by Debbi | Sep 8, 2010 | Off the Wall, People
We got a new pile of wood signs a few weeks ago, and we've received loads of them over the past several years, but up until a little over a year ago, we had no idea who was leaving them.
The Lawrence Journal-World ran a story about Larry Colley, the artist. But we've still never managed to catch him leaving the gifts at the door. Until now. Sort of anyway.
Dave and I took our crazy dog to the annual Pooch Plunge at the local swimming pool on Tuesday. Dave wore a Sandbar shirt since that's what he wears 95% of the time. While Lucy was romping in the pool and scaring little kids, an older gentleman approached Dave and introduced himself.
Yep, Mr. Colley was at the Pooch Plunge! He noticed Dave's shirt and decided to let us know who he was. We even took a picture:
Thanks Mr. Colley for all the fun little gifts! We're working on finding space on our wall to start hanging more of them up- like a wall of fame.
by Debbi | Aug 28, 2010 | Off the Wall
By now everyone's seen the silly handcrafted wooden signs that a talented woodworker leaves at businesses around town. We've probably received close to a hundred of these just at the Sandbar. Recently, a few more appeared.
The one just above might be my favorite so far. The right side is an actual photo of the building, and Dave thinks he remembers seeing the guy out taking pictures of the building one day.
Any creative suggestions for what we should do with these? Obviously, we don't have much wall space. We can squeeze a few more of them on the wall somewhere, but we'd like to share these with people who would appreciate them. The Lawrence Humane Society turned their plaques into a fundraiser. We're not a charity and we're not looking to make money off them, but if anyone has a great idea for a fun way to share these, let us know. Maybe we'll start covering our upstairs walls…
by Debbi | Jul 14, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Off the Wall
We've got a lot of stuff on our walls, but Dave always manages to squeeze more stuff up there if it's worthy. We think you'll like the latest addition.
When Dave, Andrew and Joe were in Vegas last month, they went to Diablo's on the Strip. The bar had a spinning wheel they used for specials- different shots and drinks listed on the wheel, and the staff would spin the wheel every half hour. Whatever they landed on was the special for that next half hour.
Dave was inspired by the wheel, but of course it had to be adapted for Kansas and our strict liquor laws. Any special we run has to be the same all day, we can't change prices during the day.
We get a lot of people who come in and want to have a round of shots with their group, but they don't know what they want. Bartenders always have a go-to shot, but it gets boring suggesting Alabama Slammers all the time.
So, here's our version of Diablo's wheel.
It has different shots- from Dirty Bananas to Big Wave Daves and Tootsie Rolls to all the flavored Skittle vodka shots. The bartender spins the wheel, and whatever it lands on, that's the shot. It's not a game, and the prices aren't any different than normal; it's just a fun interactive way to help customers decide.
Stop by and let us know what you think!
by Debbi | Jul 3, 2010 | Jukebox, Off the Wall
Way back in 2003, when our hurricane attraction was barely a year old, Peach decided we needed our own song.
Peach got together with local musician Dusty Workman, and he called on his contacts. The two of them worked with Eddie Kilgallon, a Nashville musician and songwriter, and co-wrote the Sandbar Song. We never actually gave the song a name, it's just the Sandbar Song.
Since one of our most loved traditions is the ceremonial signing of a dollar bill, Peach, Dusty and Eddie created their own dollar bill artwork. Our art director and owner of local frame shop Fast Frame, Justin, created this collage for us.
The top dollar is a tribute to Peach, the leader of the fun; the middle dollar has the most popular phrase of the song "Meet you down at the Sandbar, yea!" and Eddie's signature; and the bottom dollar is signed by Dusty.
Pictures of the trio are in the middle of the frame. This collage hangs at the Sandbar in Ottawa.
by Debbi | Jun 23, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Off the Wall
If you love Jimmy Buffett or the Sandbar, you'll love this.
We celebrated former staff member Erick's birthday last weekend at a party at his parent's house. (His parents are very cool Sandbar friends, too.) The family members are huge Buffett fans and have traveled to many concerts over the years and collected lots of memorabilia.
Where do they display it? Why, the bathroom of course.
A friend of theirs who owned a display company (I think) gave them a lighted palm tree. There's grass skirts and coconut bras on the walls. Flamingos and margarita and parrot images are everywhere. A huge frame above the counter has pictures from every Buffett concert they've been to (with Erick in the same Hawaiian shirt every time!) and sharks on top of it. We even gave them a Sandbar tabletop frame advertising Landshark.
And there's a fish tank. With real fish.
Who can top this?
by Debbi | Jun 7, 2010 | Off the Wall
More wooden signs showed up on our stoop a few weeks ago. Five of them this time, bundled together with a rubber band.
Here they are:
And this one was my favorite- it was double sided fun:
What other places have you seen this signs? The Lawrence Humane Society has turned them into a fundraiser- maybe we should turn them into prizes for something. Which one's your favorite?
