Glaedelig Jul! Dag To!

As you may recall from last week's blog, in Part 1 of our trip to Buellton/Solvang, we headed over the San Marcos Pass for wine tasting, then checked into the Sideways Inn, and had a great dinner in the chilly air of the Most Danish (Danish-est?) City in America!

We woke up on Sunday, 12/23 - my birthday! - feeling a bit worse for wear.  We showered up and got dressed to start the day and decided a big breakfast was in order.  We strolled the very short distance to Ellen's Danish Pancake House and promptly tucked into a delicious meal.

Not our picture, but this is what
Chris' breakfast looked like.

After ingesting far too many calories, we headed out for River View Park, about a mile away.  Since it was early on a Sunday, the city was quiet, and it was nice to stroll in the brisk morning air.

Bustling downtown Buellton

The park was a great little space; it was tucked in behind a neighborhood, and it featured multiple play areas as well as a nature walk.  Lots of folks were out enjoying the space, most of them with doggos in tow.

Tree stump people decorated for the holidays

We strolled the mile back to the hotel but kept going a bit further, crossing the 101 and stopping at the Coffee Cabin for a second dose of caffeine.

The cabin!

We wandered back to the Inn and relaxed in the lounge chairs in our room while I opened birthday presents and cards from my legion of fans (seriously, thank you to everyone!  I loved all of my gifts and thoughtful well wishes!).

Potentially our room,

but this is from the internets, so who knows.

But - our room did look very much like this.

After present time, we headed to the car to drive to our featured destination for the day, OstrichLand USA!  It was only a mile from our hotel, but the sidewalk ended prior to arriving there, and since it was right off the highway, we figured a drive was appropriate.  When we got there, the place was PACKED.  Apparently, everyone wanted to see the ostriches.

I mean, for crying out loud.

We got out of the car and assessed the entrance line; when we realized it was winding around the building, we decided to bail - there's no way OstrichLand USA could compete with the various and sundry delights at Rooster Cogburn's anyway.  However, before we left, we did grab some shots of the main attraction from a hole in the netting along the road.

We also tried driving into Solvang to do some street wandering and window-shopping, but it was crazy busy, too.  We couldn't even find a parking space there, so we took this obvious sign from the universe and headed back to the Inn.  After dropping off the car, we started the short walk back across the 101; this time, we were headed to a repeat visit at one of our favorite local hangs, the Barrelworks facility at Firestone Walker Brewing!

I put this picture on Facebook and captioned it,

"happy birthday to meeeee!"

Since it was just after 11am, things were quiet there, and we were able to get a seat in the bar area without any trouble.  We shared some buffalo cauliflower and an 805 flatbread, and we set to sampling all of their many outstanding liquid options.

Including their high quality H2O

As expected, everything was delicious, and after capping off our meal with the chocolate pretzel brownie, we settled up and headed next door, to the tasting area, where we found all sorts of swag to take home.  We wandered the short distance back to the Inn and promptly changed into jammies for a birthday nap.  Waking up a few hours later (it was truly an epic nap), we palled around the Inn until it was time to get ready for dinner.

Since night had just fallen, we walked the short distance (sensing a theme here) to our dinner destination, the famous Hitching Post II restaurant.  Like our Inn, the restaurant was featured in the movie Sideways, and it really is a good place.  We had a reservation, but since we were early, we hung out in the bar for a few minutes until our table was ready.

That's not us, but that is the bar.

We were crammed right next to the wine case,

and Chris ended up spilling part of his drink

when another person bumped his elbow.

New rule - no martinis in crowded bars.

Our table was ready quite soon, and we settled in for a great meal.  We started with the grilled artichoke, both had steak and potatoes for dinner (the sirloin for me, and I think the rib eye for Chris), and a few glasses of wine.

The Post has its own winery,

and the selections are quite good

My birthday dessert!

I think this was a cobbler of some sort -

it was yummy!

Since it was now full dark and rather cold, we called an Uber for the journey back to the Inn.  We hung out for a little bit, watching crappy tv (we always try to find an episode of Ridiculousness when we travel), and we eventually crashed out.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, we felt like the traffic might be gnarly, so when we woke up on the early side of things, we went with it.  We got dressed, packed up the car, and checked out, all before 8am!  On the road, we stopped briefly at a Panera in Camarillo for a snack/second breakfast, and we were home right after 11am.  

We had a great time in Solvang/Buellton, and we were ready to spend the next few days in our jammies, eating way too much cheese!

Later!

Amy