JR's High Five

1. Best Bar/Restaurant where they are always glad you came.

Bedoe’s - Formerly a Kayson’s, Bedoes changed over their name a few months ago, but left the warm atmosphere and varied menu largely the same. With TVs at each booth, its a super friendly place to bring your kids. Watch the big screen with your game and tune the table TV to cartoons to entertain the kids. Plus, their kid’s menu is large and extremely flexible. For adults, the ribs have a delicious sauce; the chicken fingers are huge, juicy and tender; and their sandwiches and wraps are well constructed of excellent ingredients. My favorite quality of Bedoe’s is the attentive and friendly employees. My wife and I were recognized as return visitors and treated as friends. When you need a good meal and want to feel like you belong, there is no better place in the area. Plus, with never-ending repeats of SpongeBob, your kids might last until you are done with that rack of ribs.

2. Top backyard game for all ages, weathers and skill levels:

Homemade Obstacle Course - With nieces and nephews, we often have a backyard full of kids, aged from 2 through 12. Finding games they all can and want to play can be super tough but we have developed something that they all agree is fun; the custom obstacle course. Each kid is given an area in which to set up their own concept, then we take turns completing the course. Sometimes its a dizzy bats station, climbing a tree, kicking a ball into a trash can, then running from one fence to the other. The next time we play it can be a weaving sprint through the trees, balancing a foam football on our forehead, three somersaults, then busting through a stack of plastic cups. Create your own, but be prepared to run the course yourself. It is too fun to leave to the kids.

3.  Awesome movie for all ages

Tangled - While many family movies try to hide grown-up jokes in there, or teen movies masquerade as appropriate to youngins, Tangled is a true gem and entertaining for anyone who comes to see it. We took a large range of people to the movies this past weekend to watch; 4 and 6-year-old girls, 28 year old woman, 50-something husband and wife, and an 82-year-old great grandmother. Each and every last viewer fell in love with the story. The biggest compliment one could give a movie was distributed frequently; “Let’s go see it again!” The plot is based on the Rapunzel story, told through computer animation, in the second most expensive movie making process of all time, spending 260 million to make the CGI, retain the voice talents of Mandy Moore, and produce the lengthy soundtrack. The visuals are stunning all through the movie but no scene moreso than the lantern scene, which draw comparisons to the ballroom scene in beauty and the Beast. Prepare to have your breath taken.

4. Cool deals from social location networks

FourSquare is a smart phone application that utilizes your phone’s GPS to show you nearby locations where you can “check-in” and both tell whatever friends you have selected to tell and earn free or discounted items. Currently, several locations are offering some pretty handy specials. Moe’s changes their special frequently. Recent specials have included free cheese dip, free cookie, as well as free fountain beverage (all with purchase.) Today’s offer was a half-price burrito every third check-in. Bogeys offers a half-price appetizer every visit, upon showing your server that you checked in. Bub-Ba-Q goes a step further and discounts a pork plate by 50 percent RaceTracs are another business that changes their discounts frequently. Recently they offered a free energy drink and now offer a free taquito. Search your phone’s market for FourSquare and look for the orange “Special” tags when you look at the list of nearby locations for deals near you.

5. Great website to lose hours of your day and find items to share with your friends

http://www.incrediblethings.com/ - There is not shortage of websites attempting to grab the time and attention of your eyeballs by aggregating interesting photos, videos, or stories. IncredibleThings does a marvelous job of showing interesting and amazing products and product concepts from all across the world. From artistic furniture pieces, to amazing inventions they cover a wide range of products that feature amazing design and creative solutions. Some of my favorites are the truly bizarre items such as the biologically-correct ceramic heart salt shaker,  a mobile phone shaped like a pack of Marlboro cigarettes covered in Swarovski crystals and features a secret compartment to hold several cigarettes, and a coffee mug with a built-in cookie shelf. The pages and pages of products are sure to appeal to your design sense or your sense of wonder.