by Debbi | May 31, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Pub Crawl
It's time for the Lawrence Young Professional Network's annual Putt Putt Pub Crawl!
This event has been going on in downtown Lawrence for many years now, and the Sandbar has been a participant nearly every year. (Read about last year's event here.)
What is it?
A tour of downtown Lawrence bars, where each bar has created their own putt putt hole. The participants socialize, drink and attempt to sink the ball in the hole at each bar.
When is it?
This Friday, June 3, starting at 6 p.m.
What bars will we go to?
According to the LYPN Facebook page, there are four bars participating: Fatso's, the Eldridge, Quinton's and the Sandbar. They haven't announced the starting point or the route yet, but more details will come soon.
The event is free! And there are prizes! You know the Sandbar crew loves costumes, so we're especially excited that there are prizes for best dressed male and female golfers. There's also free pizza at the last stop, donated by Papa John's.
Don't be scared by the words "young" and "professional." This is a great way to socialize and meet other Lawrence people. Focus on N for network if it makes you feel better!
Be sure to sign up here if you want to participate. We hope you do, we're looking forward to a fun night!
by Debbi | May 9, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Pub Crawl
Last Saturday, downtown Lawrence was inadvertently the host of yet another crazy event: the Running of the Bullsh*tters.
This themed pub crawl required costumes (of course!) and was the brainchild of former Sandbar staffer Erick. He traveled to Spain last year and saw the famous Running of the Bulls, and decided that if we can't have exactly that in Lawrence, this was the next best thing.
Participants were asked to wear white pants, white shirts and red sashes. A lucky few were selected to be the bulls.
The pub crawl started off at the Sandbar and then the bulls herded everyone south to the Granada:
A cardboard cut-out of Michael Jordan that was inexplicably in the Sandbar's upstairs office made the trek, too. Someone apparently found humor in having a member of the Chicago Bulls along for the ride and his likeness was taped to a wooden oar.
Stops included the newly-reopened Jefferson's, the downtown Lawrence sign at the corner of 6th and Massachusetts and then a trip across the river to Johnny's.
Erick did a great job organizing this fun adventure. The weather was great and everyone enjoyed running (or walking) along Massachusetts, enjoying food and drink at some of our favorite places.
Maybe we'll do it again next year!
by Debbi | May 7, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Off the Wall, Pub Crawl
Last Saturday was ridiculously busy; in fact, it was one of our best sales days in a long time. Along with the Jimmy Buffett pre-party crowd and passengers on our party buses, a charity pub crawl was happening in downtown Lawrence. Even though we don't participate in the pub crawl, many of the teams stop by the Sandbar in between their official stops.
One of the teams, Team Brewhawks according to the message they so politely left ON OUR BUILDING, apparently had a little more time to play than the others.
When we got back from Jimmy Buffett later that night, we found this graffiti scrawled outside in between our windows.
So, Team Brewhawks, thanks very much. It's one thing to write on a bathroom wall (which we still don't love), but it's another to write on the outside of our building. Please, people, don't do this. Dave's already painted over it, but believe me he had plenty of other things to do without spending time on this.
by Debbi | Apr 28, 2011 | Downtown, Newsworthy, Social Media
I spotted something cool on Facebook this morning: the Lawrence Top 5 City Guide. I love Facebook's way of telling us the pages that our friends liked; 9 times out of 10, that's how I find new, cool Facebook pages to follow.
The page is just what it says: a guide to the top 5 spots in Lawrence in several different categories like restaurant, bar and places to play. We're proud to be chosen as the #4 bar in Lawrence, and we're in excellent company among some of our favorites!
The page explains that a group of 30-something Lawrence residents who love Lawrence, so they got together and picked their favorite places. It's not scientific, they didn't poll the world and your opinion is likely to be different. Face it, favorite places are very personal and very subjective!
It's a very cool and beautifully designed photobook, highlighting some great places in Lawrence! Thanks for including us!
Image borrowed from the Lawrence, KS Top 5 City Guide Facebook page. Isn't it fabulous?! Go like it.
by Debbi | Apr 21, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Newsworthy, Social Media
Moving the Kansas Relays elite shot put event downtown, and more specifically, in front of our building, was pretty much the greatest idea ever.
The weather was great (if just a little bit chilly) and the crowd was estimated at 2,500 people. We were thrilled to be able to watch the shot put area construction right outside our window:
I even taught Dave how to post pictures on Twitter so he could keep Sandbar fans updated with the progress all afternoon. He did a great job!
We set up a trailer and portable bar behind the shot put area. Sandwiches from Sandbar Subs were available, and beer was allowed in the street. Our patio was full all night. The shot put event only lasted about an hour, which is shorter than we expected, but it brought out a great crowd for an event that most people have probably never seen before.
The shot putters were great, too. They stuck around all evening, signing autographs and taking pictures and maybe even putting a few shots somewhere else.
Here's a few pictures from our friends Wendy and Phil:
The night was a huge success!
Here are a couple other cool things to check out:
Nick Krug from the Lawrence Journal-World made an amazing time-lapse video of the entire event, including construction. His camera was on our roof.
Our Twitter buddies at Larryville Life wrote a recap of their shot put experience.
Dave was interviewed by the Kansas City Star on the roof of the bar. And by interviewed, we mean asked one question.
We wish we could keep the sand triangle. Who needs a street? As our Twitter friend @fxdgear said "Not me! Just a swimsuit, flippy-floppies and a drink with an umbrella!" We couldn't agree more.
by Debbi | Apr 19, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Social Media
We're really looking forward to the Kansas Relays and the elite shot put event that takes place downtown tomorrow. The lines have been drawn on the street, and tomorrow morning they'll start setting everything up.
Here's a little bit about what will happen:
- The competition begins at 6 p.m. There's a field of eight throwers, who are all ranked in the top 25 in the world. The fact that these guys are elite professionals makes us feel a little better about the safety of our patrons. And our windows.
- The shot put weighs 16 pounds. Some of you could probably barely lift that, let alone throw it 70 feet.
- The event requires 18 dump-truck loads of crushed limestone so that the shot put doesn't break the street. We're kind of intrigued to see how long it takes to haul all of that away.
- There will be beer in the street. We'll be selling canned beer for $3 and Shark Attacks for $4. You still have to be 21 to drink and be prepared to show two forms of ID.
- Our friends from Richards Music next door have a band, and they'll be playing some music outside after the shot put event.
- We're also hosting a monthly Lawrence Tweetup tomorrow night, so there will be lots of folks on their smartphones, tweeting and Facebooking.
We're excited to see how this event goes! What a great event for downtown Lawrence. Apparently, this is the first time a shot put competition has been held on city streets in the United States. We're hoping for a great turnout so that Kansas Relays will continue bringing events downtown.
*Some of the details in this post were provided by this article on KUSports.com.
