After the Extreme Barhopping post a few days ago, bartender Danny let me know that he's actually been to the Tonga Room/Hurricane Bar and experienced their indoor hurricane. He meant to report back to us about it, but forgot.
Here's what he had to say:
Basically it was a large, dark, tropically decorated space with seating along the edges, and a large fake lake in the middle. In the middle of the fake lake, along the back wall, there was a little hut floating in the water. For the hurricane, they turned on flashing lights, rain machines, and some thunder sound effects as the floating hut floated towards the middle of the lake, closer to the bar area. The band was inside the hut and began playing cover tunes.
Here's a picture of Danny and his brother enjoying tropical drinks at the bar. Danny said he tried to videotape the "storm," but it was too dark and you couldn't tell what was going on.
However, he searched YouTube for a video and found this one:
Thanks, Danny! If you make it to San Francisco, check the place out and let us know what you think. Our Twitter friend @irishroadman also reported that he's been to this bar, and he said it's decent but expensive. (And he likes us better! Thanks!)
Last Friday I was watching TV, and if you know anything about daytime television, you know there aren't a lot of options. I scrolled past a show called "Extreme Barhopping," and when I found absolutely nothing else that interested me, I decided to check it out.
The first bar they profiled wasn't all that "extreme." A speakeasy hidden behind a hot dog joint somewhere in Manhattan. (New York, not our neighbor to the west.) The next bar, though, was pretty cool. Literally. It was a bar, pool and giant hot tub combination on top of a mountain in Squaw Valley. Ski or snowboard in, strip down to your bikini and lounge in a hot tub surrounded by snow. Pretty extreme.
At this point, I was thinking "we should contact the Travel Channel and submit the Sandbar for the show! An indoor hurricane is pretty extreme!"
You probably couldn't guess what happened next.
After profiling a bar with a $100,000 mahogany wood slide for an entrance, the show's narrator then offered up a bar in San Francisco with the "world's only indoor hurricane."
My jaw might have hit the floor.
I don't know how long the Tonga Room/Hurricane Bar has actually had an indoor hurricane. The show never said, and I couldn't find the information online. (I didn't look very hard.)
I can tell you, though, that their indoor hurricane looks nothing like ours. The Hurricane Bar looks very upscale, swanky and fancy. It's in a hotel in San Francisco. There's a pool in the middle of the bar- a "lagoon"- and the bar's orchestra floats around on the lagoon. The bar features "periodic light tropical rainstorms, complete with thunder and lightning."
It reminds me of the Rainforest Cafe. I didn't see anything about wind, which as you know is a prime feature of hurricanes, including ours. It doesn't appear that anyone actually gets rained on during the storm, but I could be wrong.
The place looks pretty cool, and if we ever make it to San Francisco again, we'll definitely check it out. I can say for certain, though, that they are NOT the only place in the world with an indoor hurricane. (To be fair, their website doesn't say this. It could have just been the Travel Channel making this claim.)
Travel Channel, if you're listening, we'd love to have our indoor hurricane featured on your show. Wind, rain, thunder and lightning, and napkins flying around the air is something everyone should experience with 48 of their closest friends.
Once-upon-a-time bartender Kay spotted this in the Miami airport:
Sandbar is certainly popular. She said to excuse the bad shot, but she didn't want the guy drinking the bloody mary to think she was taking a picture of him.
We got a late start on this year's St. Patrick's Day parade float, but we promise it will be bigger and better than ever!
Every year, we have lots of helpers. Builders, painters and even cleaner-uppers. Here's a picture from our friend Curtis after last Sunday's work day:
His two little boys help with the float every year. They're great at picking up all the loose screws and other things that the rest of us can't bend down far enough to find. Their reward for all their hard work is a place of honor on the float during the parade.
Be sure to look for the littlest members of our crew this year! The parade is Saturday, Mar. 17, at 1 p.m. in downtown Lawrence.
