About four years ago, a group of friends from North Dakota started coming in to the Sandbar during their annual pilgrimage to Lawrence. They were in town this past weekend for the KU-Texas game (sad face!), so we asked them to tell us a little bit about how their annual trip got started, and their thoughts on the Sandbar.
Here's what James had to say:
We grew interest in Lawrence when one of our classmates (Jeff Boschee) played basketball for the Jayhawks and have been continuing our venture there once a year ever since. I believe he played for Kansas from 1999 to 2003 (might be off a year) and we always liked to go out and have a good time there.
As of 4 years ago we discovered The Sandbar and it has been our favorite inLawrence ever since. The people that hang out there are super friendly and Dave is one of the nicest guys in lawrence to b.s. with. The other reason that we like to come to the Sandbar is to make sure we get a dirty banana shot.
While we are on our visit in Lawrence we take in a basketball game as well as taking in a lot of history, we seem to learn someting new about Lawrence every time that we come. Thanks for taking the time to do this, it is a great place and will always be our first stop when we arrive.
Dave took a picture of James and his group (and some random girls that Dave says he kind of encouraged to jump into the picture):
Thanks guys for making us a stop on your annual trip to Lawrence! See you next year!
Since I publicly committed to blogging daily here during January, and since I've kind of run out of things to write about (for now), I put out a plea to the staff. I sent them a list of random questions and begged them to answer them so I could profile them here.
Danny was the first (and so far the only) one to answer me.
What's your favorite drink to make? I think I make a mean margarita. (He does. And I would know.)
Most unusual drink request? Calimocho…red wine and cola equal parts…shockingly enough I already knew how to make it because of a guy I met in the climbing club at KU who was from Spain. The lady that ordered it was equally shocked that I didn't need any clarification.
Favorite memory at the bar: I worked a SLOW Tuesday and Bill Self made an appearance. While he was there he bought 2 bottles of Miller Lite and tipped me $20 for each one. If only everyone tipped that way!
Tell us a funny story from the bar: Sandbar Christmas party 2009…Hayley gave me a wedgie, and when I feigned that I was going to retaliate, she yelled for help…Joe, who was behind the bar, quickly responded by spraying me in the face…..with Sprite. I was still sticky when I woke up the next morning. Good times.
Dave and I were at the Sandbar early today before it opened, trying to get a few things done so we could search Lawrence for $5 bills, since we didn't make it to the bank before they closed.
Shortly after the Coleen, the afternoon bartender, arrived, a group of young guys piled in the door.
"Are you open yet?" they asked. To which we all replied, "Of course!"
In a flurry of activity- much like a hurricane- the group ordered Shark Attacks, requested an indoor hurricane, inquired about t-shirts for sale, and exponentially raised the energy level in the bar.
Turns out, the boys are scattered around the country, and last month they booked plane tickets and made plans to be in Lawrence this weekend- assuming that KU would be playing in the Final Four and then the National Championship game. And they wanted to be in Lawrence when KU won it all.
Lucky for us and the town of Lawrence, they continued with their plans even though KU didn't deliver.
We ran a hurricane, and a couple of the guys put on the mermaid costumes, hopped on the bar, and read the poem. They all danced and drank and even broke a glass. (They were very apologetic.)
After the hurricane was over, we played the other popular dance-along songs- Car Wash and Shake Your Tailfeathers. And then, Dave leaned over and whispered to me:
"Should I play Party in the USA?"
"Yes! Do it! Let's see what they do!" I responded.
And holy cow, you should have seen it. After just a few beats of the song, the boys all cheered like sorority girls and threw their hands in the air and danced around the bar.
What a super fun, and unexpected, treat on a Saturday afternoon. Guys, if you're reading this, thanks for coming in. You're the kind of customers we love to see- the ones who have fun, embrace the cheesy atmosphere, and are just plain nice.
I even managed to get a short video clip of the boys doing the Car Wash.
The Bar Band is one of our favorite traditions- members of the Marching Jayhawks & the KU Pep Bands form this group that takes to the streets of Lawrence the night before games to get the town excited.
They used to only come out during football season, but at some point decided it was so much fun, they might as well play during basketball season too. We're glad they do.
Not too long ago, Dave installed strands of white LED lights on the ceiling. They're not on all the time, but they make the bar a little brighter during the day. When the bar band stopped by in early March, he flipped on the lights so we could record a little better video.
Here's our last footage of the bar band from this season. It's kind of long, about five minutes, but it's worth it. Our bartender/doorguy Tyler is standing on the bar, on the far left of the video, playing his trumpet. Enjoy!
The end of January brought the first part of the Sunflower Showdown, the multiple-times-per-year sports clash between in-state rivals KU and K-State. KU won that game in Manhattan, but just barely, and in overtime.
The rematch is tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. And this time, both teams are ranked in the top 5 in both major polls. Has that ever happened before? Sports trivia buffs?
Even though we're mostly die-hard KU fans at The Sandbar (Dave played for KU, after all!), it's great to see even more basketball attention turned towards our state.
We're not much of a sports bar, but we do have a couple of TV's. And very recently we even got some compliments on those TV's from someone who clearly expected a dive like ours to have a lesser-quality viewing experience.
All TV's will be tuned to the game tomorrow night, and Dave's working on hooking up a radio connection so we can listen to the senior speeches & ceremony afterward. Assuming it's broadcast on the radio, that is.
And, FREE TACOS! That's right. If you were around for our inaugural free taco bar night a week ago, you know how good they are. We'll have the taco bar set up again tomorrow night for the game, along with our usual $2 well drink special. The lovely Hayley will be behind the bar, and she's hoping for a great turnout of spirited fans!
Once upon a time, long before he mixed fruity concoctions or danced on bars or poured towering glasses of shots, Dave played basketball. His long, winding road through the land of college basketball eventually brought him to Lawrence and the Kansas Jayhawks.
(If you missed the fantastic story this fall about his path from backboards to surfboards, you can find it here.)
Anyway.
The KU-KSU Sunflower Showdown is always a heated rivalry, and Dave's playing years were no exception.
When his team traveled west to beat down the purple kitty-cats one year, Dave came home with more than a win. I've heard that Greg Gurley was talking about this on the radio yesterday, and it's been mentioned on the KUsports.com message boards, but I'm the only one with the exclusive story from Dave himself!
"I can't remember if it was '91 or '92, but I think it was my junior year ('91). We won the game, and afterwards the students started throwing crap at the court. I got hit on the forehead with something- to this day I don't know what it was. Maybe a quarter, a piece of ice…who knows.
Anyway, my forehead had a bleeding gash on it, and Coach Williams actually told the trainer not to fix it up right away. He wanted the media and everyone else to see the blood on my face so they wouldn't minimize the whole incident.
Of course the trainer fixed it before too long, but at least there were a few pictures of it, to prove I really did get hit. There's still a small scar on my forehead from it.
I think someone else, maybe Rex Walters, got hit with something the next year."
This picture was taken shortly after the game before Dave's head was fixed. Doesn't he look young? (And skinny?!?)
The adorable little girl? His cousin Mariya, who has since graduated from KSU, is working on her master's degree and teaching, and recently got married. That makes Dave (and me) feel really old.
The KSU fans are still throwing things from the stands. Recently, their projectile of choice has been rubber chickens, which is particularly amusing to us at the Sandbar. If you've seen our hurricane videos, you know that rubber chickens play a prominent part.
Let's hope that everyone can stay classy today and that no one gets hurt.
If you're looking for a place to watch the game, we're giving away free chili dogs at both Sandbar Lawrence & Ottawa locations during the game. We may not have big-screen TV's, but our chili dogs can't be beat!
