by Debbi | Jan 4, 2013 | Halloween
(This post was originally written after Halloween, and somehow it never got published. And since I got busy preparing for birthdays and holidays and my real job and life in general, I didn't notice. But it's too good to not share, so here it is, better late than never.)
Have you ever seen a zombie clown?
We have. It's scary.
Sandbar friend Michelle put together quite the ensemble to celebrate Halloween early last weekend. It was part Rainbow Bright, part creepy-eyed, bloody zombie.
Of course, there's a funny story. Apparently, a lot of people are scared of clowns. And when those clowns are combined with zombies, something people are also afraid of, it's even worse.
There was a poor young lady at the bar who was so freaked out by Michelle's costume that her friends asked Michelle to please stay away from her. If you've ever been in the Sandbar, you know this is pretty much impossible, because there's not a lot of room.
Michelle complied, most of the night. By the end of the night, though, she couldn't help herself. She walked up to the poor young lady and scared the crap out of her, sending the girl running into the corner of the back room.
And she wouldn't come out.
It was closing time, so Michelle did what any good zombie-clown would do: she went to the back room and scared the girl back out of the bar.
So, to the poor young lady, we hope you recovered from the fright. Please come back someday.
by Debbi | Jan 3, 2013 | New Year's Eve
Well, we've got another successful New Year's Eve in the books. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us on Monday night, it was a good time!
This year, we added a fun photo prop to the party, borrowing an idea from our friend Sara.
Dave bought a giant whiteboard and meticulously cut it down to resemble a polaroid photo. Remember those? We love 'em.
It seems to be a big trend in photography right now for people to pose with ornate, vintage frames, a'la the opening credits of Modern Family, and we thought the polaroid frame was a fresh twist on the trend.
Partiers could write their own message on the whiteboard if they wanted and pose for a fun picture. Here's a couple of our favorites:
Thanks to Michelle for the pictures! Visit our Facebook page to see a few more.
by Debbi | Jan 2, 2013 | Off the Wall
The wooden sign man dropped off a few more signs for us to decorate the bar with:
And, perhaps the best wooden sign EVER in the history of wooden signs:
You can check out our wooden sign gallery on the wall by the ladies' room.
by Debbi | Dec 31, 2012 | Events, Ottawa
Our founder Peach also owns the Plaza Grill and Cinema in Ottawa, a movie theatre-slash-bar and grill that's been renovated into a great place to spend the evening.
In addition to showing the latest and greatest movies, the cinema also features live comedy, concerts and other events.
This Saturday night, January 5, is another opportunity to enjoy a live comedy show with Mike Baldwin and Jim Stout, followed by a concert by local country musician Travis Marvin.
Tickets are just $15 for the entire evening, and there's only room for 100 people. The comedy show starts at 8 p.m. and you must be 18 or over to attend.
This is a great deal. Only $15 for TWO comedians, plus a concert? You can't beat that anywhere!
Check out the Plaza Grill and Cinema's website and Facebook page.
by Debbi | Dec 30, 2012 | New Year's Eve
The Mayans were wrong, we're all still here and looking forward to 2013! Join the Sandbar on Monday night to ring in the new year, luau-style.
That's right, we're getting back to our tropical roots and throwing a beach-themed bash. One of my favorite new year's eve parties at the Sandbar was the luau of 1996 (was it really that long ago?!):
That's Dave sitting on the bar. And if you're wondering what everyone's holding in this picture, well, they're bananas. One of the bright ideas Dave had that year was to have a banana bite-off contest. The contestants lined up on the bar, and each person bit off as much of their banana as they could. The person who bit off the most won a T-shirt.
Congratulations again to Gina, in the maroon sweater, for her accomplishment.
Anyway. We'll have snacks and tropical decorations, along with our wide array of tropical drinks. Back in 1997, we pretty much only had Bahama Mamas. Our selection has expanded a lot since those days.
The cover charge is just $5. And of course, we'll have a champagne toast at midnight.
So for those of you who want to kick back and relax on New Year's Eve and avoid fancy attire, we're your place. Or dress up if you want to.
Maybe Dave will bring back the banana contest or the limbo, you never know.
by Debbi | Oct 31, 2012 | Around the World
Key West is a popular destination among Sandbar fans. Many of our friends have been there, and often they'll take a photo and bring it back to us.
There might actually be a warrant for Dave's arrest in Key West…but it's not his fault. Back when former bartender Chris (current bartender John's brother) got married during a Caribbean cruise, the boat stopped in Key West. A bunch of us rented scooters, but Dave's the one who filled out the rental agreement. Some members of the group got parking tickets, and we aren't sure if they all got paid.
Anyway, we love Key West. And we would like to go back there, but until that happens, we'll have to live vicariously through people like Frank and Emily, who vacationed there awhile back:
Thanks, Frank and Emily!
Where has your Sandbar shirt been? Send us a picture at sandbar@thesandbar.com.
by Debbi | Oct 25, 2012 | Events, KU Football
Hey friends!
In case you haven't heard, this weekend is KU's annual Homecoming. It also happens to be the 100th Homecoming on the Hill, which is a pretty big deal.
You know we love a good parade, and even though we don't have a float in this one, be sure to check out the Homecoming parade. It's on Friday night this year, which is a good thing since the football game kicks off early at 11 a.m. And if you aren't partying with us on our Rocky Horror Picture Show haunted bus extravagana, then you might as well check out the parade.
After the parade, make your way to the Adams Alumni Center for a pep rally. Our buddy Scott is going to be the DJ, and they'll have all the usual pep rally stuff like the band and cheerleaders.
And then, come see us! The Lawrence Bar Band is headed out on the town again, and according to their Twitter account, they'll be making some extra surprise stops Friday night. Follow them for more information.
The bar will be B-U-S-Y on Friday night, so get here early and be prepared to stand in line. And it'll be busy on Saturday, too. Tailgate in the morning, enjoy the game and then come downtown to eat, drink and shop.
Happy Homecoming, Jayhawks!
by Debbi | Oct 24, 2012 | Cool Stuff
Sometimes, it really does seem like there are people everywhere who know Dave or at least recognize him from the bar.
Tonight, we were eating dinner in a fast-food chain in Overland Park. A guy sitting at the next table with his family got up to leave, and suddenly he said "Hey Dave, I really love what you've done with the Sandbar."
He went on to say that he and his wife had their post-wedding-reception party at the bar, and he thanked Dave for all the fun times.
Now, granted, Dave was wearing a Sandbar shirt. Which seems like all he wears sometimes. In fact, one of these days soon we're going to have a contest called "how many Sandbar shirts does Dave own," kind of like those "guess how many jelly beans are in this jar" contests.
Anyway. And he IS almost seven feet tall, which instantly makes a person memorable to the rest of the shorter world.
But it's still pretty cool that our cheesy little paradise has made such an impression on so many people, and that they're not afraid to stop in random places and tell Dave about it.
by Debbi | Oct 7, 2012 | Downtown, Events
Around 7,000 people descended on downtown Lawrence yesterday for the first Color Run in the city, and we had a blast with it!
If you don't know what a Color Run is, it's a fun 5k run/walk that's not timed, so it's perfect for people (like me) who don't run but like to have fun. Color stations are set up at intervals throughout the run where volunteers douse the runners with a colored powder mixture. By the end of the run, the participants- who started out wearing white- are rainbow-colored.
Serious runners might make fun of this event, but if it gets people out of their house and doing something active, then that's a good thing. And if they're having fun and being silly? Even better.
The Lawrence event started downtown and 8th and New Hampshire, with waves of runners starting every five minutes. From there, participants walked or ran east through various old East Lawrence neighborhoods. It was a nice scenic route that ended up at 9th and New Hampshire, next to the Arts Center where the post-race village and party took place.
First of all, an apology. 
We were totally unprepared for this event. Which is silly, but it's true. We thought the event started a block away, not right outside our front door, and we also didn't have enough people working.
So if you waited too long to get a drink, we're really sorry.
Thanks to the Sandbar runners!
Several people joined our Shark Attack team, and even more of you bought white Sandbar T-shirts to wear. Thank you all, we appreciate it and we hope you had fun!
Here's a couple of post-Color Run photos:
Here's a shot of the "color cloud" at the post-race party. Every participant got one packet of colored powder to save for the end of the race, and as the emcee counted down, everyone threw their powder in the sky to create a color cloud. It looked really cool at first- like the photo above- but as more color was added and it all blended together, it looked kind of ugly and foggy.
And here's a post-race photo of Sandbar walkers Stacy, Bettina and me.
For more pictures of the Color Run, check out our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/thesandbar. We've retweeted some of our favorite photos there. And check out the Visit Lawrence Facebook page for an album full of fun photos! If you've got a fun photo, send it to us and we'll post it.
We really hope this event comes back next year!
by Debbi | Oct 4, 2012 | Downtown, Events, Sandbar Stuff
The Color Run is coming!
They call it the "happiest 5k on the planet," and while we believe it, we can't wait to see it. At last count, over 6,800 runners/walkers/dancers/whatever-ers had signed up for the event this Saturday in downtown Lawrence.
One of the rules of the Color Run is to wear white. Yes, it's after Labor Day, but this is one fashion rule you'll want to break. Throughout the run, color stations blast the participants with a color mixture, resulting in rainbow-colored runners.
We printed up special white Sandbar T-shirts just for this event, and we're selling them at a discount. You can get your white T-shirt for just $10. And even if you're not participating in the Color Run, but you just want a white shirt, you can get one too.
We have sizes small through 2XL available. The wrinkles are free.
The shirts are upstairs in our office, so be sure to let the bartender know what you're looking for. They've all been told that the shirts are in the office, so if for some reason you're told "we don't have any white shirts," tell them to check their email.
Kidding. But we do have shirts upstairs, they just need to run up there and grab one.
We can't wait to see the rainbow-colored Sandbar shirts after the event! Be sure to send us your pictures. You can upload them to our Facebook page, tweet them to us @thesanbar or email them to us at sandbar@thesandbar.com.
Find out more about the Color Run here.
