I know that most everyone includes their favorite links on their web pages, but it’s hard not to share really good information with folks, or at least good ways to find the information...so enjoy your surfing!

Do you Google? Ever since I found out about Google, I tend to use it exclusively for keyword searches. Google has a great return on the keywords you give it, and tends to turn up the specific place that you need to go to for your topic. Google is cut-and-dried...no chat, no maps, no ads...just a search. Google has a little attitude – it has an "I feel lucky" button that you can initiate your search with, in case you are confident that the first item it turns up will be the correct one. The "I feel lucky" button will go directly to the number one item, rather than display a list.

That is our local newspaper, in case you didn’t know. Their website is relatively new, but was worth the wait! Catch up on local news or check out the upcoming events listed under the "Entertainment" button in the left-hand column. Events for kids are listed separately, making it easy to pinpoint family activities.

Here is where the "...and Beyond!" part of the web page title comes in...looking for activities beyond Plano. GuideLive is another recent addition to the World Wide Web, and it is EXCELLENT. I have even used it to find the nearest laser tag location for a birthday party. You can search for restaurants by location or type of food, upcoming music events, festivals...it seems unending. This is the online version of the "Guide" insert that comes out in the Friday Dallas Morning News. "GuideLive" is more fun, and it seems to have more information!

Here is a direct link to the "Kids & Family" events on GuideLive:

This website offers some of the real flavor of Texas.   If you have never left the boundaries of Plano, you need to get out and see the REAL Texas...or, at least the real Texas as everyone imagines it to be...

Virtual Texan