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 | Dec 7, 2009 | Around the World
Our art director/expert picture framer/general mischief maker Justin wore his Sandbar shirt in Austin, Texas somewhere in the land of Oklahoma truck stops recently. It's the first picture we have of a Sandbar shirt in Austin at an Oklahoma truck stop, I think.
No idea where he actually was….maybe he'll leave a comment and let us know. It's not everyday you can pose with a larger-than-life-size ice cream cone.
by Debbi | Aug 16, 2009 | Around the World
Last month, my parents went on a 10-day cruise around Northern Europe. It was a tour sponsored by the K-State Alumni Association, of which they are not members but some of their friends are, and it included various excursions that were agriculture related and therefore of a business interest to my father.
Before they left, my mom ordered eight Sandbar t-shirts to take along for them and their friends to wear at various places for photo opportunities.
Here are a couple of the pictures I have so far.
One of their stops was at the Icebar cph by Icehotel. It's at the Hotel Twentyseven in Copenhagen. Basically, everything is frozen. The tourists all got what my dad called "eskimo coats" upon entry, and they wore them the entire time they were in the bar except when they took the picture above. The drinks were even served in ice "glasses."
The other picture I have is of some of the group posing in Sandbar shirts in front of the Little Mermaid statue, also in Copenhagen. This was the only picture I requested from them- I thought it would be fun to have Sandbar shirts with the Little Mermaid! I was surprised, though, how small the statue is.
They took some other pictures wearing Sandbar shirts while they were on vacation. I asked if they got any funny looks when they whipped out these shirts to put on over their regular clothes, but my mom said there were so many other tourists doing other goofy stuff, that no one seemed to give them any thought at all.
If you have pictures of a Sandbar shirt in an exotic location- meaning outside of Lawrence (unless you're doing something really cool in town, that is)- email it to us or bring it by to add to our wall!
by Debbi | Jul 21, 2009 | Around the World
Our fans have really responded to our recent request for pictures of Sandbar shirts in exotic locations!
Last week, Sandbar fan Joe (not the Factor) emailed us this picture of him and his Sandbar shirt in Berlin:
Want to be featured here next? Email us your best Sandbar shirt picture! We'll post it here and on our wall inside the bar.
by Debbi | Jul 16, 2009 | Around the World
Last weekend I noticed yet another new addition to our "Sandbar Shirts Around the World" wall. This one is really cool- we admired the creative technique he used to make the blue Sandbar shirt stand out against the background!
I'm not really sure where this was taken, there wasn't a note or anything, and I sadly don't recognize the buildings. Somewhere in Europe, I assume, but correct me if you know better.
We love getting these pictures! If you have a picture of you or friends or family wearing a Sandbar shirt somewhere fun, send us a copy and we'll add it to the wall and feature it here!
by Debbi | Jul 6, 2009 | Around the World
A few days ago I mentioned some new pictures a fan emailed us for the Sandbar shirt wall of fame.
Well, awhile back I noticed that a few folks had brought pictures to the bar and added them to the corkboard. Instead of taking them off the wall and bringing them home to scan, and risking the possibility that they would get lost in my house and never make it back to the wall, I chose to just take a picture of the pictures. (You can call me lazy if you want to.)
An unidentified couple posed in Sandbar shirts at Stonehenge:
And a foursome of regular Sandbar customers gathered under a grass umbrella on a beach somewhere:
And not too long ago, long-time Friday Sandbar-tender Heather and her new fiance Ken headed off to Mexico for some sun, fun, and relaxation. It wouldn't be a trip to Mexico without a Sandbar shirt! They posed for their obligatory Sandbar picture and added it to the wall.
You, too, can be famous in The Sandbar. Just email your favorite pictures to sandbar{at}thesandbar{dot}com and we'll add them to the wall!
