by Debbi | Jan 9, 2010 | Around the World, KU Football, Stories
Some of the Sandbar crew visited Austin, Texas, right before Thanksgiving. It seems like a million years ago after all the holiday hoopla, but I still wanted to share some of the fun stuff we saw at Austin bars. I'm going to break this up into several posts, because there's a lot to share. So, check back later this week for more.
Everyone always talks about Sixth Street as "the place to go" in Austin. And maybe it is, but not until 11 p.m. - even on weekends with home football games, apparently. Several of the bar employees we talked to confirmed that they rarely get busy until late at night.
Dave and I stayed at a hotel in downtown Austin about two blocks from Sixth Street, and on our first day there we spent the afternoon walking around the area. We noticed right away that it's very different than Mass Street in Lawrence. We're used to seeing people in Downtown Lawrence all the time- morning, afternoon, and late into the night- but the Sixth Street area was practically deserted. In fact, most of the other people walking around were sporting KU attire just like us; other tourists there for the football game who had been directed to Sixth Street as the place to be.
We found a somewhat-tropical looking place to grab some food, the Paradise Cafe & Bar. This was a research trip, after all! It was a cool old building that had been restored, and the staff was super friendly. Probably because there were several of them, and only a couple of us. We asked the bartender to whip up her best tropical concoction (the name escapes me), and it was pretty tasty. The staff even bought us tequila shots. In the middle of the afternoon,ugh.
Most of Sixth Street was populated with bars and restaurants, with a few random businesses or offices sprinkled in. Not like Downtown Lawrence, where you can buy practically anything. We also noticed that a majority of the bars seemed to offer some type of food. Another one we liked was the Jackalope– awesome burgers and a surprisingly delicious spicy Guiness Bloody Mary.
One of the few stores that we saw along Sixth Street that was actually open and busy was Wild About Music. As music fans, we spent quite a bit of time in there. It was a neat gift shop that I would compare to a combination of Hobb's/The Palace/Etc. Shop.
While we had a great time on Sixth Street, we decided that Lawrence is lucky to have a downtown area like we do- an area that is vibrant almost any time of the day, with office workers, shoppers, diners, and bar hoppers all sharing the space. It wouldn't be nearly as great if Mass Street activity shut down at 5 pm, or if it didn't get busy until late at night.
by Debbi | Jan 6, 2010 | Newsworthy, Ottawa, Sandbar Subs
Peach and Ted opened a modified version of The Sandbar one year ago in downtown Ottawa- the Sandbar Sub Shop. It has all of the kitsch and charm of The Sandbar- and lots of our own wall decor- but serves up healthy sub sandwiches and salads instead of Bahama Mamas.
The Sandbar Sub Shop turns one year old this month, and if that's not exciting enough, there's also a new location!
Here's a great article from the Ottawa Herald that talks about Peach's recent franchise of the Sub Shop to our friend Scott, from Zarco66.
Scott owns eight convenience stores & gas stations throughout the area, and he's created the first Zarco66 Oasis at his location at 2518 East Logan Street in Ottawa. He started remodeling it three months ago, and now it includes a Scooter's Coffeehouse, liquor store, and a Sandbar Sub Shop.
The article talks about some of the cool things Scott wants to do with his shops; he's already been an innovator by having one of the first gas stations in the state with renewable gas blends.
We're excited about the Sandbar Sub Shop's anniversary and also our new partnership with Scott and Zarco66! Next time you're in Ottawa, be sure to stop by and check it out. And maybe he'll have a Zarco66 Oasis in Lawrence very soon!
by Debbi | Jan 5, 2010 | New Year's Eve
Did you make it to our New Year's Eve party? Don't worry, we'll tell you all about it!
Usually, we're pretty busy on New Year's Eve, and it's always hard to predict whether there'll be a line or not. This year was a little different- probably due in part to the crazy cold weather and also the fact that people have been scaling back their spending. We weren't super busy all night, and didn't get busy at all until around 10 pm, but it was still a fun night.
As you know, we love theme parties and costumes! We're always trying to come up with a new one, and putting together the costume is sometimes as much fun as the party itself. Dave came up with the "White Trash" theme for this year's New Year's Eve. Not a lot of participation from the crowd, but the ones who dressed up did it right.
Dave rigged up a plastic trashcan with a spout and created his own version of "Trashcan Punch." We reminisced about purple passion and other old-school drinks; Ron even shared a story about ruining his mom's brand new cooler when it left stains from the drink.
Forget the classy plastic two-piece champagne glasses we normally use for the midnight toast. This year, we went all out with Spongebob Squarepants dixie cups.
We had extra white wifebeater tanks on hand, and Dave managed to coerce several guys into putting them on. There were cowboy hats, leopard print leggings, lots of denim, and blue sparkly eyecolors.
Of course there was food. And cheese dip. We served hot dogs with generic bread, cheese curls, and crackers with spray cheese. Have you seen the movie "Four Christmases?" Remember when they visit Brad's dad, and the sister-in-law offers "hor doo-vers?" That's what we had.
One funny anecdote- the jacket Dave wore to the bar was an old denim jacket emblazoned with the Sidewinders logo across the back. You don't remember Sidewinders? It was a country bar located where the Barrel House is now, and Dave worked there once upon a time- sometime in the early 90's.
That's our New Year's Eve in a nutshell. Check out our pictures on our Facebook page or Flickr, and upload your own.
Looking forward to the next big costume lovin' holiday…. St. Patrick's Day!
by Debbi | Jan 3, 2010 | New Year's Eve, Sandbar Stuff
A new year and decade is here, and so is more snow.
What did everyone do for New Year's Eve? Our White Trash party was fun, we'll have some stories and pictures tomorrow.
For those of you who like to collect our pint glasses, we have a special New Year glass in stock right now.
The design was created by our friends at Grandstand. The Santa gnome was provided by our friend Tierney, it's not a new drink toy- sorry! Pint glasses are $3 each, and you can bring yours in every Thursday for $2 tropical drink refills.
And good news for the Shark Attack fans- the original sharks are back in stock!
by Debbi | Dec 31, 2009 | Cool Stuff, New Year's Eve, Specials
Goodbye 2009, hello 2010! All of us at The Sandbar wish you a wonderful new year!
Tonight, the last night of 2009, features not only a full moon but also a blue moon. What's a blue moon? Well, according to my fine sources (Wikipedia!):
A blue moon is a full moon
that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have
twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to
those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an
excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra
days accumulate, so that every two or three years (7 times in the
19-year Metonic cycle),
there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."
Different definitions place the "extra" moon at different times.
What does this mean, really? Well, the moon won't be blue. It's just a second full moon in December. (Great. Please don't tell Dave this. He already believes that full moons bring out the crazies, and he might hide in the basement if he knows it's another full moon tonight.)
According to CNN, the last time a blue moon happened on New Year's Eve was 1990. It's pretty cool that it's happening at the end of a decade this time.
Have a blast tonight, whether you celebrate with us in Lawrence or Ottawa or choose to do something else. And be safe!
Don't forget, if you're in Lawrence, you can call 842-TAXI or send a text message to TAB4CAB and Tipsy Taxi will give you a free ride home. However, we also advise that you have alternate plans in place in case Tipsy Taxi is really busy and can't pick you up when you're ready to go home.
Update:
I forgot to mention our specials tonight!
Since it's Thursday, we'll still be running our normal "Tropical Thursday" special, but with a slight change. The special includes all of our specialty tropical drinks (minus the Shark Attack, sorry!), and tonight will also include Trashcan Punch.
Tropical drinks are $3 tonight. Buy your limited edition New Year's Eve pint glass for $3, or bring back one you already have.
Also tonight, we will have $2 Blue Moon shots, in honor of tonight's blue moon.
