Santa Nella - Gustine, California - Pea Soup Andersen's

The chain of Andersen's Pea Soup restaurants may have shrunk, but you can still see their signature windmill and old Danish architecture along a few highways in California. The first Andersen's opened in Buellton in 1924.

The Andersen's on I-5 in Santa Nella was bustling during our lunchtime stop, with a line for seating in the dining room and a crowd perusing the gift shop, which stocks any windmill-shaped collectible you might crave.

Outside, you can still pose a couple of traveling pals in the head holes of Andersen's trademark Happea and Pea-Wee, where the cartoon chef splits peas with his mighty mallet. [Roadsideamerica.com Team, 01/24/2009]

Pre-Memorial Day Survey Of Central California Windmill Attractions, Pt. 2: On Hwy. 99, in "Raisin Capital" Selma, CA, the blades on a newer windmill associated with a Holiday Inn turn proudly, as do the windmill blades at the Pea Soup Anderson's on I-5 at Santa Nella. Tours buses abound in the large Anderson's parking lot, kids line up with their folks for the classic "Hap-Pea and Pee-Wee" photo op, and the restaurant, bar and gift shop seem well peopled. But one sign the stock market collapse has hit here: "All Singing Fish 50% Off." (Note: The Korean War Memorial in Santa Nella, which has a number of highway signs pitching it, closes at 5PM.) [Roadsideamerica.com Team, 05/20/2001]