by Debbi | Aug 25, 2010 | People
Lots of bartenders and doorpeople have made their way through the Sandbar in our storied 21-year history. Some have stayed in touch and others have dropped out of sight. Still others are still working here and will probably never leave.
We've been graced by the presence of several far-flung folks this past week, and we were thrilled to welcome them back, if only for a short time.
Drew, AKA "Steel Wolf," showed up recently. His friend Brian tipped us off to his appearance first on Twitter, and fortunately Dave was working when they showed up at the bar. We haven't seen Drew for a long time- he's been in Asia for several years now teaching English and traveling. He's back in the States now for grad school and engaged to be married.
Rumor has it that Jake was in the other night. Dave missed him, but he'll be back later this week for his buddy John's wedding. Back when Jake and John worked here, we rarely saw one without the other. Jake and John took off for Australia shortly after they graduated, and at the end of their tour John came home while Jake continued his travels. He's been in China the past few years teaching English.
(What is it with the Sandbar that leads people to teach English in Asian countries?!?)
And John. We haven't spotted him yet, but it's only a matter of time. John lives in Houston now, and he's getting married this weekend in Lawrence to the lovely Natalie, who he dated through most of college. Natalie somehow got through college without ever experiencing the wonders of the indoor hurricane- and you know what that means. Special wedding hurricane, just for her.
by Debbi | Aug 24, 2010 | Around the World, Events, Guest Blogs
This is a guest blog from Jeremy Allen, a long-time Sandbar and Jimmy Buffett fan who traveled to Wisconsin to see our hero this summer.
Greetings from Margaritaville!
These pictures were taken at the
Jimmy Buffett Concert in East Troy, WI at the Alpine Valley concert
venue on June 26, 2010. As you can see, we were dressed for the
occasion! All of us are KU grads and we all LOVE the Sandbar so our
T-shirt choice was a no-brainer.
This trip was a first for some and a sixth or seventh for a select few
die-hard Parrotheads. Personally, this was my fourth trip up north to
Alpine Valley with my friends and I must say that it was a huge
success. The weather was nice and hot, the Parrotheads were friendly,
and the music took everyone to a very happy place. AND the Boat Drinks
and Hurricanes were plentiful!
Thanks Debbi and Dave!
This was a large group of friends in Sandbar shirts! A couple of them already had shirts, but Jeremy ordered some for the others as a surprise. We gave a group discount for the large order, so if you're interested in a similar deal let us know.
Thanks Jeremy and friends for wearing our shirts at the Buffett show, we're glad you had fun and wish we could have been there with you!
by Debbi | Aug 23, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Downtown, Events
Yesterday we talked about Saturday's Unlock Lawrence scavenger hunt, and we mentioned a fun addition we had for the day. Today, we'll tell you what it was: a photobooth!
The owner of the SayCheez photobooth franchise in Lawrence contacted us before our block party to see if we wanted a free photobooth for the night. Well of course we did! We had a photobooth at last year's block party and it was a huge hit. However, the scorching heat of block party day wasn't optimal for printing photo strips, and we didn't have room to set it up inside, so we decided to do it during the scavenger hunt instead. The Lawrence Busker Fest was also happening, so downtown was a busy place on Saturday.
The photobooth was up and ready by 11 a.m., and Dave hid the treasure box of keys inside the booth. Every team who stopped by looking for their next key and riddle had to step inside the photobooth and pose for funny pictures before they could get their key.
The booth comes with a box of silly props, like hats and glasses. The operator counts down so you know when to "say cheez," and then he prints out a photo strip with three color pictures on it.
We're thinking of bringing back the photobooth for another night soon. It would have be upstairs on a weekend night, since it took up most of the space in the front of the bar. What do you think?
If you have a party or event coming up that you'd like to rent the photobooth for, be sure to check out their website and give them a call!
by Debbi | Aug 22, 2010 | Downtown, Events, Social Media
The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce put together a fun and fantastic event for downtown Lawrence: a scavenger hunt!
The Unlock Lawrence scavenger hunt took place yesterday at 11:30 a.m. Teams of two people signed up at Intrust Bank and had two hours to solve riddles that led them to various downtown locations, where a treasure box of keys and new clues waited.
The scavenger hunt's goal was to emphasize the power and importance of using social media to discover more about our community. The Chamber's Facebook page explains all the details.
The ten locations that were part of the scavenger hunt:
- Chamber of Commerce
- Liberty Hall
- Granada
- Antique Mall
- The Eldridge
- Free State Brewery
- Lawrence Art Center
- LJW News Center
- The Sandbar
- And the most baffling spot: a rock on the other side of the Kansas River
The teams ran around downtown Lawrence for two hours collecting keys, solving riddles and dashing to the next location. Each team had to collect all ten numbered keys, one from each spot, and go back to Intrust Bank. The first six teams to finish won prizes including a TV, Wii, phones, and an inflatable Jayhawk.
The best spot? The Antique Mall. The folks there hid the box of keys in the basement of the mall. If you've ever been in the Antique Mall, you know there's a lot of stuff in there. The wooden box blended in well with the wares of the shop. Great job, Antique Mall staff!
The worst spot? The aforementioned rock. The Twitter picture clue for this spot made it seem like the box was hidden somewhere near the power plant, near the wooden stairs that lead down from the Kansas River bridge. It would have made more sense to use another Chamber member business instead!
We were excited to be part of the scavenger hunt. Kudos to the Chamber staff for putting together such a fun, interactive event. Check back tomorrow for the fun addition we had in the bar for participants!
by Debbi | Aug 21, 2010 | Birthday Party, Social Media
Before our block party last weekend, we said there would be prizes. You could win a prize by tweeting about the party, or by uploading a party picture or video online and sharing it with us. It's taken us a little longer than we thought to recover from the party and wrap things up, but we finally have some winners!
Not very many people shared pictures or videos, but the ones we got were great and we appreciate every single one of them. Here's a couple of our favorites:
- Alison tweeted a picture of her and some friends with a certain famous basketball coach who made an appearance at the party. You can see the picture here.
- Rachel tweeted a short video she took of the Sandbar dancers. Watch it here. On that note, we can't believe no one else shot video. It's so easy now!
- Raymond uploaded this cool "Hipstamatic" photo to our Facebook page.
And of course we picked a couple of random tweets about the party. How did we do this? We saved an RSS feed of all the tweets with the hashtag #sb21. Then we counted them up and used random.org's random number generator. And presto, we had a couple winners.
Congrats to the five winners! You win your choice of a Sandbar t-shirt or a six-pack of pint glasses. We'll be in touch to let you know how to claim your prize.
Thanks to everyone who tweeted, posted, took pictures, shot video, and generally just had a good time at our party. We'll be back next year!
