I have been dyinggg to go to the Dead Sea. It has been one of the top items of my "must see/do" list.. (Visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem,Greece.. ride a camel...a few others). For one reason or another our intentions to go there have been overruled until this past week. Once we were on the road and headed that way, I couldn't contain my excitement! The drive down was nice. We went to Jerusalem, around and down along the "separation fence", and came to the Dead Sea from the North. It was a pretty drive. We stopped in Masada (which is another one of King Herrod's pads..if I ever get around to publishing all the blog drafts I have, you'll see Ceasarrea... This guy had amazing views/locations for his dwellings) We walked around the ruins for an hour or two and because of the heat, were even more eager to get to the Dead Sea to float around and cool off.
I didn't realize how massive the Dead Sea is. It was visible from Masada and all along the drive down to the southern portion most people wade in. As you approach the south Dead Sea, the area becomes more resort-like. It was a holiday so everywhere was bustling with locals and tour groups alike. Finding a parking spot near the public beach was tough so we drove on down to a more secluded spot, and it turned out to be a good thing! Once we parked, Luke realized he forgot his swimsuit! Haha so we had a good laugh about him wearing his undies like a speedo and even though he felt really silly, was being a good sport. We walked along and found an area that was not busy and actually where a fence had been pushed down. As we crossed the barricade a quick rush of intimidation came over me. Luke, recognizing my hesitation, vocalized that possibly this portion of the beach may not be where we belonged...but then we both looked down at his fruit of the loom briefs and laughed at ourselves again. :-) I haven't mentioned it before, but both the refreshing thing about Israel..and the part that worries me about returning to the states, is that we are becoming desensitized to appearance (this is both good and bad). It may sound silly but I always took the overall cleanliness of the cities I've lived in for granted. Much of the places here are areas that appear to be dangerous (in a stereotypical way ..run down, abandoned, graffiti, unkept, stray animals...you get the gist). The thing is, these areas are often the bustling storefronts and markets during working days/hours. Looks can be very deceiving and I am thankful to live and learn outside of my own bubble.
So, we find an old tire and put our towels and shoes beside it. Walking into the sea, we were amazed at the water clarity. It was very beautiful..the crystallized salt formations underfoot, the bluish green color of the water.. It wasn't too hot or too cold and even though it's the main reason we came, we were completely amazed at our buoyancy! So much fun!! All was good for about 10mins...
Backtracking to our drive out, Luke was telling me about how dangerous it could be if we put our head underwater and even more so if Estella did. I'm unsure why this never occurred to me before, but I was very thankful for the (now obvious) reminder..and per my usual overprotective self, I was on high alert with EV in the water. As Luke and I took turns floating, Estella became increasingly eager to play in the sea like she does back by our house. During one of the pics, Estella set her glasses sail, so while I went to get her glasses that were floating away, Bobby took EV to dry some of the salt off his face (it tasted awful and burns your eyes).
Once on the side, Estella immediately took off running. She tripped on the crystallized salt and busted her legs:-( The poor baby was in screaming pain from all the salt immediately stinging her scratches. So I turn around to EV screaming, blood getting everywhere, and Luke standing in his undies squinting from the salt in his eyes trying to console Estella. I run over to help and try to hold EV only to burn her with my wet salty skin... :-( I'm sure we were raising eyebrows among all the people we initially found to be concerning... And we continued to do so with everyone we passed as we quickly left and made our way back to the car with a wailing child, salty, borderline naked, bloody selves. Phew!
Once back to our car, we got Estella all clean, changed, and comfortable. A quick stop at Mcd's, we were on our way home.
We took the southern route this time, up through the desert mountains where we saw herds of wild camels. Estella was exhausted from all the excitement and slept the entire way to Jaffa.
So, our trip was very short and not at all how we intended it to go... but I'm so happy we went! It cracks me up thinking how incongruent our photos from the Dead Sea are with our actual experience☺️
We definitely want to go back but next time we will get a hotel room so it's not rushed. Estella can really enjoy herself...and maybe Luke will have time to buy a suit if he forgets to pack one😉
