Sean's birthday in Israel

Today is Sean's birthday! It's also our last day in Israel, and our last day of fun vacation freedom before we start the journey back to Texas and Kuwait. So, I left today totally open for him to do whatever he wanted. He decided he wanted to rent a car and visit a couple of sites that were not close to Jerusalem. So, that's what we did today.

The first place we visited was Yad Lashiryon Armored Corps Memorial Basically, this is a memorial to Israel's Armored Corps troops who have been killed in action. It also happens to be one of the largest collections of military armored vehicles in the world! (Of course that's why he wanted to visit!)

I will admit that even I was very impressed with the collection. We discovered that it's run by a non-profit foundation, and many of the vehicles they had on display were spoils of war from WW2 to the present. (The ones we noticed were conspicuously absent were the M1 Abrams and the Bradley.) Bu they have SO many more! Of course, the Israeli Merkava tanks, and also many German WW2 and Soviet tanks were represented. They even had a Patton tank that had been cut in half so you can see what it is like inside, and a depiction of another tank being unloaded from a ship. 

We happened to meet one of the foundation's principals, and he gave us good information about the collection and the site itself, and the plans they have to make it even better. Sean really enjoyed this place! 

After this, he decided he wanted to visit Masada, which is a mountain that overlooks the Dead Sea. So, we got in the car and drove. It ended up being a longer drive than we thought, but we did end up seeing some neat things along the way. First, we saw a warning sign about loose camels, and then we saw the camels!

We finally made it to Masada, and unfortunately, we arrived at the side where we would have had to hike up the mountain path to get to the top (45 minute climb), rather than the side with the cable car ride. We both decided that was a NO GO, so we just took some pictures from this site. It was still a very impressive view of the Dead Sea. 

So, we got back in the car and headed back to Jerusalem. We had hoped to see the Israel Museum and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we got stuck in a big traffic jam that delayed us, and we really needed to return the car on time. Bummer! At least he got to talk to his parents on the phone while we were sitting in traffic.

I let him pick whatever he wanted for dinner, and (of course) he said "lamb chops! " So we found a fun restaurant and bar right around the corner that has draft beer, shisha and lamb chops! Sean says that's as good as it gets!

Happy birthday, sweetie!