Touring Israel

Next week, I'll be fulfilling a life-long dream. I'm heading to Israel.

My Dad invited me to join him for this tour, and I'm so excited about all that we'll see. Not only will it be an incredible experience of walking through sacred history, but it's an adventure my Dad and I will share together and treasure all our lives.

I'll keep a journal and take lots of pictures to share with the folks back home. And I suspect the folks at Hope are in danger of listening to me offer way too much geographical and cultural detail in my sermons for a while.

Here's where we're headed.


September 3: Depart from D.C., change planes in New York, and fly overnight.

September 4: Arrive in Israel. Visit Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Dinner at the Dan Panorama Hotel on the Mediterranean Sea. Evening walk along the shore.

September 5: Early morning walk along the beach (maybe even swimming in the Mediterranean!). Visit Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, Nazareth, the Jordan River, and Tiberias.

September 6: Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Visit Nof Ginosar, the Golan Heights, Capernaum, Caesarea Philippi, and the Mount of Beautitudes. Dinner on the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias.

September 7: Fly from northern Israel to Eilat on the northern end of the Red Sea. Lunch cruise on the Red Sea (a view of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia). Dinner at Herod's Palace Hotel in Eliat.

September 8: Explore the ruins of the rose-red Nabatean city of Petra in Jordan.

September 9: Drive through the Judean Wilderness to the Dead Sea. Visit Masada and the En Gedi overlook. Dinner at the Le Merridien Hotel at the Dead Sea.

September 10: Visit the Dead Sea (dare I swim/float in it?) and Qumran. Drive to Jerusalem and visit the old city.

September 11: Tour the Western Wall, the newly excavated southern wall, and the Yad Vashem (memorial to the victims of the Holocaust).

September 12: Morning panoramic view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane, the Kidron Valley, the Via Dolorosa, and the Garden Tomb.

September 13: Return home.