A Castaway Bay Giveaway

If ever someone has needed to get away for a day, that someone was me a couple of weeks ago. THANK GOODNESS I had been invited to Castaway Bay for a bloggers event!

Alexis and I headed up to Sandusky, Ohio for a free night at Castaway Bay, which just so happens to be the hotel closest to Cedar Point. It's a bit more than a hotel, though. It also includes an indoor water park, an arcade, and a plethora of other entertainment.

We didn't make it past the water park.

That kid is half fish. I swear it.

Castaway Bay features eight water slides (Alexis was tall enough for five of them), a giant wave pool, a toddler area, a couple of pools, and even a hot tub that extends outdoors. Why, yes, we did manage to sit outside on a cold, snowy January day while wearing our swimsuits. Of course we did! I would have photos of that, but that would have required taking my arms out of the hot tub, so, uh, NO. I don't like freezing, thank you very much.

I stuck to taking photographs where it was warm and cozy. And wet.

Castaway Bay is the perfect size for the kindergarten/grade school sect. There's plenty for them to do, but it isn't so big that you have to worry about losing track of them.

As an added bonus for us paranoid types, there are lifeguards approximately every 17.4 inches. They are clearly there to keep everyone safe, rather than being there to act as the Fun Police. I honestly forgot they were around because they kept a low profile while making sure everyone was safe.

Even better, it didn't matter that Alexis is a fairly competent swimmer. The rules for Castaway Bay are clear--anyone under a certain height has to wear a life vest in most parts of the water park. I'm totally cool with that because it means I can relax a bit as I watch Alexis try all sorts of crazy stunts.

I think Alexis summed up our day at Castaway Bay best when she said, "I LOVE it here! Can we come here every weekend?"

If only, kiddo. If only.

As part of the blogger event that we attended, I was given four Day Passes to Castaway Bay to share with one of you. Valued at $29 each, those passes will get you unlimited access to the entire water park. You can choose to purchase a night at the hotel, or make use of the convenient lockers and showers that are in the waterpark and make it a day trip. (It took us three hours to get there from Pittsburgh, so a day trip really would be doable.)

If you'd like a chance at winning those Day Passes, just leave me a comment telling me your favorite warm weather vacation destination. I'll select a winner at random on February 17th.

Disclosure: Our visit to Castaway Bay was free, but I was not required to write this post or include any of the information in it. I did it because I'm nice and because we really did have a great time.

Monster + Facebook = BeKnown (And a Giveaway!)

Whether you're a fan of Facebook or not, you really can't deny that it's here to stay. There are simply too many people using it. It seems like the entire universe uses it, in fact.

There are advantages to that.

Think for a minute about the network of people you're connected to on Facebook. Business owners and professionals and people of all walks of life, right? Ever thought about what would happen if you could harness that huge database of connections to help you find a job?

BeKnown has done that. It's a plug-in for Facebook that connects it to Monster.com. Here's a little description straight from the people who developed it:

About BeKnown:

Monster.com recently launched BeKnown, a professional networking app for Facebook. Since many professionals spend more time on Facebook than any other networking site, Monster wanted  to give people the opportunity to network professionally within the world’s largest and most popular social network. BeKnown allows you to set up a professional profile directly on Facebook that is completely separate from your personal Facebook page (think along the lines of a network within a network). It also lets you conduct a job search of Monster's database of jobs without ever leaving BeKnown or Facebook. By tapping into the networks of their Facebook friends, professionals can easily connect, send messages, and see who among their existing contacts is connected to a company, job opportunity, or person they are interested in.

Monster.com also released the mobile version of the app, so now users can take their networks with them on their iPhone or Android devices.

Facebook app: http://bit.ly/taDAud

Mobile apps: http://app.beknown.com/mobile/ (only accessible from your mobile phone)

iPhone app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beknown/id459774317

Android app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beknown.android

I just started using it this past week, so I haven't drawn any significant conclusions just yet. So far my general impressions are that it seems useful and is certainly more stream-lined than other professional networking sites. I like that it keeps "personal" and "professional" separate while taking advantage of some of those personal connections.

To promote the release of BeKnown, Monster.com has graciously offered to allow me to run a giveaway here. You can win an Ulta Makeup Kit, a $10 Starbucks gift card, and a professional business card holder just by leaving a comment below. You can also gain an additional entry by tweeting about this promotion. Leave the URL to your tweet in a comment on this post. I'll draw a winner on January 16th.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I received the same items you have a chance of winning in exchange for this post. However, the words and opinions are mine, all mine. As always.