The Dead Sea

This past weekend, we drove 45 minutes to spend a day (and night) at the Dead Sea. We stayed at the Marriott resort, and from the moment we arrived, felt as though we had really arrived at a resort. 

When I was a kid, about Sam and Peter's age, my dad used to take us on week-long, all-inclusive vacations to Club Med, in the Bahamas, and skiing in Colorado. Obviously, I LOVED it! In the Bahamas, my brothers and I were sent off to the Kid's Club for the day where we snorkeled, learned to scuba-dive, and even practiced a circus act to be performed for the adult's at a circus show at the end of the week (I was part of a balancing bicycle act; a black and white photo from the event hung in my dad's office for a long time). 

I really want the kids to have the same experience, a day where pretty much all the rules go out the window, a day where there is no routine or boundaries. I couldn't afford to stay at the Marriott for a week, so we had to compress all that fun into one day. 

We couldn't check in right away, so we stowed a few of our bags at the concierge and headed down to the pool. There was a dance team leading a group in water aerobics and a poolside waiter zipping around the many pools on rollerblades, a trayful of frosty mugs in hand. 

We didn't even make it down to the Dead Sea on the first day, except to see it. At 400 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is hot. Very hot. So, we didn't make it much beyond the pool that first afternoon, until later, when we walked to the Fishing Club, an open-air bar on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea, then down to the edge of the water itself. 

The adults-only infinity pool overlooking the Dead Sea. 

That evening, we planned to have Happy Hour drinks as we watched the sun go down, but the kids were too hungry, so we had to head to the sports bar earlier than planned for burgers and American pub fare. 

The next morning, we hit the breakfast buffet shortly after it opened (Clementine literally woke up, rolled over, and exclaimed, "I love a buffet!"), then headed down to the Dead Sea before it go too hot.

After spending an hour or two floating in the Dead Sea and applying its healing muds to our skin and joints, we headed back up to the pool area where Elise did a little more relaxing, and Peter and Sam didn't hesitate to plunge themselves headlong into the poolside games like old pros. 

This is Peter, Sam, and Clementine doing water aerobics. 

Soon, it was time to go. But not before first stopping at the gift shop to take some of the healing mud with us. Pete's flip-flop broke on one of his walks down to the Dead Sea. He made do all right, though.