by Debbi | Mar 7, 2010 | Off the Wall
You might have seen the little handcrafted wooden plaques with witty sayings painted on them hanging around the bar. We haven't seen any new ones in quite awhile, but a few days ago some arrived.
For a long time we had no idea who was leaving these gifts at our door. Last May, the Lawrence Journal-World ran a story about Larry Colley, a local artist who took up a new hobby when he retired from the Lawrence Parks & Rec Department.
Mr. Colley's made hundreds of these trinkets, and he gives them all away for free to people and businesses around town. The Lawrence Humane Society turned them into a fundraiser after visitors expressed interest in owning the signs, and they've raised several hundred dollars from the signs.
We've probably received at least 30 of these over the past few years. Some of them are in Lawrence, and some have been dispersed among our other businesses in Baldwin City and Ottawa. We always look forward to the next one!
by Debbi | Mar 6, 2010 | St. Patrick's Day
Ever wonder what it's like to build a giant St. Patrick's Day float? Imagine piles of lumber…a garage full of power tools…gallons and gallons of paint…and boys goofing around almost as much as they work.
Here's a look behind the scenes at float prep the other day.
Somehow, in between the horsing around, they still manage to put together a pretty great float.
by Debbi | Mar 5, 2010 | Specials, Tropical Drinks
Our ever-changing rotation of tropical drinks has changed again.
Dave got the new drink machine working again (borrowed from The Wheel- not exactly a tropical drink mecca), and he's been experimenting with some new recipes and moving things around.
Zombie
This cocktail isn't scary at all. It features Malibu and melon flavors, with a mix of sour and seven. We'll have to find some zombie drink toys to hang on your straws.
Wiki Waki Woo
This drink isn't new- it's been around here for awhile. (Read about where this drink came from.) But Dave hasn't been happy with the recipe so he tweaked it just a little. It's a bunch of secret fruit juices and vodka.
Pink Flamingo
Not a new drink, but it's bounced around a few homes behind the bar lately. When the drink machine broke, Dave and Pat hooked up another tap next to the Shark Attacks, and the Pink Flamingo moved in. Now that the machine works again, though, Dave decided the Pink Flamingo looks prettiest in the machine, so it moved back to it's original spot…making way for the…
Hurricane
We love hurricanes! But you knew that already. We've never offered hurricane drinks on a regular basis, but that might change. Hurricanes have now moved into the second tap location, right next to the Shark Attacks. Any bar that gives out beads with drinks needs to have hurricanes on the menu.
And of course, we still have the Bahama Mama and Shark Attack– those aren't going anywhere!
Stop by and try a new tropical drink!
by Debbi | Mar 4, 2010 | Downtown, Events, St. Patrick's Day
We're very excited to announce that construction of our 2010 St. Patrick's Day Parade float has officially begun! It actually started last weekend, when the longer-than-usual trailer was delivered to our rented garage space, and some of the usual suspects hauled out their power tools and lumber.
This is at least our 14th or 15th year in a row to have a float in the annual parade. Our float, like the parade itself and the crowd that watches it, has grown bigger and better every year. Except maybe for 2008, the year of the Soggy Sandbarn– the torrential downpour that day kept lots of people away from the parade and made our dancers cranky.
Every float is our favorite one at that particular time, but the 2007 Showboat stands out as perhaps our largest undertaking ever (two levels of people!), and the 2003 Love Shack was a crowd favorite that featured a palm tree falling off the float and nearly crashing into the judge's table. Fortunately, no small children or animals were injured.
We're officially behind schedule since Mother Nature has been particularly uncooperative this year. But as long as it's sunny and somewhat warm on the big day, we're not complaining.
The Parade is held on Wednesday, March 17, at 1 p.m. It begins at South Park and travels north on Massachusetts Street and across the bridge, and then from there it's anyone's guess. The Flamingo Club is still the destination, but due to never-ending construction in North Lawrence, we don't know what the actual route will be yet. (We're just hoping that our enormous float will be able to make the trip through North Lawrence, actually.)
Become a fan of the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade on Facebook, and RSVP to the Parade.
by Debbi | Mar 3, 2010 | Off the Wall, Stories
Three guys were hanging out in the bar on Saturday night. Dave noticed they had a framed picture with them, so he struck up a conversation and asked where they were from and what brought them to Lawrence. And why they were carting around a picture in a frame. (Apparently one gentleman went to school at Syracuse. We won't talk about that.)
"What's the picture for?" Dave asked.
"Well, my mom's had this picture around for a long time, and she told me that one of these guys is my dad, but she won't tell me which one. And he's from Lawrence, so that's why we're here."
Dave thought that was kind of crazy and grabbed the picture to take a look. He busted out laughing.
"Well, that's Ken (better known as Count, to some of you long term Lawrencians), and that's one of his friends (Lenny maybe?)…so you better hope your dad's the third guy. I don't know him!" Dave told him.
Dave started telling stories about the guys in the pictures. After awhile, the customer said that it wasn't really his unknown father in the picture, but just a picture from his house that he liked. (Still not true.)
The guys stuck around the bar all night and, according to Dave, they took pictures of nearly everyone in the bar- with their framed picture. Turns out, they pilfered it from the wall of another bar in town, but we're not sure which one. Apparently they made a night out of telling tall tales to anyone who would listen.
Here's the picture:
We also found out the next day that one of the guys had so much fun, he left his (nice) jacket here. Fortunately we have a mostly honest crowd and a lost & found box, and Dave will be shipping his jacket home to California.
(Hey guys, if you read this, thanks for coming in! Thoroughly entertained by your shenanigans!)
