Confused about wood grain direction

Hello everyone! Brand new on my wood working journey. We got a solid wood dresser from the previous owners of our house but hated the finish.

Thought it would be a good time to experiment! Stripped the top down and sanded it back but noticed one spot where the grains went different directions. Kept sanding and ended up with you see.

My question is would a planer be more helpful to get the top darker wood layer back and then sand again? Our goal was to stain the top piece.

Thanks for everyone’s help.