Ever since I was in elementary school (holla if you ever had to build a model of one!), I've always been fascinated with old missions. There is so much beauty and history that lies within these old buildings that it's hard not to want to do some exploring.
Pretty sure I read that more than 4,000 Chumash Indians were buried in the cemetery of the mission. I also realized that much of the missionaries and their families were buried right on top of them. Yeah, that's not very nice. But interesting nonetheless..
On a lighter note, instead of grabbing lunch on State Street, we decided to drive the 45 minutes to Solvang ("The Danish Capital of America") to grab lunch and continue exploring. Best decision ever. Right when we parked, we almost immediately chose The Greenhouse Cafe for lunch, which is described as a "modern Nordic bistro." Not really sure what a traditional Nordic bistro is like, but whatever. I had the Danish Sausage Sandwich, which was sausage, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on toasted sour dough bread. The dishes typically come with red cabbage, but I opted for the potato salad instead. Although the sandwich itself was simple, it was pretty darn delicious.
Typically, I would have gone around the table taking pictures of everyone's plates, but let's face it, we were starving (that's more sausage in the background though, haha). For dessert, we had aebelskivers, which are essentially pancake balls with raspberry sauce and powdered sugar on top.
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After lunch, we perused the shops and simply observed this odd/cute little town.
I honestly thought I took way more pictures, but I must've been too busy gawking at all of the windmills, homemade coo coo clocks, and clogs. Before we left, we made sure to stop by Mortensen's Danish Bakery to bring home some Danish pastries. Oops, we ate them all before I could snap a shot!
I hope you enjoyed reliving my trip to Santa Barbara County as much as I did! I could probably wait to go back. LA still rules.
