by Debbi | Sep 21, 2009 | Door Diaries, People, Sandbar Love Stories, Stories
Good grief, people, what happened yesterday? There was a huge interest in the story of the hissy fit about being carded- big spike in visits to the blog- so either it was a super great story, or you were bored yesterday. Here's another story for you about another controversial topic- waiting in line.
We're continually amazed (and amused) at the number of couples who have found love at The Sandbar. Me and Dave, for one. And lots of our friends, and probably tons of people we don't even know about.
I heard a new Sandbar love story recently about a couple we've known for quite a long time- yet somehow I never heard how they met.
This story will also be of interest to those of you who whine about waiting in line- you just never know what might happen out there.
(I'm leaving this couple anonymous for two reasons: first, I didn't ask them if I could publicize their story, and second, I think they'd probably rather not be named.)
So, we're sitting at a table at a bar (not the Sandbar, surprise!) one night, and "Wife" mentions that she and "Husband" have been married five years. I asked how they met, and much to my surprise, she said they met at The Sandbar. In line.
If I remember right, she was there with a bunch of girlfriends (for a bachelorette party?), but the other girlfriends were already inside the bar and she was stuck outside in line behind a bunch of guys. While they waited in line together, they chatted, and when the line finally started moving, the guys let her go in ahead of them.
And it was love at first sight. Well, I don't really know about that, but I thought it was cool that they met in line at the Sandbar, and now they've been married for five years.
See, next time you're waiting in line, try not to think about what you're missing inside. Look at the bright side and see what you might be overlooking outside!
Oh, and "Wife," if I got your story details wrong, correct me in the comments. And if you and your significant other met at The Sandbar, send us your story and we'll feature it here!
by Debbi | Sep 20, 2009 | Door Diaries
A few Thursdays ago, I was hanging out on the patio with Dave, talking to some friends. We watched a group of young-ish looking people walk into the bar, and I remember thinking "I really hope the bartender cards all of them." Some of them were raving to the others about how great the Sandbar is, which made us smile.
(Of course, the older I get, the younger everyone else looks- in my head I like to think I'm still 21, so anyone who looks younger than me certainly can't be old enough to come in.)
About five minutes later, the same group walks back out. This time they were raving about something else.
Apparently, the bartender followed all rules (yay!) and carded the entire group. One of the guys threw a fit and couldn't believe they were being carded- and even worse, the bartender wanted to scan his ID! Oh, the humanity!
The bartender explained that everyone gets carded, and since school had just started it was even more important to card everyone, and that every bar in town would be paying closer attention to ID's right now.
This group didn't want to hear it, and they chose to leave instead of hand over their ID's for a 30 second inspection. On their way out, several of them were loudly complaining about the "rude" bartender and how "they come here all the time."
I suspect that at least one of the group wasn't quite of age.
by Debbi | Sep 18, 2009 | Random Holidays
Ahoy! Tomorrow is perhaps one of the most unique holidays of the year: International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
This celebration began sometime in the last decade. Visit the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website for more details about how it started (and why) and what you can do to partake.
(Another fun thing on the official website are the pirate pickup lines.)
Once again, this day snuck up on us and we aren't prepared with cute little pirate bendy toys.
But, we encourage all of you to dress up like pirates when you go out drinking your grog on Saturday night! The doorguy could possibly be persuaded to waive your cover charge with a good pirate costume. If that's too much for you, at least let out a good "Arrrr!" or "Avast!"
Another fun thing to do tomorrow, at least for those of you on Facebook, is to change your language settings. Did you know that Facebook has a setting for Pirate English? Yes, it's true. Read all about how to set your language to Pirate English here.
Give us your best pirate lines in the comments.
by Debbi | Sep 17, 2009 | Events, Guest Blogs, St. Patrick's Day
In case you didn't notice, today is September 17. In Sandbar-land, that also means it's halfway to our favorite holiday: St. Patrick's Day!
In honor of the blessed event, our Friday bartender Phil composed this invitation to all our friends.
Top O'the Mornin', Noon 'n Night to ya's ….
'Tis the season for 'The Wearin' O' the Green' once again !!!
This beloved Thursday, today, is the very quintessential September 17th …. which so happens to be 'The Half Way' point, to the very auspicious day of Glorified Celebration indeed …. Saint Paddy's Day!!! I will be urging ye to celebrate this momentous day at your local pub! And if you find yourself in our quaint village then I'll be asking ye to pay heed to this announcement……
So on the morrow, Friday that be, in honor of surviving till halftime, the lovely Miss Heather O'Bunker and The Phil of Clan McBradley will be throwin' down a ShamRockin' Party and a Celebration at Ye Olde Sandbar, that ye's won't wanna be missin' now. Sure, The Lads and Lasses will be enjoying the specials and the very Irish Dirty Banana Shots are a mere $2.00 a trifle don’t ye know…. and The Blarney is FREE all day long.
Toppin' the evening all off, with grand cuisine from the emerald isle, complementary o' Hot Wings (while they last) …. and then Kickin' it up a notch more, with the most honorable Dave and the evening lads and lasses. This will surely be an Arse Kickin' good time for Families, Friends and All to enjoy the night away.
In other words: stop by on Friday to celebrate the halfway point, enjoy some wings and Dirty Banana shots, and see what antics Heather and Phil and the late night crew have planned.
by Debbi | Sep 16, 2009 | Events
Have you participated in our Tropical Thursday Buzztime trivia contest?
We've been holding this competition on Thursdays from 6-8 pm for several months now, and it's been pretty popular with our customers. We only have 10 Playmakers for people to use, and most Thursdays they are all in play- either by single players or groups.
It took us awhile to figure out how to score this competition. There are six trivia games during our contest, and Buzztime shows everybody's score after each game. But, they don't total scores over those two hours, and if there are ten people playing it's impossible for someone to write down everybody's score each time. We struggled for several weeks and we're grateful to the players who were patient with us while we tried out different scoring methods.
Peach finally came up with a great way for us to pick a winner based on her experience with horse shows of all things. We have a whiteboard at the bar with a chart on it, and after each game the top three players are written on the board.
For each first place finish, the player gets 5 points; 3 points for each second place finish, and 1 point for each third place finish. No points are given for any other place. At 8 pm, when all six games are over, the points are tallied. Whoever has the highest number of points wins the prize for the evening. Currently the prize is a Sandbar t-shirt.
There's another element of competition here, too. Not only are the players competing against each other (and all the people playing Buzztime around the nation), but we have a weekly challenge with the folks at Sandbar Ottawa. Whichever location gets a higher ranking in the network top 20 at any point during the night wins, and the bartender buys all the players a round of Dirty Bananas.
We tried to challenge Heroes Sports Bar in Wichita one week. They showed up regularly in the network top 20, and we connected with them on Twitter to issue a challenge. Apparently we scared their players with our smarts, though, because they left halfway through the game.
If you haven't been by to check out our Buzztime trivia game, come by! It's available to play anytime, or come in on Thursdays at 6 for our (sort of) organized contest! Get there early to get a Playmaker, and you might have to double up on teams so everyone can play.
by Debbi | Sep 15, 2009 | Newsworthy, People
In case you missed it, and I don't know how you could have, Dave made the paper again. Last Friday, the University Daily Kansan featured a story about him in their new "Wave" game-day section.
Big thanks to the writer Brenna, who is also in her second term as editor of the Kansan. She's a Sandbar fan, but up until this summer, she only knew Dave in his Sandbar persona- and didn't realize he had a previous life as a KU basketball player.
After the blog post this summer about a request for Dave's autograph, she contacted us and asked if she could do a story about Dave for the Kansan. "Of course!" I said. (Dave groaned.)
She interviewed Dave a few weeks ago and asked all kinds of questions about basketball and the bar. Apparently he mentioned that we met at The Sandbar, and upon hearing that, she wanted to interview me too!
I had a great time meeting Brenna over lunch and answering all kinds of questions about the bar and Dave. I even provided a few "vintage" pictures I dug up of Dave from his playing days. Secretly, I think he was thrilled that everyone could see him wearing tight-rolled jeans, showing off his dance moves at Late Night nearly twenty years ago.
We've heard so many compliments about this article. One of my favorites was "if I didn't already know you two, I would after reading this article."
Thanks, Brenna and the Kansan!
by Debbi | Sep 14, 2009 | Events, Good Things, Pub Crawl
Last Saturday afternoon, The Sandbar welcomed the Lawrence Pub Crawl participants to our little watering hole.
The Lawrence Pub Crawl is a benefit event for the H2 Foundation, which supports local charities through its grant process. The H2 Foundation has supported charities in the Kansas City area for awhile now and recently expanded to the Lawrence/Douglas County area.
A lot of our neighboring bars along Massachusetts Street participated in the crawl. The event was held during the day, which was perfect for us- we aren't normally very busy on a Saturday afternoon, but we're so small that if the event were held at night, we wouldn't be able to accommodate the teams.
Lots of our friends formed teams of anywhere from 5-12 members, paid their entry fee, and got their route of bars to visit. It sounded like a lot of fun! Maybe next year we'll sign up a Sandbar team.
I have a Polaroid picture of Blair and Joe from one of their stops….but I decided it would probably embarrass Blair if I posted it online. I decided to be nice.
Did any of you join the pub crawl? Any favorite stories or pictures to share?
by Debbi | Sep 9, 2009 | Guest Blogs
Since the Twestival Lawrence is coming up tomorrow, I thought this was a great time to share some information about Whrrl. It's something fun you can use anytime you want to share your adventures with friends.
I've experimented with it a little bit- you might have seen the recent Whrrl story I created for the Sandbar Ottawa birthday party. It's also way down on the very bottom right hand side of this page.
My friend Jenn wrote this introductory lesson about Whrrl for you. If you're planning on attending the Twestival tomorrow, create a Whrrl account, find some friends, and join the story!
There are so many people to meet and so many fun things to do at the Lawrence Twestival this Thursday…how will you ever get to experience it all? How about by adding Whrrl to your list of social media explorations? Whrrl is a way to share your "story" with the public, your friends and your family…and a way for your friends and family to join in! Adding pictures, locations and text to a story as it happens…then instantly publishing it to Facebook and/or Twitter.
This gives many people the chance to see what is happening…from many different perspectives! You simply "join" a story and start adding text and photos. Don't want to use your mobile for real time additions? You can take pictures and add them online later!
We will be starting a Whrrl Story for the Twestival on Thursday night! Want to join in? Just go to Whrrl and register yourself for an account. Add some "friends" to your list to get you started: Ben Smith (@benasmith), Jenn Hethcoat (@superjennblogs), Deb Johanning (@thesandbar or @debjohanning), Briana Saunders (@briana9), or Zack McDougall (@zackmcdougall). If you turn your notification "on" … you will see when any one of us begins a story for the evening. Simply click on it from your phone and "join the story"! Whrrl has a great tutorial for building a story with friends that makes it simple to understand. You can find that tutorial HERE.
There is a free app download for iPhone users that makes this a cinch! Either visit the Whrrl Homepage and enter your phone number in the iPhone widget to have an app sent to your phone…or search the app store for "Whrrl". You can find a tutorial HERE. You can also find online tutorials for non- iPhone users HERE that will show you how to text your way into a story. Thinking about adding some pictures after the event? Simply view the tutorial found HERE.
Questions? Find one of us at the Twestival and we will do our best to help you get going…once you do there will be no turning back. You will want to share your life on Whrrl every day!
by Debbi | Sep 9, 2009 | Events, Good Things
Looking for something to do in Lawrence on Thursday night? Check out the Twestival Lawrence!
What’s a Twestival?
A Twestival is a global series of events organized by volunteers in cities around the world. It’s a Twitter-themed event that brings users offline to meet, greet, and socialize- but with a twist. Twestival also raises money for a designated charity. The event is run 100% by volunteers, and 100% of the proceeds raised benefit the charity- no overhead expenses are deducted from the funds raised.
Read more about the history of Twestival.
Tell me about Twestival Lawrence!
This is the inaugural year of the Twestival Lawrence. Our neighbors in
Kansas City held one last February and it was a fun and successful
night, from what we’ve heard.
It will be held this Thursday, September 10 from 6-10 pm. The designated charity is the Lawrence Humane Society. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased online here. Or, you can pay $15 at the door (cash only).
The ticket price is well worth it. Each attendee receives a goody bag that has fantastic freebies in it. There will also be tons of prize drawings all night, and even a silent auction for several premium items. Check out a list of the sponsors/prize sponsors, and let your imagination run wild with visions of the things you might win, including awesome Sandbar shirts or gift certificates!
And, remember that 100% of the ticket prices benefits the Lawrence Humane Society.
Although this event is Twitter-themed, it is open to everyone who wants to attend. You don’t have to use Twitter, Facebook, or even know what they are for that matter. Buy your ticket and enjoy a fun night of food, drink, prizes, networking, and entertainment- while knowing your money is going to a great cause.
If you can’t make it, you can follow the event as it unfolds on the Lawrence Tweetup page. And if you ARE on Twitter, be sure to follow @LtwupTwestival and use #ltwest when tweeting about the Twestival!
by Debbi | Sep 5, 2009 | Bar Band, KU Football
At long last, Kansas University football is upon us!
Tonight's season opener is against Northern Colorado and starts at 6 p.m. And apparently the game is sold out! Those crazy fans are already tailgating up on campus.
The start of football season also means the start of one of our favorite traditions….the Lawrence Bar Band! We are especially proud of this over-a-decade-long tradition, because it got it's start at The Sandbar, by one of our staff members who was a Marching Jayhawk. Every year since then, the torch has been passed down, and we try to always have at least one Marching Jayhawk on staff to carry on the Bar Band.
Dave printed this year's Bar Band shirts yesterday- their blue shirts were donated by adidas, thanks to doorboy Andrew. The front has the Sandbar logo with "Bar Band" on it, and the back has "Fand Buckers." I'll leave that to your imagination…but let me just say, they requested it.
The Bar Band made their rounds for the first time this season last night, and we've got pictures.
The picture to the left was contributed by Friday bartender Phil. He labeled this picture as "Heather's best night at the bar and Sharky's revenge."
It was a great night of music and fans and game day spirit. If you missed it, remember that the Bar Band plays on Friday night before every home game, usually around 10 pm.
We try to get them to The Sandbar as early as possible and as their first stop, since we're so tiny, and then they wander around town. I think they usually hit up the Wheel, and this year they're going to our new neighbor the Barrel House too. Where else have you seen the Bar Band?
