by Debbi | Jun 12, 2013 | Stories
Everything (or everyone) old is eventually new again, if you stick around long enough.
A few weeks ago, a couple of our regulars were in on a Saturday night. The next day, we noticed these tweets:
I can't embed the other one because the Twitter account is private, but here's what she said:
LOVING THE NEW @thesandbar BARTENDER
(Those are her caps, not mine.)
I was a little surprised, since we haven't hired any new bartenders in quite some time. I asked Dave who worked the night before, and when he said "Andrew and Danny" everything made sense.
Danny worked at the bar for many, many years and is well-known to lots of Sandbar visitors- but if you're somewhat new to the over-21 crowd, it's highly likely you've never ordered from him before.
We're glad our newer friends got to experience Danny's flair bartending skills for an evening, and we're glad he's still willing to fill in behind the bar occasionally, rocking worlds in his green hat as Ellie says.
And the very next day? After disrupting his usual schedule to spend a late night behind the bar? He ran a half marathon, of course.
The Hospital Hill Run in Kansas City took place the following morning, and Danny just happened to make it onto Fox 4 news. You can watch the video here. He gets a lot of love!
by Debbi | May 24, 2013 | Stories
Lots of Sandbar staff members and friends have scooters. In fact, we helped organize a scooter poker run several years ago that raised a couple hundred bucks for the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. We really should do that again sometime, it was fun.
Anyway, some scooters are bigger and heavier than others. Dave's, for example, is the big yellow one that is often parked in front of the bar. He actually had to get a motorcycle license in order to legally drive it.
Others are smaller, like Justin's. Or the tiny one Blair used to ride around town on.
And sometimes people mess with those scooters. Occasionally, it's obnoxious drunk people pushing a scooter over, or trying to sit on it. Other times, it's a little more friendly.
Last weekend, Andrew was feeling a little feisty after his graduation ceremony and wanted to play a prank. He enlisted some help and moved Justin's scooter from its parking place in front of the bar.
According to Dave, Justin realized his scooter was gone while they were closing up the bar, and he spent a good 45 minutes searching for it. Where was it?
It's obviously a lightweight scooter if our pranksters carried it up the stairs.
Dave said he could see the wheels turning in Justin's head while he wondered where the scooter was, and eventually he figured it out. If you spend very much time around each other like these guys have, you start to learn how they think.
Justin admits it was a good prank.
Stay tuned for more on the scooter pranks, it didn't end here.
by Debbi | Jul 24, 2012 | Stories
The sales pitches we get via email never fail to amuse.
You might remember the really crazy, bad-grammar-laden train wreck of a pitch we blogged about last time. The most recent pitch wasn't quite that awful, but it was still a surprise.
We were solicited to take part in a promotion to find the- wait for it- "Best Country Music Bar in America."
Yep, you read that right.
While many of us at the Sandbar love country music, and we have a lot of country music on our jukebox (or, at least, we used to- but that's another story for another day), we're pretty sure that no one in their right mind would consider the Sandbar a country bar.
Not to mention, this particular contest requires a "small fee" to participate.
Typically, the email pitches we get are completely impersonal and it's obvious they're just blasting them to out everyone. This one was a little bit different.
The sender made a point to mention that she grew up in Kansas, graduated from K-State but has lots of Jayhawk family members and is familiar with Lawrence and she really wants a Kansas bar to win.
It might have been better had she not mentioned those things and just let us think it was another anonymous, impersonal pitch. Because someone who was familiar with Lawrence and a "Jayhawk at heart" would surely know we're not a country bar, right?
It's funny, because the big prizes in this contest are concerts with major-label recording artists in your bar. Where in the world would we put them?!
So, no. We won't be paying to participate in this contest, but the email was good for a laugh.
by Debbi | Feb 9, 2012 | Drinking Rules, Stories
Remember the story about the fire extinguisher? Well, the person who deployed it upstairs and made a mess saw our post about it, and he left an apology. This might be a first, and we appreciate his response.
Here's what he had to say:
This is a response from "The Idiot". I am sorry for spraying the fire extinguisher causing silly additional stress on the great employees of the Sandbar. While I'd argue that cleaning the mess of drunken people, like myself, is par for the territory, I still agree the guys behind the bar were super nice and deserve better. It should be noted that as I left the bar, I asked if the mess was properly cleaned up. They assured me (probably just to get me out of there) that it was. I ended up leaving and while I was waiting for a ride I returned asking if there was anything else I could help clean while I waited. They told me no but out of the kindness of their hearts they invited me in allowing me to wait in the warmth of a heated bar. In the meantime, I'm sure I made an ass out of myself, but that bit of the story should remain to those present. In the end of it all, I was amazed at how professional and good spirited the three gentlemen were while I plagued the air with my intoxication. I suppose I should get to a point in all of this. I want to project my total regret for betraying the trust of the employees guarding the glorious haven known as the "upstairs". I feel that the mistake of one should not result in a punishment to the masses. For if we punish the mass on the actions of one we overlook the rights of each well behaved bar-goer out there. In the end I plead for a reconsideration in upper deck access.
Yours forever,
The Idiot
"Extinguishing non-existent flames since 2012"
Thanks, drunk guy. We really do sincerely appreciate your apology and the fact that you recognize the error of your ways. Out of all the stupid behavior posts we've made here, you're the first one who has actually apologized.
We aren't sure if this will change Dave's opinion on allowing people upstairs; the fire extinguisher incident was merely the final straw. There have been plenty of other people who have made messes upstairs- throwing popcorn everywhere, spilling drinks and causing general mischief. But, we'll see.
by Debbi | Feb 1, 2012 | Drinking Rules, Stories
The stupid things drunk people do in bars never fail to amaze us. Like stealing tables, writing on our building and busting our toilet. Last night was no exception.
We've been kind enough over the years to let customers go upstairs and hang out on our beach, take pictures and escape from the craziness of the downstairs bar. Unfortunately, over the past few years, customers have become more and more disrespectful of this space. Usually after people have been up there, we find the space trashed- popcorn flung everywhere, glasses left behind, and general disarray.
Last night, a group of people went up there while the doorguy had stepped away from the door. Awhile later, after they had left the bar, John went upstairs and discovered the worst mess of all: someone had deployed the fire extinguisher.
Not cool.
The story could end there, with Dave and John staying even later than usual, cleaning up a mess. But it doesn't.
The idiot who made the mess moved on down the street to Tonic, where apparently he bragged about his adventure at the Sandbar. He bragged about it to the wrong person, because that person happened to know Dave.
And that person took the time to come over to the Sandbar and tell Dave what happened, and the two of them went and tracked down the idiot on Mass Street. Dave informed him that he had two options: they could call the police, or he could come back to the bar and clean up the mess he made. He wisely chose to come clean up the mess.
Of course, Dave will still have to clean it himself, because fire extinguishers create a tremendous mess and the drunk guy didn't exactly do a bang-up job of cleaning, but at least Dave made a point.
And then, when the guy was done "cleaning," Dave informed him that he also owed the bar money so that we could replace the fire extinguisher. The guy balked at this, and then had the audacity to say he'd only deployed half of it, and could he then go and deploy the other half outside? Uh, NO.
The irony in all of this? Our fire extinguishers had just been refilled on MONDAY. The day before.
There's a lesson here. Be respectful of the businesses you visit. Being drunk isn't an excuse, either. Don't be a jerk and ruin the fun for everyone else. Because from now on, customers are no longer allowed upstairs.
by Debbi | Dec 22, 2011 | Stories
If you didn't already know, Dave is going to be a daddy soon. Soon, as in sometime next week. Baby's official due date is December 30, although he (yes, he) could be here anytime now.
The Sandbar family created a contest and put in their guesses as to when baby will arrive. Each person picked a date and time, and for the tiebreaker, baby's length in inches. The entry closest to the actual time without going over wins.
If this baby is 49 inches, as Andrew guessed, we might have some problems.
Next time you're in the bar, be sure to congratulate Dave. He's pretty excited about baby's arrival. And be sure to tip well, diapers are expensive!
