The KU Athletics Department gave in and held a parade today for the 2008 National Championship basketball team, and downtown Lawrence was packed.

Dave rode his scooter downtown late last night (or rather, early this morning) on his way home from the birthday festivities, and he said all the parking spots downtown were already full at 5:30 a.m. People parked their cars and trucks on Massachusetts to save a good spot for viewing the parade.

The Sandbar opened around 1:30 today, in anticipation that the early parade-goers would surely want something to drink. The crowd didn’t disappoint- the bar has been busy ever since. Considering we aren’t normally open until 5 on Sundays, and then with minimal business, today was a pretty good day.

The parade itself was short and sweet- we got a great view of the backs of peoples’ heads. The crowd slowly dispersed and the bar got busy again.

I don’t have any good pictures to share, but I’m sure there will be some great shots posted on the LJW website.  Parade planners were estimating 100,000 people would descend on downtown for the event. I don’t doubt it.