After a day of touring around Ramat Hanadiv and Caesarea, Noah and I went for a morning run around Zicharon Yaakov. Initially, we thought we would just run around through the pedestrian areas and maybe look for a park, but THEN we discovered something very exciting (in particular to Noah):

Unbeknownst to us, Zicharon Yaakov has an artillery corps museum (called Beit Hatothan) surrounded by an outdoor area featuring a memorial monument and a couple dozen tanks and military vehicles. The museum was closed (and we were in the middle of a run…), but we looked around at the tanks and such:

You could even go inside some of them!

After the run and a quick breakfast at the Purple House, we drove to the nearby hilltop village of Ein Hod. Ein Hod is an artist’s village with winding streets, tons of galleries, and it is nestled within a forest of JNF trees:

Walking through the village, many of the streets were dotted with sculptures and public artwork:

We enjoyed wandering around and following signs to various galleries throughout the town:

After a leisurely morning in Ein Hod (which ended with a run to the car during torrential downpour!), we drove to Acre (pronounced and sometimes spelled, Akko). Acre is located in the Israeli northern coastal plain, and it’s an area that has served an important historical purpose throughout time, providing a coastal link to the central Middle East. For a time, it was the headquarters of Crusader knights, and much of the area’s current attractions/focus is on that time period. Before exploring the fortress and knight’s hall in the area, we paused in the town’s busy market for a delicious lunch of kebab and salatim:

After being revitalized by lunch, we toured the Crusader’s fortress – it’s still an incredible (and slightly terrifying!) compound after all these years:

The exploration of the fortress was followed by a return to the busy market for a more thorough exploration:

Our walk ended at the port that made this area such an important strategic location:

After leaving Acre, we took one final drive of the day to the Shavit Guest House at the base of Mt. Arbel where we stayed for the next two nights. The Shavit Guest House is a small, family-run lodge/restaurant. The family was extremely nice and welcoming, and they were also eager to offer help and suggestions when planning activities. We arrived to the guest house just as the sun was setting, so Paul worked on taking some nice photographs with his fancy new camera…

…and I found a friend:

Other posts about visiting with Noah’s parents:

Zichron Yaakov – visiting Ramat Hanadiv gardens and Caesarea
Exploring in the north and Hamat Gader spa and hot springs