Our Man on the Street and former bartender Pat turns 40 on Christmas Eve, so we threw him a party last night. Instead of the usual fracas at The Sandbar, though, we took it down the street to The Barrel House, a dueling piano bar that opened earlier this year.
If you haven't visited our neighboring bar yet, you should. It's great for groups and parties, and the piano players are great fun.
Our party was in the Blue Moon Lounge, one of the VIP balcony rooms that overlook the main bar area. We had our own private bartender and lots of space for friends and family.
Pat got called up on stage, where the piano player made fun of him for awhile, forced him to sit atop the piano, and made him chug a beer or two. They sang Happy Birthday, too.
Another highlight of the night was a special performance by the Bar Band, and they played Happy Birthday to Pat also.
The birthday boy has been planning a trip to Key West to celebrate his birthday for months now, and he leaves this week. We all hope he had fun last night! If you see Pat, be sure to wish him a happy birthday.
Every year we get super excited when Elf Yourself arrives. Here's our first attempt at holiday greetings from some Sandbar elves! I gave in and upgraded my JibJab subscription this year, so many more of these are on the way. I can only put five elves in each video, so obviously these greetings don't include *all* of our staff. I'll do some more so everyone gets in there.
You might notice that Dave did "the worm" at one point in that video. Next time you see him, ask him about the time he tried to do that on a hardwood floor.
A few weeks ago, some of the Sandbar crew ventured south to Austin, Texas. It was a rag-tag bunch- managing partner Dave and his lovely wife, our art director Justin and his lovely wife, and our Man on the Street Patrick.
It also happened to be the weekend that KU played the Texas Longhorns in a little game called football, so there were lots of folks we knew down there.
But, the game wasn't actually the reason that Dave and I were there.
We planned the trip for two reasons: to check out the bar scene in Austin and steal borrow some ideas, and to catch a concert at the legendary Gruene Hall, the oldest continuously operating dancehall in Texas.
One of our favorite artists, Roger Creager, played Saturday night. He's played in Lawrence and Kansas City several times, and he's partied with us at the Sandbar after a couple of shows. We weren't about to miss the opportunity to see him at Gruene.
Dave and I had dinner at the restaurant next door to Gruene Hall, the Grist Mill, before the show. All of a sudden, who comes walking past our table but Roger himself. Dave got his attention, he stopped to chat for awhile, and went on his way.
About halfway through the concert later that night, Roger started talking about road trips, and fans, and how it's great that people come from all over to see shows. Then, he said this:
"I even ran into a buddy of mine who's here all the way from The Sandbar in Lawrence, Kansas!"
Clearly nobody's mind was on football, or else they knew we were losing badly, because we didn't get booed by the crowd. Dave and I cheered, and a kid about ten feet away came running over to us.
I won't lie, I had seen this guy earlier in the night and thought he looked familiar. Sure enough, he introduced himself as Andrew, a grad student at KU who had been in the Sandbar less than a week ago.
It's such a small world. It was very cool that our tiny little bar got a shout-out in front of a crowd of maybe a thousand people in Texas.
Coming soon, a post about some of the things we learned from the bars in Austin. I know, I'm slow.
Our Man on the Street, otherwise known as Man Who Will Be Celebrating His 40th Birthday Soon, tipped us off to this event. Or rather he has been pestering us about it with video links and posts on our Facebook pages.
I finally decided to check out what was so important, and I'm glad I did. We are totally doing this in downtown Lawrence next year. We might do a test run at our annual holiday/employee appreciation party next weekend.
How fun would it be to roam around Mass Street with a huge group of Santas, scaring little kids handing out candy canes, and spreading holiday cheer?
Otherwise known as the employee and friends Christmas party, this night of fun and games takes place soon.
The last several years, we've gone with the ugly/tacky Christmas sweater idea. It's been popular. Some of us have shopped at Goodwill and JCPenney's for attire; others have raided their mom's attic for the clothes they were forced to wear while growing up.
We're changing it up just a little bit this year.
Dave decided that merely wearing an ugly sweater appliqued with snowmen wasn't quite good enough. This year, everyone is encouraged to dress up as their favorite holiday character: Santa Claus, Elf, Clark Griswold, or any number of other easily recognizable Christmas folk.
Word on the street is that Heather and fiance Ken already have their outfits. And I'll tell you right now, Dave and I will knock your socks off with our awesome craftiness.
Of course, if an actual character is too much for some to plan, a regular tacky Christmas outfit is fine. A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Goodwill for sweaters, and they had two large circular racks full of some of the best selection I've ever seen. Apparently a week later, they ran out, restocked, and ran out again.
What do you to do celebrate the holidays for your employees?
Oh, and just in case you were planning to hit The Sandbar on Sunday for some drinks: we won't be open to the public until 8:30. We need a little employee time first, but join us after 8:30 for what's certain to be a fun night!
