Day 3
Well Split My Peas!

For today’s adventure, I have to give Kudos out to Adrienne and her advice to check out two small towns on the coast, Solvang the Danish Capital of America and Buellton, home of Split Pea Anderson’s.
Our first sojourn of cuisine was in the small town of Solvang. If EVER you are just north of Los Angeles and you are driving the 101 up the coast, (a beautiful drive by the way), you simply must take the time to go see this little part of Europe in America. The entire downtown has been structured and built to mimic towns found across Holland and other European countries. I searched high and low for some Viking helmets with horns and everything, but sadly I had to settle for an apple Danish.
After getting dessert, we went for the main course at Split Pea Andersons. This was a very entertaining little eating establishment, whose main moniker is a cartoon sketch (done, we later learned, by a real, true life Disney Trained Cartoonist), of two chefs, Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee. Hap-Pea is a robust and jolly man holding a very large mallet poised to strike. Pea-Wee is a much smaller chum who is timidly grasping a large chisel over the top of a very miniscule pea. Lyndsey and I went for broke and got the “Traveler’s Meal”. This is all-you-can-eat Split Pea soup, with a shake. We got chocolate. The pea soup was excellent, but got even better when I added their special seasoning. (One of the main ingredients was Red Pepper, how could it go wrong? Oh yeah and lactose.) Two thick and hearty thumbs up.
The rest of the day was pretty much a long sit-down. We were on the road for a good five hours today. However, we found a place, just over the horizon, that I really hope none of you ever have to cross. If desolation hath a place in this world, it would be the valley beyond the 101. A drier landscape I have never seen. It was so destitute that “creepy” could be used to describe the atmosphere.
Parting thoughts: not much humor, but good soup.