by Debbi | Mar 22, 2010 | Guest Blogs, St. Patrick's Day
This entry is a guest blog by long-time Friday evening bartender and future bride-to-be, Heather.
Many of you who saw our float know it was an amazing castle. Dave truly is a float building genius and each year seems to outdo himself from the year before. What you may not be aware of is how amazing the float was on the inside as well. Decorated on the inside, you say? Ah, it's true…we here at The Sandbar don't do anything halfway.
This year our float had not only a working bathroom, but a pretty pretty pink princess bathroom. In addition to the pink princesses on the pink walls, there was hand sanitizer, hand lotion, a trashcan, a pink shower curtain for privacy, and my absolute favorite: the potted flowers.
Now Dave may have had the idea for the potty (or maybe not- the women at The Sandbar frequently request more access and better facilities), but the ever-resourceful Coleen came up with the decorations. The story I've been told is that Coleen and Michelle worked on the bathroom in front of Dave, all the while discussing castle related decorations and gray paint. He had no idea it was pink until it was too late.
When Dave asked the ladies "isn't that pink?"- meaning the wall paint- Michelle told him it was just the way the sun was hitting it. I like to imagine the look on his face when he first walked into the float bathroom in all its pink princess glory.
A special thanks goes out to Sandbar regular Brandon for providing the potty. Rumor has it he wanted to buy it for tailgating, and offering to loan it to the Sandbar float got bonus points with his wife.
For me, the pink girly bathroom made our castle on wheels quite luxurious and lots of fun!
by Debbi | Sep 17, 2009 | Events, Guest Blogs, St. Patrick's Day
In case you didn't notice, today is September 17. In Sandbar-land, that also means it's halfway to our favorite holiday: St. Patrick's Day!
In honor of the blessed event, our Friday bartender Phil composed this invitation to all our friends.
Top O'the Mornin', Noon 'n Night to ya's ….
'Tis the season for 'The Wearin' O' the Green' once again !!!
This beloved Thursday, today, is the very quintessential September 17th …. which so happens to be 'The Half Way' point, to the very auspicious day of Glorified Celebration indeed …. Saint Paddy's Day!!! I will be urging ye to celebrate this momentous day at your local pub! And if you find yourself in our quaint village then I'll be asking ye to pay heed to this announcement……
So on the morrow, Friday that be, in honor of surviving till halftime, the lovely Miss Heather O'Bunker and The Phil of Clan McBradley will be throwin' down a ShamRockin' Party and a Celebration at Ye Olde Sandbar, that ye's won't wanna be missin' now. Sure, The Lads and Lasses will be enjoying the specials and the very Irish Dirty Banana Shots are a mere $2.00 a trifle don’t ye know…. and The Blarney is FREE all day long.
Toppin' the evening all off, with grand cuisine from the emerald isle, complementary o' Hot Wings (while they last) …. and then Kickin' it up a notch more, with the most honorable Dave and the evening lads and lasses. This will surely be an Arse Kickin' good time for Families, Friends and All to enjoy the night away.
In other words: stop by on Friday to celebrate the halfway point, enjoy some wings and Dirty Banana shots, and see what antics Heather and Phil and the late night crew have planned.
by Debbi | Sep 9, 2009 | Guest Blogs
Since the Twestival Lawrence is coming up tomorrow, I thought this was a great time to share some information about Whrrl. It's something fun you can use anytime you want to share your adventures with friends.
I've experimented with it a little bit- you might have seen the recent Whrrl story I created for the Sandbar Ottawa birthday party. It's also way down on the very bottom right hand side of this page.
My friend Jenn wrote this introductory lesson about Whrrl for you. If you're planning on attending the Twestival tomorrow, create a Whrrl account, find some friends, and join the story!
There are so many people to meet and so many fun things to do at the Lawrence Twestival this Thursday…how will you ever get to experience it all? How about by adding Whrrl to your list of social media explorations? Whrrl is a way to share your "story" with the public, your friends and your family…and a way for your friends and family to join in! Adding pictures, locations and text to a story as it happens…then instantly publishing it to Facebook and/or Twitter.
This gives many people the chance to see what is happening…from many different perspectives! You simply "join" a story and start adding text and photos. Don't want to use your mobile for real time additions? You can take pictures and add them online later!
We will be starting a Whrrl Story for the Twestival on Thursday night! Want to join in? Just go to Whrrl and register yourself for an account. Add some "friends" to your list to get you started: Ben Smith (@benasmith), Jenn Hethcoat (@superjennblogs), Deb Johanning (@thesandbar or @debjohanning), Briana Saunders (@briana9), or Zack McDougall (@zackmcdougall). If you turn your notification "on" … you will see when any one of us begins a story for the evening. Simply click on it from your phone and "join the story"! Whrrl has a great tutorial for building a story with friends that makes it simple to understand. You can find that tutorial HERE.
There is a free app download for iPhone users that makes this a cinch! Either visit the Whrrl Homepage and enter your phone number in the iPhone widget to have an app sent to your phone…or search the app store for "Whrrl". You can find a tutorial HERE. You can also find online tutorials for non- iPhone users HERE that will show you how to text your way into a story. Thinking about adding some pictures after the event? Simply view the tutorial found HERE.
Questions? Find one of us at the Twestival and we will do our best to help you get going…once you do there will be no turning back. You will want to share your life on Whrrl every day!
by Debbi | Sep 18, 2008 | Guest Blogs, St. Patrick's Day
Yesterday was the halfway point to The Sandbar's favorite holiday of the year, St. Patrick's Day. In honor of this occasion, Phil and Heather are hosting an Irish bash at The Sandbar tomorrow from 5-9.
Here is Phil's open invitation to all, written in his best Irish speak.
Top O'the Mornin', Noon 'er Night to ya’s ….
'Tis the season for 'The Wearin' O' the Green' once again !!!
This beloved Wednesday, yesterday, was the very quintessential September 17th …. which so happens to be 'The Half Way' point, to the very auspicious day of Glorified Celebration indeed …. St. Paddy's Day!!! I will be urging ya to celebrate this momentous day at your local pub! And if you find yourself in our quaint village then I’ll be asking ya to pay heed to this announcement……
In honor of surviving till halftime, Miss Heather O’Bunker and The Phil McBradley will be throwin' down a ShamRockin' Party and a Celebration at Ye Olde Sandbar, that ya's won't wanna be missin' now. There will be lots of Guinness specials, while all pints of Bud Light and Miller Lite are only $3.00 each and the very Irish Dirty Banana Shots are a mere $2.00 …. and The Blarney is FREE all day long.
Kickin' the evening all off, with grand cuisine from the emerald isle, complementary o’ Hot Wings (while they last) …. and then Kickin’ it up a notch more, with the most honorable Dave and the evening lads and lasses. This will surely be an Arse Kickin’ good time for Families, Friends and All to enjoy the night away.
Come on down to The Sandbar tomorrow to celebrate a half-holiday! And don't forget, September 19 is always International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So while you're wearing the green and drinking your Guinness, don't forget to say "ARRRR!"
by Debbi | May 23, 2008 | Guest Blogs, People, Stories
I have a special treat for you today: a guest blog written by the very witty Chad.
Many a Sandbar regular is familiar with Frank, probably even more of you than actually realize it. Frank comes to The Sandbar to do two things: drink Guinness, and kick butt at video crack (that’s the innocuous looking, soul-sucking box that sits on the end of the bar taunting your quarters with it’s gaping slot.)
If Frank is not playing trivia, it means that he’s content with the outrageously high scores he’s cataloged, and he’s just happy to sit back, watch the poor wretches mindlessly chase his high score, and consume Guinness as if in training for the tippy cup Olympics.
It was only a matter of time before such resolute consistency and determination came to the attention of the academic world and was put under a sociological experiment. The following is a re-enactment of an actual conversation Frank had with the bartender at Henry’s, just up the street from The Sandbar.
Bartender (dropping an olive into a $12 martini):
So, Frank, did you know you were unwittingly a participant in a sociology experiment?
Frank (dutifully downing a Guinness and limbering up his trivia finger):
Most things I participate in are unwitting.
Bartender (gingerly mixing a Cosmo and taking Frank’s keys):
Yeah, my sociology class had a project that required us to go into social settings around town and record our observations. A girl in my class came back and reported that she went into The Sandbar to observe and record. Not unlike the voyages of Star Trek, she was required only to observe and not interfere. Her notes indicated that in half an hour, the bar patron she observed played trivia and consumed three Guinness, while never once speaking to the bartender, simply sliding the empty glass to the edge of the bar. I heard that and I knew it had to be you!
Frank (nodding knowingly):
So, how did her report go?
Bartender (adding a sprig to something):
Well, one of the keys to sociology is being social, and since you didn’t actually interact with anyone, she got a do-over.
We at The Sandbar, however, believe the study to still be ongoing, so be on the lookout for studious looking persons with notebooks playing trivia and ordering Guinness.
by Debbi | Jul 15, 2007 | Guest Blogs
It’s always good to revisit the issue of waiting in line, for new folks who might be reading this. Here’s a guest blog submitted by Heather, with her views on waiting in line, who does it and why, and a positive spin on what can be frustrating for some people.
The answer to that question is that we all wait in line. It doesn’t matter who you are: staff, regular, friend of the owner, newcomer, etc. Everybody waits in line, we’ve even had sports stars and celebrities spend time there. There is only one exception to this and that is for our owners. However, if truth were to be told they usually choose to wait in line like everybody else. I have heard stories of people name dropping and pretending to know our owners to try and end their wait but that only succeeds in making the door person grumpy. Not to mention that I think they got their names wrong.
Those of you who have visited us before know that while we are big on fun we are limited on space. The line allows the staff a little control over how many people are in the bar at one time and keeps us in line with capacity.
It sometimes requires a certain amount of patience but always pays off in the end. After all, we are the only bar in Lawrence with a hurricane extravaganza every single night! I like to think of waiting in line as a rite of passage for all us. Plus it always gives you something to talk about if you see someone interesting and are looking to strike up a conversation…
So next time you visit us and have to spend a little quality time waiting to get in just remember that with all things wonderful it is well worth the wait.
