Fear the Crab

Saturday, 9/18: In planning our drive to Napa, we chanced upon information that there would be an Aloha Festival. We definitely wanted to see what Napa’s take on aloha would be, so we routed our drive to the Napa Fairgrounds.

All in all, it wasn’t that bad. There were some food booths offering a “local” selection of sweet-sour spare ribs and char siu chicken, plus the staple of kalua pig, and lau lau. Other booths sold crafts and knick-knacks, and it reminded us of swap meets back home. It seemed many transplants from the island made up the majority of the festival’s workforce, as we met quite a few from Oahu alone. The rest of the fairground was dedicated to seating under a really large tent fronting the stage. Musicians and hula were slated for entertainment, but we only stuck around for one act before we needed to leave.

The next stop was the V. Sattui Winery, located in St. Helena in Napa Valley. I had never heard of this winery before, but later my relatives all seemed to know about it, and it has a rather famous reputation. We had only known of it based on advertisements seen somewhere prior, and as it was the first time any of us had been to an actual winery we were quite eager to attend.

We arrived at the winery around lunchtime, and the grounds were extremely crowded. At the time we thought it was because of harvest season that V. Sattui had this big event planned, but later we discovered that the place is usually crowded year-round. Their 125th anniversary celebration probably helped increase attendance, too.

V. Sattui is apparently known for their deli, but it was so crowded we could barely move around. Maile and I found a lot of things we were interested in such as sauces and dips, but we opted out because they were all in large glass jars and we didn’t have the energy to package them safely for the return trip.

Plus I was starting to feel very uncomfortable in the throng of people. Next to the deli was the wine-tasting room, and while I was interested in it, there was really no room to stand. Additionally, the noise level of everybody trying to speak over everyone else was such that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hear anything without getting “intimately” close. Given that it was my first time in any type of winery I opted to leave rather than waste someone’s time with my newbie-ness.

Outside on the lawn there was a long line for the lunch of BBQ ribs, oven-baked oysters, “mozzarella bars” (sourdough bread with huge chunks of mozarella cheese, tomato and basil with olive oil), and pizzas. We managed to get some snacks for the drive south to Palo Alto. On the way, we crossed the Oakland Bay Bridge through San Francisco, and caught glimpses of places we wanted to visit. Excitement piqued and we hit Palo Alto with renewed energy.

Checking into the Travelodge, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves located close to a Caltrain station, something that would come in handy for our future journeys into San Francisco. We also found a nearby mall and laundromat, so reserving rooms here was fortuitous given the headaches the night before.

I called my brother and met him for dinner at Max’s Opera Cafe, located at the Stanford Shopping Center. The restaurant was a neat place, where the waiters take turns singing to piano accompaniment so you’re never without entertainment. I had “Kobe Wagyu” burger on onion roll, and it was very good and filling. I also had a glass of cabernet, my only taste of wine this whole trip, which I thought appropriate since I missed out on the opportunity in “wine country.”

Later Maile and I went to my brother’s place and played some Rock Band. Turned out his home was just 10 minutes away from us, so finding it was not a problem. We also borrowed his laptop so we could figure out the Caltrain schedule for tomorrow’s big day of San Francisco Giants baseball. The Caltrain was the slowest option, requiring at least an hour of commute, but it the most convenient because the line ended literally a block from AT&T Park. It would have proven more difficult for us first-timers to figure out a transfer from Caltrain to BART to MUNI.

Plus I needed to pick up our baseball tickets at the will-call booth. Getting there early enough was a top priority!