A couple weeks ago, we got word that the Roaming Gnome—a lawn ornament that some joker at Travelocity turned into a globe-trotting quasi-celebrity—would be visiting Lawrence for College GameDay with ESPN.
We get excited about pretty much anything that is 1.) silly, and 2.) an opportunity to take silly pictures, so we were thrilled to find out that the Sandbar made the cut as a stop on the Gnome’s itinerary.
So, on February 28, after spending part of the day on the KU campus followed by dinner at local favorite Free State Brewery, the Gnome and his handlers arrived at the Sandbar.
Of course he experienced everything we have to offer: a Shark Attack, a photo opp with the shark outside our door, dancing on the bar and an indoor hurricane, complete with napkins flying through the air.
Thanks, little buddy, for hanging out with us on a chilly Thursday night. We hope you had fun, come back soon!
The folks at Travelocity made this fun video recapping the Roaming Gnome’s time in Kansas. He also visited Wichita State University for their College GameDay appearance, which was the same day as KU’s.
Sometimes, it really does seem like there are people everywhere who know Dave or at least recognize him from the bar.
Tonight, we were eating dinner in a fast-food chain in Overland Park. A guy sitting at the next table with his family got up to leave, and suddenly he said "Hey Dave, I really love what you've done with the Sandbar."
He went on to say that he and his wife had their post-wedding-reception party at the bar, and he thanked Dave for all the fun times.
Now, granted, Dave was wearing a Sandbar shirt. Which seems like all he wears sometimes. In fact, one of these days soon we're going to have a contest called "how many Sandbar shirts does Dave own," kind of like those "guess how many jelly beans are in this jar" contests.
Anyway. And he IS almost seven feet tall, which instantly makes a person memorable to the rest of the shorter world.
But it's still pretty cool that our cheesy little paradise has made such an impression on so many people, and that they're not afraid to stop in random places and tell Dave about it.
Our custom-designed pint glasses have been a huge hit since we started offering them several years ago. You can buy a pint glass anytime for $3, but they're especially popular on Tropical Thursdays, when we offer up tropical drinks for just $2.50 when they're in a pint glass.
It works like this: you pay $5 for the first drink, and that gets you the tropical drink of your choice plus a glass that's yours to keep. Then, you can refill the glass anytime on Thursday with the same or a different tropical drink for $2.50. So, you're getting a small discount on the price of the glass, plus the option for discounted drinks.
And, you can bring your pint glass back every Thursday if you don't want to buy a new one!
Except…why wouldn't you want a new one?
Our latest pint glass brainstorm is mustaches. Everyone loves the mustache drink toys, more than we could have ever imagined, and we saw cool mustache glasses on Pinterest (where else), so we decided to make our own.
The first one we offered was the Handlebar, and the latest one debuts today: the Horseshoe.
Better get yours while you can! Once this batch of pints sells out, we'll move on to the next mustache.
Like bikes? Like beer? Of course you do. So do the folks who participate in Bike and Beer Wednesday, a self-described group of "laid-back people who love bicycles and beer."
This past Wednesday, the group kicked off their weekly event at the Sandbar.
One commenter noted that there are no bikes in the above picture; so it may have just been Beer Wednesday.
A number of Sandbar friends participate in this group. Former bartender Carrie; man on the street and former bartender Pat and his fiancee' Andrea; art director and sometime-bartender Justin and his lovely wife Michelle; Randy, Thom, Lisa and many others.
The group rides different routes around Lawrence, and sometimes it's a BYOB event while other times they end up at a local watering hole. Or start there.
Picture from the BBW Facebook page.
We love the creative alliteration they added to our Jimmy Buffett collage.
BBW'ers, come back soon! And next time, harass Dave into going with you.
Most people would never notice a new ice machine in their favorite bar. But when the new ice machine churns out pellet ice, or rabbit turd ice or Sonic ice, we bet you'll notice!
Everyone we know seems to be a fan of Sonic ice- the crumbly little pellets of ice that people love so much, they buy it by the bag at Sonic. And Taco John's, too.
Dave investigated and tested and tested some more before decided to make the leap. He wanted to make sure the ice didn't melt faster than our other ice, or cause our drinks to be out of balance with more/less/different ice.
The verdict: good.
So the new ice machine is here, and you can now enjoy Sonic ice with your favorite tropical drinks!
Happy hour is legal again in Kansas as of July 1. Hooray!
A long time ago on a trip to Vegas, Dave discovered a wheel of fun in a bar. They spun the wheel, sort of like Wheel of Fortune, and whatever it landed on dictated the special for the next hour, two hours, whatever period of time they wanted.
Obviously, since happy hour wasn't legal, we couldn't do the same thing here, but Dave modified their idea into what you might know as our shot wheel. Or the wheel of misfortune.
Now that happy hour is legal, Dave is thrilled that he can implement his original plan.
And he's bought a new wheel. It's very fancy.
Behold, the Wheel of Happyness:
Dave created some specials and the wheel is ready to go. Come in and check it out sometime!
