September 27, 2025 Out in the middle of California is a little bit of Denmark. Between 1865 and 1914, 300,000 Danes immigrated to the United States. Three of those Danes acquired almost 9,000 acres near Santa Barbara and in 1911 they established Solvang (Danish for sunny field). The developers brought in Danish settlers from asContinue reading “Solvang / Cold Spring Tavern, California, USA”
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San Luis Obispo, California, USA
September 26, 2015 San Luis Obispo (often known simply as SLO) is a city of about 50,000 and is the home of California Polytechnic State University. It is named after San Luis, Obispo de Talosa (Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse). Louis (1274-1297) was the second son of King Charles II of Naples, but having beenContinue reading “San Luis Obispo, California, USA”
Central Coast, California, USA
September 25, 2025 After the Spanish style buildings of Santa Barbara, Cambria was decidedly western. In fact, it reminded us quite a lot of Winter Park, the small ski town where we met in Colorado. Our original intent had been to follow the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) all the way up to Carmel, but itContinue reading “Central Coast, California, USA”
Santa Barbara, California, USA
September 24, 2025 Santa Barbara was our first stop on our trip north along the California coast. It is a very pretty city. We started our exploration by walking along the palm lined beach. And then out onto Stearns Wharf. It was originally built in 1872 but facing a number of disasters, including an earthquakeContinue reading “Santa Barbara, California, USA”
California Heights, Long Beach, California, USA
September 22, 2025 Our friend Nick is visiting, so we decided to take him on a walk through the neighborhood where we live. California Heights is Long Beach’s largest historic neighborhood with nearly 1,500 homes built in the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly in Spanish Colonial Revival style. Here is a sampling of some of theContinue reading “California Heights, Long Beach, California, USA”
Seal Beach, California, USA
September 19, 2025 Seal Beach is in Orange County just south of Long Beach. It is a charming town with one of the widest beaches we have ever seen. So wide that the ships lined up offshore, waiting to get into the Port of Long Beach, appeared to be sitting on the sand. The beachContinue reading “Seal Beach, California, USA”
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, Long Beach, California, USA
September 11, 2025 On the campus of California State University Long Beach, this pretty Japanese garden was opened in 1981. It has everything you’d expect from a traditional Japanese garden, including a beautiful pond With bridges and viewing platforms It is stocked with over a thousand koi There were also waterfalls and fountains a teaContinue reading “Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, Long Beach, California, USA”
Crystal Cove, California, USA
August 28, 2025 Located between Newport Beach to the north and Laguna Beach to the south, Crystal Cove State Park stretches for just over three miles along the coast. Sitting below cliffs, it is for the most part not visible from the Pacific Coast Highway (locally known as the PCH) that runs along next toContinue reading “Crystal Cove, California, USA”
Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, California, USA
August 24, 2025 Manhattan Beach may not resemble its namesake in New York but they do have, at least, one thing in common. They are both expensive places to live. In fact, more homes exceeding $1 million were sold in Manhattan Beach than any other city in California, including such famous places as Malibu, BeverlyContinue reading “Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, California, USA”
Huntington Beach, California, USA
August 21, 2015 At Huntington and Malibu, they’re shootin’ the pier (Surfin’ Safari, The Beach Boys) Apart from Hawaii, perhaps no place is more associated with surfing than Southern California. And in California, Huntington Beach is the center of surf culture. Each year, it is the site of the World surfing championships and has earnedContinue reading “Huntington Beach, California, USA”
Mal and Lauren 