buttonwood. I actually appreciated some of the wines at Lincourt. We proceeded through both white and red wines, sampling first a Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, and a Pinot Gris. Debbie had of course informed the Lincourt wine tasting guy about the Syrah that she had tasted all those years ago, and he was cautiously hopeful for her that he would have what she wanted. But he also warned her that wines change all the time depending on the conditions under which they are prepared and 10 years is a very long time in the wine making business. We moved to red wines, sampling a Pinot Noir, a Merlot, and - finally - the Lincourt Syrah. Alas, as soon as Debbie tasted it, she shook her head - this wasn't it. Not a bad one, she said, but not the wine she tasted back in the 90s. I think we finished with a Cabernet Sauvignon, and then Debbie paused, and once again asked for a brief tasting of the Pinot Noir. ("…employing gentle punch-down techniques, the wine is vinified with extreme care…ultimately the wine spends up to 15 months in French oak casks before bottling…") The wine tasting guy then did this crazy thing he called "decanting" with this little device as he poured our second tasting of Pinot Noir into the wine glass. I think the decanting device somehow oxygenated the wine and extrapolated some sediments via removal of the potassium bitartrate crystals or something. What? Anyway, this decanting thing was actually kind of cool, and on our second tasting of the Pinot Noir I swear the wine actually tasted fuller and more flavorfully bursting and stuff. Well, Debbie decided she liked the Pinot Noir, so we did indeed buy a bottle of wine from Lincourt, just not the beloved Syrah that Debbie had so longingly searched for. Oh well, perhaps someday we'll be in Australia and Debbie will find that perfect Syrah again!
Lincourt Vineyard
We headed out of picturesque Lincourt and made our way on up Alamo Pintado. Eventually Alamo Pintado ran into highway 154, which we crossed over before eventually getting onto Edison Road. We were still deep in farmland and wine country, perhaps even more so now that we had traveled a bit deeper into the countryside. We sort of got lost briefly as the map incorrectly identified the location of the last vineyard on our stop - Bridlewood - as being right at the end of Edison. Not quite... But we eventually turned around and indeed found Bridlewood. Several people had advised that we go to Bridlewood, not so much for the wine but more for the scenery. Bridlewood was indeed beautiful. It also featured a long drive past fields of grapevines, with the wine making buildings (including the tasting room) set well off the road. Unfortunately, we realized it was very quiet as we drove into Bridlewood, and upon glancing at the time it was 5:08 pm. The tasting room had closed at 5 pm. We parked and just appreciated the quiet and beauty of the late afternoon/early evening for a moment before proceeding on our way.
Upon our return, we decided to take another road - Refugio Road - which ran parallel to Alamo Pintado but still came out on the 246 just a short distance away - for a little variety. The countryside around Refugio appeared more interested in horses than wine, as we saw many pastures (and horses) on our drive down the road. I noticed one sign at farm that read "Gould" as we passed by, and Debbie and I became inspired to one day buy land on Refugio Road (or perhaps in New Zealand; either will do) and open up "Goa'uld Vineyard" with offerings of Naquadah Estate Syrah and of course a beer called Major Davis Stout. Is it proper to make beer and wine at the same location? Oh yes, and we'll have two border collies, a duck, and of course a cow. No parasites intent on galaxy-wide domination, don't worry. Just inspiration. Ah…the wondrous discoveries down the road less traveled. Refugio Road, near Solvang California, in this case…
We returned to our hotel around 5:45 pm, and by 6 pm, we were once again walking through downtown Solvang. We had inquired at our hotel's front desk about jagerschnitzel, and they had thought that MAYBE it was at a restaurant called (descriptively enough) Solvang Restaurant at the other end of town near Alisal. We had not yet come across that restaurant in our previous searches, so we headed in that direction. On our way there, Debbie happened to glance down a side road - and suddenly her eyes lit up. "The Heidelberg Inn!" she exclaimed excitedly. She was SURE she had eaten there in the past, and that they had jagerschnitzel at the time. We walked up to the little café (basically a hole in the wall) and scanned their menu. Can you even imagine Debbie's delight when she saw the word "Jagerschnitzel" on the menu?
Success! Jagerschnitzel found!!
At long last our search was over!! I was so happy to see her true joy over this sudden discovery. We sat down (initially outside, and then had to move inside as it cooled off very rapidly once the sun set) and ordered dinner. For an "accidental" dining stop, this turned out to be a wonderful little place for dinner. We actually had to share a table with a young Asian couple, and apparently this is just the way it is in Europe as well in many little restaurants; long tables where everyone sits down. I liked the idea. Our waitress was a genuinely friendly lass dressed in a quaint Danish outfit. I apparently (unwittingly) ordered two of her favorite things on the menu: Shinkenwurst (smoked pork spice sausage) with a delicious side heaping of sauerkraut, and a "Delirium Tremens" beer (strong, 10% true Belgian pale ale). Yum. You'll be absolutely shocked to learn that Debbie ordered this flattened pork dish called "jagerschnitzel", which she was VERY pleased with. For her beverage, she got the Erdinger Weisbier, in which she was slightly disappointed; she was hoping it would be a genuine German beer (as mine was genuinely Belgian and the label confirmed this). Upon tasting the Erdinger, she immediately knew it was not a true German beer (she has lived in Germany so she knows a true German beer when she tastes one); she checked the label and it was produced and bottled in Denver, Colorado. Woops. Still, she was overall very impressed with her meal, as was I. For dessert, since we had finally found a reasonably genuine Danish (or at least northern European) restaurant, we HAD to order the Danish Aebleskier, which were these balls of pastry of some sort (not too sweet) covered in vanilla sauce, powdered sugar, and raspberry preserves. They were incredibly delicious. Yes, somehow I was feasting again after my 2000 calorie Paula's Special for lunch. A very satisfying (and unexpected) dinner at the Heidelberg Inn. Isn't that the magic of travel? You're just walking down the road, and suddenly, a side road appears, and you run right into a new, unexpected, yet incredibly enjoyable experience. On this day, first it was Refugio Road, and then it was the enchanting Heidelberg Inn. Ah…life.
This incredible day wasn't quite over yet. Right after ambling our way (perhaps I was rolling at this point) back to our hotel, we changed into our swimming suits and went downstairs to the hot tub. Guess who was in the hot tub already but the two sisters. We all chatted about our day; they had actually made it to the Bridlewood Vineyard during the tasting hours and said the estate was truly beautiful but the wine was nothing to write home about. We chatted about horseback riding, beautiful Huntington Library in Pasadena, and a few other things before the sisters bid us farewell for the evening. Debbie and I had a nice cuddle in the spa after a wonderfully enriching day. We returned to our hotel room and relaxed for the evening before going to bed.
Day 4
We were once again up early, and by literally 8:30 am, we were packed and ready to go. We checked out, and before leaving the lovely town of Solvang behind, we briefly made one last morning stroll up Mission Drive, our destination Olsen's Danish Bakery. Just as we were walking out onto Mission Drive and arriving at the first light, a 240Z pulled up to the light and Debbie cheered with delight as she stared in appreciation and with a huge smile on her face. Debbie drove a 240Z growing up as a teenager - actually, she more than drove a 240Z. She completely reworked the engine on her 240Z with the help of a neighbor. She has very fond memories of that car, and since I am clueless about cars, I never really knew what she was talking about when she spoke wistfully of her darling. Well, that last day in Solvang I finally got to see one up close. This particular 240Z was very well taken care of, and I could really see Debbie driving one of these. Very nice looking car. Perhaps someday we'll find one for her!
The 240Z fun over (the car zipped on down the street as the light turn green and soon was lost in the distance), we arrived at Olsen's Danish Bakery to pick up some final goodies. Debbie got an apple boat and a chocolate cream-filled pastry of some sort, and I got two very intriguing products - something called a cream puff and another item called an éclair. I have never eaten such products before. Soon, we were back on the 101 Freeway headed home (through a more southerly, freeway route this time). The highlights of the return trip included stopping at a roadside fruit and vegetable stand that made Debbie very happy, and eating my éclair which made me very happy. I attempted to just eat half and save the other half for later, but I failed in such restraint. Also, we passed through the city of Fillmore, which we thought looked like a lovely little farm town and gave us pause as we considered it as a potential semi-retirement town for some years down the road. Add it to the list… We arrived home around noon to a crazy cat and a yard that needed mowing. We attended to both promptly.
Thus concluded our wonderful 2009 trip to the Central Coast. It was wonderful to see Jeff and Lise (and family) and I was literally enchanted with Solvang and surroundings. The trip just flowed about in a very smooth, harmonious manner. We saw everything we wanted to see, and happened upon some unexpected pleasures as well. Now we begin thinking about our next trip to the Central Coast…summer 2011 perhaps? Paula's Special, The Sequel - here I come!!
