by Debbi | Jan 8, 2007 | Places
The Sandbar is somewhat of a shrine to Jimmy Buffett and his lifestyle. Our jukebox has all of his songs, and we have a rather large framed poster of him with a spotlight on it. So, unsurprisingly, we also love Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.
Sandbar crew has visited a couple of the locations. Our first experience with Margaritaville, was ironically, not part of Jimmy Buffett’s chain at the time. When Dave and I went on our honeymoon to Jamaica, we were surprised to see a place called "Margueritaville" near our resort in Montego Bay. When we traveled to Negril for the day, there was another one. And finally, in the Montego Bay airport, was a third location. We later found out that Mr. Buffett was apparently unhappy with the idea of someone else trying to capitalize on his chain and was in the process of buying the Jamaican copycats.
Margaritaville New Orleans was our next stop. Located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, it was a research dinner during our trip to the Big Easy. We tried the food, checked out the upstairs "Tire Swing Bar," and shopped in the store. We especially loved the stairs painted with the words to "Margaritaville," the song.
Margaritaville Las Vegas was everything you would expect in a city known for it’s over the top shows. It’s part of the Flamingo, on a corner of the Strip. At intervals throughout the day and night, the staff of the restaurant gathered in the center of the room for their own Vegas show. They sang and danced. They encouraged audience participation. They even had a guy on stilts. But the best part was the giant volcano and blender at the bar. A girl popped out of the volcano and slid down the side of it into the blender. It was amazingly funny.
Eventually we’ll visit the rest of the Margaritavilles. If they’re anything like the ones we’ve seen, we know we’ll love it. That would be a fun Sandbar field trip- traveling the country to check out all of Jimmy Buffett’s restaurants. Surely that’s tax deductible???
by Debbi | Oct 23, 2006 | Places
A group of employees from The Sandbar (Lawrence and Ottawa both), The Lodge of Baldwin City, and the new Plaza theatre in Ottawa just returned from a brainstorming retreat in tiny Beaumont, Kansas.
Those in attendance included: Peach and Ted; Dana, the Ottawa Sandbar manager, and his wife Lori, who works part time at the Plaza; Ashley and Dana, Ottawa Sandbar employees; Kate, Carol, Stacy, and Charles from The Lodge; “Movie” Dave from the Plaza theatre; and Dave and I from Lawrence. We also brought along our favorite local entertainer, Marlln, and his lovely wife, Julie.
Peach’s brother Patrick is the manager of the Beaumont Hotel, which is about 40 miles outside of Wichita. The hotel was built in 1879 to shelter pioneers traveling by stagecoach and railroad. It has seven rooms and four suites available on two levels. The unique thing about the Beaumont is that it has a grass landing strip. Pilots from all over the place fly in to Beaumont and stop in for a meal. It’s common for the residents of Beaumont to have airplane traffic jams on Main Street!
We had the place to ourselves Sunday night. The hotel staff was incrediby welcoming and gracious, and we enjoyed some wonderful food. All of us had a great time getting to know the staff from the other businesses and sharing stories and advice. Patrick fixed a bonfire Sunday night, and we sat around the fire drinking and telling jokes, and listening to Marlin’s music. And, just as The Sandbar video says, Patrick fell off his chair.
It was a wonderfully relaxing retreat from daily life. If your family or company is looking for a great place to get away, check out the Beaumont Hotel. You won’t be disappointed.
by Debbi | Oct 3, 2006 | Places
Looks like the Shark Attack is the favored Sandbar drink, at least for those of you who read our blog. It’s closely followed by our new Pink Flamingo.
The Shark Attack has been served since the summer of 2003. Dave and I went to New Orleans with our friends Kevin and Lisa that summer and discovered a fun Sandbar-like bar on Bourbon Street called Tropical Isle. It’s about ten times the size of The Sandbar and had all sorts of fun Jimmy 
Buffett memorabilia. Like us, the proprietors of this bar are all about fun drinks with toys. Dave ordered a Shark Attack and was thrilled when it came with it’s very own toy shark. A really big toy shark. But that wasn’t all- the toy shark was filled with grenadine (or cherry juice) that we got to pour into the drink ourselves! Hence, the shark "attack." We were in love and couldn’t believe that we hadn’t thought of a gimmick like that.
As soon as we returned home from our trip Dave came up with a recipe for our own Shark Attack, and we quickly found vinyl sharks from our Bahama Mama toy supplier, Fun Express. We now order sharks by the case. The drink became a big seller really fast. And it’s not just a "girly" or "frou-frou" drink, guys like it too. It tastes like a cherry limeade. Besides, it’s fun to pour in the grenadine and sing the theme from "Jaws." If you haven’t had one, you should order one next time you’re in the bar.
by Debbi | Sep 28, 2006 | Places
You’ve probably noticed our list of favorite bars listed on the right side of this page. It’s a short list right now, only because I haven’t had time to add more. Believe me, the Sandbar crew has many favorite bars!
If you ever make it to Nashville, stop by the World Famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. It’s located in the heart of the honky-tonk district at 422 Broadway, right downtown and around the corner from the original location of the Grand Ol’ Opry, the Ryman Auditorium.
All sorts of famous folk have been spotted at Tootsie’s over the years including Willie Nelson, Dr. Ruth, Neil Young, Hank Williams Jr, and Rob Schneider. The walls are covered with photos of past performers at Tootsie’s, many who have gone on to have successful careers. Tootsie’s has two bars- upstairs and downstairs, and daily live music on stages in both bars. And it’s not just country music, they play everything. They’ll even let you dance on the bar there…but it doesn’t happen as often as it does at The Sandbar!
We’ve been to Tootsie’s three times now but didn’t see anyone famous. Well, anyone who was famous at the time. One of the bartenders and sometime-singer upstairs was Melanie Torres. She was a finalist on the most recent version of Nashville Star, the USA Network’s answer to American Idol.
The Sandbar crew traveled to Nashville a couple years ago to record the "Sandbar Song," the one that plays after the hurricane. It was recorded in a real studio by professional musicians- a really cool experience. (We did see the lead singer of the band Lonestar at the studio- he very graciously took pictures and signed autographs!) Nashville is definitely a fun place to visit and we’d love to go back.
