20180608 Tel Maresha: Got up at 6:30, breakfast at 7:00. Quite a bit different atmosphere than all the other stays. Was seated by hostess. Nice buffet, but you could order stuff like eggs benedict, French toast, etc. Interesting contrast.

Yael was not feeling well, so her father, Menachem, who is also a guide, picked us up at 8:00. He first dove us to Ashdod and explained its history and port. Including Ashdod, the drive to Tel Maresha was two hours. This is an archeological site where the invite tourists to do real digging for shards, rings, coins, charcoal, etc. all left over from periods dating back to the Maccabee period and before. And this was the site where the Maccabee revolt started.

We went down into a man-made cave. The leader/guide explained that when the people of this area were told they had to convert to Judaism, leave, or die, most just left. Before doing that, they trashed all the belongings they didn’t carry with them. Thus the shards and other finds.

We were instructed how to loosen the soil on the floor of the cave, look through it, and put the loosened soil into buckets, anything we found into another bucket. Some really big shards were found by others in the group. Menachem and Marian dug together. After lots of buckets were filled, we hauled them out to the surface. Then buckets were dumped onto sifting boxes, shaken to get the dirt through, and then inspected for anything that might be other than just rocks or dirt.

Menachem led a group of us into an open cave where we got the history of the peoples living there, saw an olive press, and learned about olive oil and about water.

Speaking of water, what is defined as desert here is any area that gets less than 8 inches of water on average per year. That minimum is needed to grow things.

When we were all done and the supervisor of the site told us the most exciting things that had been found, we headed in the direction of Tel Aviv, stopped at an Aroma for lunch and iced coffee, and got back to near the hotel, walked the rest of the way. There were hundreds of thousands here for the Gay Pride Parade on the beach, so many streets were closed.

Rested the balance of the day, got into a taxi (which were hard to find) for a ride to Social Club for 7:15 dinner and Max Brenner next door for fabulous chocolate desserts. Back to the hotel about 11:00.

Tomorrow is Shabbat, a free day, and the last day the Spellers are here since they leave about midnight.

Some various observations:

• They put nets over grape vines, bananas, and some other crops since there to too much sun.
• Dealing with or speaking about Gaza, the A, B, and C zones is complicated. Much more so than I had thought before being here.
• There is such a huge amount of high-rise buildings (apartments) being constructed for all those who are coming here.
• Drivers and driving is like bumper cars. Crazy.
• Aroma makes the best iced coffee, hands down.

20180610 Tel Aviv: Last day in Israel. Will leave at almost Midnight for twelve-hour flight to JFK. Kids left last night and are in NY awaiting their plane to STL. Breakfast about 8:00. Did some packing and texting with Yael to make sure we had 6:00 PM checkout here. Made a dinner reservation at place Leah recommended, Mashya, which is not far from here.

Around 9:30 or so, we headed east to the next street (Ben Yehuda) and did some shopping and walked north. At some point, we headed east again to Dizengoff, got an Aroma iced coffee, and walked north shopping. Around 12:30, we headed west to the seashore about at the Marina and then walked north into the Old Port area looking for lunch. Ended up at same place we had dinner a few nights ago, Meat and Eat. Then about a 45-minute walk along the sea southward until we got to the Dan. Nice day.

Had our keys updated so we could get back into our room, cleaned up, finished packing. Around 6:00, we have to checkout and have them store our luggage until Yael picks us up at 9:00. We have a 7:00 dinner reservation. So we sat around falling asleep from time to time. Around 5:45, we got a porter to get our luggage to hold on to. And a bit before 7:00, we walked a block and a half to Mashya. Really trendy and really good. Walked back to the hotel and sat until Yael picked us up.

The going out at this airport is as wonderful as our coming in. Nice young lady met us at the curb, took our luggage, and led us through special lines for security, checking in, passport control, security, and walked us to the Dan Lounge to await boarding. Love this! So, we will board about 11:00 for 11:55 scheduled departure. With 12 hours to JFK, a transfer to LGA and a several-hour wait there, we will be home in about 24 hours.

It’s been all and more than we ever hoped for not only the sites and history, but Yael and the treat of being with the Spellers. Wow.

20180609 Tel Aviv: Lazy day. Ate breakfast about 8:30. All went out on the beach afterwards and Anna, Andy, and Tracy went in the water, Marian waded, I took pictures. Shabbat brings lots of families and other folks to the beach, so it was crowded but not terribly so. Spent an hour or so there before returning to the hotel so that the Spellers could move their luggage to our room and check out. Andy had asked for late checkout at 1:00, but when we got back a bit after Noon, his key was dead since they had checked them out. So, Andy got another key and all the luggage was moved.

Andy went to the pool while the rest of us walked over to Dizengoff. On the way, we ate at a sushi restaurant. And we got an Aroma iced coffee for us and ice cream for Anna after. Shops all closed given it’s Shabbat. So walked back to hotel. On the way back, across the street from the Dan I spotted a building that had to be the same hotel (now under a different name) we stayed in here in 1962. Comparing images when we got to the room showed it really was. If we had stayed where originally booked at Dan Panorama or taken another street back to the Dan, I never would have seen it.

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent with naps on the bed, on the couch. Spellers will be picked up by Yael at 9:00 PM for their midnight flight to JFK. Marian and I are going to dinner with Leah Croghan and leaving earlier.

Around 6:30, Tracy, Anna, Marian, and I went downstairs and met Leah. Then she took the two of us to Brasserie where her husband, Tomar, had already arrived. Lovely long dinner and conversation followed by ice cream nearby and a ride back to our hotel. Was a treat being with them.

And, most importantly, what a blessing it's been to share all this with Anna, Tracy, and Andy.