solvang – The Adventures of Mike and Cindy

With a very heavy heart, I have to pass on the somber news that the world-famous Aunt Barbara passed away on February 21, 2025. She will be sorely missed. Below is the last family picture we all took together last summer (2024).

L to R: Ed, Me, Aunt Barbara, Cindy, Corrianne, Mike S, Tim, Barbara S

Here is a small tribute to her in pictures. First, 2004.

**Montana Roadside Rubies L to R: Barbara, Britney, Corrianne**

**S’mores around the campfire in the front yard L to R: Me, Garrett, Britney, Corrianne, Barbara**

2005

**Frank and Barbara at my surprise 40th birthday**

**Cindy and Barbara digging for crystals at Crystal Mountain**

2006 thru 2014

**2006 Long Beach Aquarium L to R: Cindy, Me, Garrett, Barbara, Frank, Corrianne**

**2009 Moab Utah L to R: Cindy, Barbara**

In 2019, Cindy and I took my mom and Barbara to Cody Wyoming and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. We had an amazing time and more fun than four people should be allowed to have together.

**Cody WY Rodeo L to R: Cindy, Mom, Barbara**

**Mt Rushmore L to R: Cindy, Barbara, Mom, Me**

**New Version of Mt Rushmore L to R: Mom, Barbara, Me, Cindy**

2023 and 2024

**2023 Barbara looking for Montana Sapphires on the porch**

**2024 Barbara’s Porch L to R: Mom, Wade, Barbara**

Aunt Barbara will be missed.

After our return to California, we hosted Thanksgiving. Garrett, at six feet tall stood next to my mom, at just under five feet tall.

A great time was had by all. In early December, Cindy and I participated in a group activity with our Missouri friends via Facetime. The activity was making a gingerbread train.

We did a good job and finished second this time. Right before Christmas, we joined our friends Todd and Edie at an opera event at Bella Cocina restaurant called Bella Notte. We sat in their covered patio area and ate a fine Italian meal while being serenaded by the Mission Opera singers.

We had a really good time and all four of us recommend not only Bella Cucina restaurant, but Bella Notte and Mission Opera as well. Typically, Bella Notte is the third Saturday of the month. See the links below. One reason I really enjoy returning to California for the winter is being able to golf all winter. Here is our view during the early morning hours at Valencia Vista golf course in December.

On New Year’s Eve, 2024, Heather and Machelle flew in from Missouri and spent the night with some of Heather’s relatives in the San Fernando Valley. We met up with them the next day and drove to Vega Vineyards just outside of Solvang in Buellton. Todd and Edie are members there, so we had lunch and did some wine tasting. The food is always good, and the wines are very good. The grounds are well maintained. We all recommend a stop here if you are in the area. The link is in the usual place.

L to R: Cindy, Heather, Machelle, Todd, Edie, Me

Our next stop was some sightseeing in Solvang, a Danish town. Todd, Edie, Cindy, and I have been there too many times to count, but Heather and Machelle had never been there. Our last stop was at Rideau Vineyards, where Cindy and I are members. We did some more wine tasting and had a great time as usual. Rideau has a link at the end of this post. We headed off to an Airbnb we had rented for the night and freshened up for dinner. We ate at a local Islands Restaurant where I had this crazy looking drink. The drink was pretty good and the food was average.

The next day we all headed to Santa Barbara for more sightseeing. We walked up and down State Street and then on the pier, where Machelle was attached by a whale.

After lunch, it was off to Summerland Winery for our last wine tasting of the trip. They would have earned a link, but they have closed their doors.

L to R: Todd, Cindy, Edie, Heather, Machelle, Me

The next day was quite busy. Todd, Edie, Heather, Machelle, Cindy, and I went to the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank for a studio tour. This was Cindy and my second visit to the studio tour, but everyone else’s first time. The tour started with a look at the back lot where numerous movies and TV shows have been filmed.

Next, we walked through numerous displays associated with the studios.

Most of the characters from A Miser Brothers Christmas (2008) were the same as from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). Here is a costume from the holiday classic Elf.

Of course there was a large display devoted to the amazing animation unit.

The Harry Potter section was very popular.

Machelle riding a broom. Feel free to make your own jokes.

Toward the end of our tour was the superhero section.

The Warner Brother Studio Tour is more than link worthy and a must visit when visiting the Los Angeles area. Use the link at the end of this post to make your reservations. After the tour, we all lunched at the classic Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank. Following lunch, Cindy and I took Machelle to tour the Hollywood and Highland area. Heather, Todd, and Edie all went about their merry ways.

The night before our tour, Heather and Machelle spent the night at our house. Machelle and Cindy watched an episode of Bosch and in the episode, a woman was sitting near the check in desk of a hotel. She was followed out of the hotel and eventually murdered. That hotel was the Roosevelt Hotel and the area she was sitting in was actually a bar and not the front desk. So we had to go to the Roosevelt Hotel and have a drink in that same bar.

Here we are at Hollywood and Highland.

We had a great time and returned home. Heather and Machelle flew out the next day to a blizzard in St. Joseph. Here is the weather from our doorbell camera in California.

And here is the weather in St. Joseph from our doorbell camera there.

They made it home safely, but there was a lot of snow there to greet them.

That ends the first post of 2025. The next post will be all about Todd, Edie, Cindy, and my trip to Costa Rica! Try to avoid the blizzards until then.

LINKS

Bella Cucina Restaurant

Mission Opera

Vega Vineyards

Rideau Vineyards

Warner Brothers Studio

This was a quick little four day get away. We spent the first three days of this trip in Solvang with our friends the Webers. The last day Cindy and I spent the night in Oxnard at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay.

Day 1

Everybody knows by now that day one is the travel day, or at least you should know by now. This is the day we drove to Solvang. Our friends, the Webers, came to our house so we could caravan to our first stop, Roblar Winery in Santa Ynez. The Webers are members there and they have some amazing wines. If you are going wine tasting in Santa Ynez, you have to put Roblar on the top of your list. Tell them Mike sent you. They will have no idea what you are talking about, but try it anyway and let me know how it goes. In my humble opinion, Roblar has the best wines in the area.

Our next stop was the Fess Parker Winery where Cindy and I are members. Their wines are good, just not as good as Roblar. Their grounds are really beautiful, possibly more beautiful than Roblar’s grounds, so they have that going for them.

After our two sessions of wine tasting, we headed to our hotel to check in. We stayed at the Landsby Hotel, which is in the center of Solvang right on the main road. It’s a nice hotel. I don’t think it’s the best one in Solvang, but it is very nice.

We got checked in, took a little nap, and then had dinner reservations at Mad and Vin, which is the restaurant that is part of the Landsby Hotel. Unlike Los Angeles County, where there was no restaurant dining, only take out, Santa Barbara County (where Solvang is located) still had patio dining. That was the good news. The bad news was it was in the high 30s to low 40s that night. We all bundled up for dinner and luckily the restaurant was in a courtyard, keeping the wind out and they had heaters next to all the tables. It was very tolerable, bordering on comfortable, depending on your tolerance to cold. For example, Cindy ate with her jacket on, I had my jacket off, but was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and if my Aunt Barbara had been there, she would have complained about the heat while wearing shorts and a tank top. The food was outstanding and we highly recommend eating there the next time you are in Solvang.

Day 2

We all spent the morning getting some fresh air outside and doing some shopping. After lunch we headed over to Sunstone Winery, where the Webers are members. The grounds at Sunstone are really pretty and Todd’s wife Edie says it reminds her of her grandparents house in Mexico. As usual, their wines were very good. Sunstone always goes above and beyond for their members. After we had our “normal” tasting, our server just kept bringing out more wines to taste until we finally had to say “uncle.” When in the Santa Ynez area for wine tasting, I would definitely go to Roblar first, then stop at Sunstone second. It is well worth the stop.

After our tasting, we headed back to our rooms for a short nap and got dressed for dinner. This time we had dinner at the Brother’s Restaurant at the Red Barn, in Santa Ynez, a place we have eaten several times in the past. This was also patio dining, very cool outside, but it was enclosed just enough and they had heaters. So like the night before, I was jacketless with a long sleeve shirt, Cindy dined with her jacket on and Aunt Barbara would have been hot. The food was outstanding, as usual. Another strong recommendation from us if you are looking for great food near Solvang.

When we returned to our hotel, I took a picture of the building behind us because it was decorated rather nice. I also got a picture of the full moon.

Day 3

This was a travel day so to speak, so we got up and all had breakfast across the street at Paula’s Pancake House. When you go to Paula’s Pancake House, you have to have the Danish Pancakes. They are delicious! After breakfast, we all walked around and shopped for a bit and then headed on our separate ways. Even though the drive is only two and a half hours from our house to Solvang, we had an Embassy Suites certificate we needed to use before the end of the year. Hence our stop at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay in Oxnard. We upgraded to the ocean view room to enhance our overnight stay. The view from our room was absolutely amazing and well worth it.

Unfortunately, the hotel is a little tired and I don’t think they’ve been doing a very good job of maintaining it. They sent me an online review and I was pretty brutal with them in it. I realize things have been hard with Covid, but that is no excuse for not doing basic maintenance to your hotel. So I can recommend the hotel for the amazing views if you get the ocean front room, but be prepared that your room will probably not be perfectly maintained.

After relaxing and enjoying the view of the ocean, we ended up getting some takeout dinner from the small restaurant that is part of the hotel. The food was a pleasant surprise and was very good. We got a selfie outside while waiting for our food. Even though it looks like we are crazy, we are still quite sane. Trust me…………………….or are we?

The next day we had breakfast at the little breakfast bar at the hotel. It was pretty good. Afterward, we walked along the beach for a while, just enjoying the ocean views. We packed up and hit the road for one last stop in Camarillo. That is right, we stopped at the outlets and picked up a few Christmas gifts. With our Christmas gifts in hand, or technically in the trunk, we headed home and had a very easy one hour drive.

Our next trip is right around the corner. We are going to spend five days in Prescott, Arizona with our friend Sylvia. That will probably be the last trip of the year. And with that trip, we will achieve our goal of averaging one trip a month, even in a Covid year. That’s right, 12 trips this year, just like last year. It wasn’t easy and many of them were short, but we did it.

We’re not sure what 2021 holds yet, but we do want to get a trailer trip in during January and then for the entire month of February we will be in St Joseph Missouri staying in an Airbnb. We want to see what it’s like to live in some colder weather for a little bit and this will definitely give us that experience.

Until then, stay safe keep your masks on.

Tag: solvang

2025 Post 1 – Our return to California and a Visit from Missourians Heather and Machelle

Trip 11 – Solvang & Oxnard, CA