Shabbat at Tel Dan

Emma and Shachar picked me about 10 and declared that we were going to Tel Dan, which turns out to be around 50 miles and a hour-plus of driving away--pretty much head east about 28 miles, then north about 25, which ends up on the Lebanese border again.  Really beautiful.  And Tel Dan is where the golden calf story seems to originate--Jeroboam had not one, but two. The nature preserve is terrific: lots of running water, lots of shade, lots of archeology.  Here's pictures of all that:

The river as we began the walk

on the bridge over the river

looking over toward Lebanon

The ancient gate

rebuilt fort--and bench to rest

stone path through the river

Winne the Pooh, in Hebrew & English

And don't let me forget the "Winnie the pooh" tree here:

Note the tree in use--lots of holes for climbing

We hiked leisurely for a couple hours, then headed to Dag al ha-Dan, a fish restaurant, where they farm trout and serve it fresh. Utterly fantastic meal. Best fish I've ever had, served with a baked potato, and preceded by about eight little salads that they kept refilling. And then we toured the ponds. Here:

Small fry...

This is about the size of the fish we got.

And then to winery and home, by way of winding roads.
 I've complained about lack of religion--this was another way to do it, though.  It felt like Shabbat in the appreciation of nature, good food, and good company.  I could see doing this at home as well...
Note: I just looked at this and it is a mess--sorry about that; don't want to take the time to fix it. What you see in the set-up is definitely not what you get though!