Napa Valley Fourth of July Report, plus Writer's Conference

A belated report on celebrating the Fourth here in Napa Valley. As charming and friendly a 4th of July celebration as could be. We went down to the river an hour or so early, it was crowded but people were generally aware of others, not drunk and obnoxious, and many were sitting in restaurant patios or on the bridge looking over the water, while others dined on cotton candy and other foods from the many vendors, or listened to one of several bands playing downtown. We ended up accidentally in a great vantage point, for a fairly long and impressive fireworks display (even in this downturn) that definitely made it worth the wait.

In restaurant news, the new Morimoto restaurant looks terrific, by the way - the sushi beautiful, the plates well laid out, and people always seemed happy to be there. I overheard someone saying it was the best $180 they ever spent on a meal, if that tells you anything (expensive but good, I guess.)We didn't have any sightings of Morimoto himself, my favorite Iron Chef, which was sad, but I heard he's renting a condo out here.

I'm planning to go to a few lectures and readings at this year's Napa Valley Writer's Conference, and I'll report on that and see how it goes!