Every year we try to get out to the northern part of Hyogo to eat crab in Kinosaki. The town is a resort town that attracts people mainly because of the seafood and the hot springs. We tend to go after the peak of the crab season, to avoid the crowds. This year we went to celebrate Kuniko’s birthday. I was surprised how many people were there – it was hard to believe we were approaching the end of the season.
We always go to the same place, and this time we arrived and saw that they had remodeled the lobby. It looked much better (and less old fashioned) but the rooms and the rest of the resort looked the same. According to the staff they are doing the remodeling in stages, and it was good to see the big money we spend on crabs being put to good use.
The food was excellent, as usual, and I think all together we ate about six crabs between us. We finished pretty fast – the staff actually looked shocked when we asked if we could jump in the bath ahead of schedule. Apparently the bath wasn’t ready yet, so that gave us time to walk around town and burn a few calories.
This time we walked to a part of Kinosaki that I had never seen – the approach from the train station to the town center. We always drive to Kinosaki, which means I hadn’t seen this part of town. It also means that we can’t drink when we come to eat, and we made a resolution to come back next time by train for an overnight stay. I think it would be fun to come at the coldest time of the year to really appreciate the hot spring.
Thanks to our quick eating we left a little earlier, and made the long drive back. Kuniko did all the driving so it was a pretty relaxing trip for me. We got home around 5 pm, and still stuffed from crabs we had a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate the end of the trip and the end of the weekend. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were having a wild dance party watching K-pop music videos and snacking on Don Tacos tortilla chips. Look out for that sparkling wine – it really turns the switch on.
This week I have a party on Friday with some ex-students, and Kuniko has a day off on Thursday. I think we’ll be on a strict dietary regimen after all the seafood we had last weekend.
