February 17 Random Observations of The Grand Lake Bum
In my memory, there has never been a bigger February Grand Lake event than last Friday’s groundbreaking ceremonies for Shangri-La Resort’s new $5.5 million Activity Park. Running into 250 folks in the same room on a Monkey Island Friday morning makes me wonder where all those people hide all the rest of the time! This is a biggie, folks. It’s a giant step toward making Grand Lake the year-round destination it should be! Nicely done.
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Valentine’s weekend has come and gone, and I think everyone survived. Restaurants, florists and candy stores survived particularly well. Now we’re only a couple of weeks away from Welcome Back Weekend and the beginning of Daylight Saving Time. I believe we have beaten the winter!
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I had a great new find of my own over Valentine’s weekend. I wandered past Big Shots on Monkey Island Sunday afternoon and, much to my surprise, I saw cars! At the risk of interrupting a private party, I stuck my head in the door only to realize Joyce Duke had put her new gigantic screen at Big Shots to good use – showing the live coverage of the Daytona 500. I don’t give two hoots about NASCAR, but I was thrilled to find a new Sunday day-drinking spot!
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The Presidential campaign is starting to heat up. The name-calling has begun. Mike Bloomberg called Donald Trump a carnival barker. Trump continually calls the vertically-challenged former New York Mayor “Mini-Mike.” I’m not sure about that one. Bloomberg is only shot until he stands on his wallet.
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Oklahoma unveiled a new “brand” for the state last week, including a new logo and a new slogan. The new logo is highlighted by a star (hope Texas doesn’t want their logo back) and a “new” slogan – “Imagine that!” Dozens of Oklahoma professionals donated their time to work on the project – and the new commercial was actually sensational; but when it came to actually paying somebody for the new ideas to persuade people to spend their money in Oklahoma, we paid $269,000 to a company called Operative Brand Consulting, a company based in…Canada??? Imagine that!
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GRAND LAKE DINING & DRINKING UPDATE: There are Guest Chefs at The Shebang Wednesday, February 19 – John & Julie McFerron. The all-new menu is now available at Doc's Bar & Grill at Shangri-La Resort. Check it out.
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RANDY KREHBIEL’S RANDOM FACTOID OF THE WEEK: No one named Marshall Tucker has ever been associated with The Marshall Tucker Band.
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BEST FACEBOOK POST OF THE WEEK: Viagra shipment stolen. Cops looking for gang of hardened criminals.
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BEST SIGN SEEN THIS WEEK: Dear Anti-Vaxxers: This is your chance to go to China and prove us all wrong.
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TWEET OF THE WEEK: Just think. It’s 50 degrees warmer in your refrigerator than it is in Minnesota. (thanks to Linda Wall for sharing this one)
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BEST PUN OF THE WEEK: I sent ten different puns to one of my friends in hopes that at least one of them would make him laugh. No pun in ten did.
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OBSERVATION OF THE WEEK: I’ve learned two very important lessons in my life. I can’t recall the first one, but the second one is that I need to start writing things down.
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FEEL OLD MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Cher is preparing for her “2020 Here We Go Again Tour.” She’s still rocking it in both the looks and musical ability categories – at 73 years old.
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GRAND LAKE BUM SHOUT-OUTS: Happy birthday wishes go out this week to Rich Talley, Trisha Wooderson, Mark Ledom, Zach “Peach” Roach, Blake Keeton, Larry Haney, Jim Wyche, Todd Gayer, Bob Howard, Jim Ratcliff, Bill Oden, Ryan Stoner, Greg Hopeman, “Ugly John” Mullen, Dave Kruse, Andi McConn, Jennifer Megan, Travis Davidson, Susan Faulkner, Laura McCrary, Winston Connor II, Matt Jobe…and me!
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UNANSWERED QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Why do they put Braille dots on the keyboards at drive-up ATM machines?
BEST EVENTS OF THE WEEK: Wednesday night, John & Julie McFerron are guest chefs at The Shebang. Saturday night is the annual Mardi Gras Party at Monkey Island Pub. The new menu is now in effect at Doc’s Bar & Grill at Shangri-La. The Shangri-La Job Fair (held at the resort’s hotel) is Tuesday and Wednesday, February 25-26 (and again on Saturday, March 7). Wednesday, February 26, Mark McDowell will be featured Guest Chef at The Shebang.
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GRAND LAKE WEEKEND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT: There’s great entertainment around the lake this weekend. Jason Morgan provides the karaoke fun at Thursday Night Prime Rib & Karaoke at Doc’s Bar & Grill; and he is back with the trivia questions Tuesday night at Doc’s. Terry Jordan performs Saturday & Sunday nights at Shangri-La’s Summit Restaurant. At the Blind Swine, Erin Fitzgibbon will be on stage Friday night and KJ Flip hosts Cocktails & Karaoke Sunday night. As part of the Sunday night karaoke fun, Blind Swine also has a karaoke contest underway! Monkey Island Pub features Karaoke with Tim Saturday night as part of their annual Mardi Gras Party. At Littlefield Corner, the Road Hog Saloon has live entertainment every Saturday night.
Area casinos have big entertainment plans, too. Cherokee Casino Grove features The Mixers Friday night and Travis Kidd Saturday night. Grand Lake Casino’s Venue 655 offers the great music of Blank Earth Friday night and Karaoke Saturday night. At River Bend Casino, DJ 5-Star Entertainment puts on the show Friday night in Club 60 West Bar, followed by Dewayne Bowman & the Swingin’ West Band Saturday. At Buffalo Run Casino’s Indoor Peoria Showplace Dead Metal Society will be on stage Saturday night. The Cowtippers will entertain in the Trailer Park Bar & Grill Friday night, and there will be DJ action Saturday night. At Downstream Casino, Mr. Lucky provides the music Friday night in Legends Sports Bar, followed by FM Live Saturday and The George Brothers next Wednesday. In Lover’s Leap Lounge, The Widowmakers perform both Friday and Saturday nights. Indigo Sky Casino has three nights of great entertainment this week, starting with Sweet Trouble Acoustic Thursday. Donnie Ray Stevens will be on stage Friday night, followed by Sweet Trouble Saturday.
The best spots to catch all your favorite sports action including PGA Golf and NBA and college basketball action and NASCAR are Doc’s Bar & Grill at Shangri-La Resort, Road Hog Saloon, 1909 in Grove, Pickles at the Lake in Langley, and Mooney’s Sunset Bar & Grill in Disney.
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BUM MUST-SEE TV: Season 10 of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday night at 8:00 and Season 5 of Better Call Saul debuts Sunday night at 9:00, both on AMC. The Voice returns Monday night at 7:00 on NBC; and another Democratic Presidential Debate is scheduled for next Tuesday night on CBS.
BUM MUST-SEE MOVIES: Downhill, Brahms: The Boy II, The Call of the Wild and Emma
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Life’s biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon, and wise too late.” – Benjamin Franklin
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SAVE THE DATE: Friday-Sunday, February 28-March 1 – Women’s Getaway Weekend at Shangri-La Resort (Spa specials, pottery classes, Sip & Paint – and discounted room rates). Monday, March 2 – Grand Re-Opening of Grand Panache Boutique at South Point Shopping Center in Grove. Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8 – Welcome Back Weekend! Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8 – Grand Lake Boat Show at Grove Civic Center. Saturday, March 7 – Welcome Back Weekend Poker Run. Saturday, March 7 – Job Fair at Shangri-La Resort. Saturday, March 7 – 2 Hip Chicks Roadshow at Craig County Fairgrounds in Vinita. Saturday, March 7 – “80th Anniversary Party at Cherokee Yacht Club. Thursday, March 12 – Grove Chamber Luncheon at Grove Community Center. Friday-Saturday, March 13-14 – Grove Merchants Open House. Saturday, March 14 – St. Patrick’s Day Party at Monkey Island Pub. Saturday, April 4 – GEFFE Gala at Grove Civic Center. Friday-Sunday, April 17-19 – Tour d’ Island Weekend on Monkey Island. Saturday, April 18 – Monkey Island Pub Crawl.
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SPORTS WATCH: The OKC Thunder are at home for a couple of games before a brief road trip, but the competition is getting fierce. OKC hosts Denver Friday night at 7:00 on ESPN and San Antonio Sunday night at 6:00 (Fox Sports Oklahoma). Tuesday night, they’re on the road in Chicago to face the Bulls (7:00 on FSOK).
There’s some really good college basketball this week, as well, not the least of which is a Bedlam rematch Saturday afternoon as the Cowboys host the Sooners at 3:00 (ESPN2). Action starts Thursday night as Wichita State hosts South Florida (6:00 on CBSSN). In addition to the Bedlam game, other Saturday games include Kansas at Baylor (11:00 on ESPN), Texas at Kansas State (1:00 on CBS) and SMU at Tulsa (2:00 on ESPNEWS). Wichita State is back in action in Cincinnati at noon Sunday (ESPN). Monday night, West Virginia is at Texas (6:00 on ESPNU) and Oklahoma State travels to Kansas (8:00 on ESPN). Tuesday night, Tulsa hosts Tulane (8:00 on ESPNU) and the Sooners face Texas Tech at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena (8:00 on ESPN2).
PGA players will be spread across Puerto Rico and Mexico. Coverage of the Puerto Rico Open will be exclusively on the Golf Channel beginning at 9:30 Thursday & Friday mornings and 1:30 Saturday & Sunday. Coverage of the WGC-Mexico Championship will be on the Golf Channel at 1:00 Thursday & Friday, 11:00 Saturday, and noon Sunday. NBC picks up the final two rounds Saturday & Sunday at 1:30.
NASCAR drivers are in Las Vegas this weekend in a race where they tried to jam as many sponsor names as possible. It’s the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Coverage begins at 2:30 Sunday afternoon on Fox.
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The bad news about the weekend weather is it might be a little breezy, and we may have a shower or two here and there. The good news is high temperatures will be around 60 degrees and nighttime lows won’t be much lower than that. It’s a party, party weekend on Grand Lake, though – and there are plenty of fun parties at bars and clubs all around the lake. Get out and getcha some! Remember, though… wherever you decide to party, be sure to buy a drink for the guy next to you. It could be me.
GRAND LAKE BUM
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Looking for places to go, things to do, services to use or property to buy in the Grand Lake area? Here’s a starter kit listing of “open to the public” fun places to spend time at Grand Lake.
1909 in Downtown Grove
Ailey’s Café in Langley
Aquabar & Grill at The Landings Marina on Monkey Island (smoking on the deck)
Artichoke Restaurant & Bar in Langley
Balcony Bar at The Shebang (Smoking – open Friday & Saturday nights)
Big Shots on Monkey Island (Open Friday & Saturday nights)
Blind Swine on Monkey Island
Blue Bluff Café at Blue Bluff Harbor
Buffalo Run Casino in Miami (smoking)
Café Italia on Monkey Island
Café Yum in Grove
Carlos Montez in Langley (smoking in bar)
Ceasar’s Place in Vinita and at Littlefield Corner
Checkered Past in Grove
Chickanella’s in Grove
Chicken Coop West of Langley
Clanton’s Café in Vinita
Coppers Tea & Coffee House in Grove
Cosby’s Catfish on Highway 28 in Eucha (East of Disney)
Doc’s Bar & Grill at Shangri-La Resort Hotel
Docks Bar at Harbors View Marina
Domino’s in Grove
Downstream Casino in Quapaw (smoking)
Drake’s on the Lake at Blue Bluff Harbor
Drake’s Restaurant in Grove
Eddy’s Lakeside Bar at Shangri-La Marina (smoking)
Gabby’s Place in downtown Grove
Goodfella’s Pizza (Cleora and Grove)
Grand Lake Casino, north of Grove on Highway 10 (smoking)
Grand Lake Public House in Grove
Hatfield’s Saloon in Grove
Henrie’s Grill in Grove
High Winds Casino east of Miami (smoking)
Honey Creek BBQ in Grove (south of Honey Creek bridge)
Indigo Sky Casino west of Seneca, Mo. (smoking)
Juan Montez Restaurant & Cantina at Red Arrow Marina
La Casita de Martin in downtown Grove
Lighthouse Supper Club in Ketchum
Los Garcias in Langley
Lupe's Mexican Restaurant in Grove
Monkey Island Pub (Smoking)
Monkey’s Uncle at Littlefield Corner (Breakfast & lunch)
Mooney’s Sunset Bar & Grill in Disney (smoking, etc.)
Morrow’s Bar & Grill at Morrow’s Landing
Mulligan’s at Patricia Island Golf Club in Grove
Nu Taste Restaurant in Grove
Pappy’s Bar on Hwy 10 east of Grove
Pickles at the Lake in Langley
Pit Stop Café in Grove
Quarterdeck Cafe at Tera Miranda Harbor (smoking on the deck)
Raggedy’s in Grove
Rancho Viejo in Grove
Riggs & Company in Langley
River Bend Casino in Wyandotte (smoking)
Road Hog Saloon at the entrance to Monkey Island (smoking...but not at lunch)
Rusty Anchor (next to the cliffs at Dripping Springs)
Scooters in Langley (smoking)
Sharky’s at Hammerhead Marina (smoking)
Sticky Fingers Barbecue in Ketchum
Stuffn’s Restaurant in Ketchum (Smoking on patio)
The Grill at Indian Hills Resort & Marina in Bernice
The Landings Marina (smoking on the deck)
The Landings Market and Grill on Monkey Island (smoking on the patio)
The Parrot at Honey Creek Landing in Grove (Smoking on the patio)
The Stables Casino in Miami (smoking)
The Shebang on Monkey Island (smoking on patio and Balcony Bar)
Ugly’s Grill & Bar, Thunder Bay Marina (smoking)
VIP Pizza at Hammerhead Marina (smoking on deck)
Water Side Bar & Grill in Grove
Waterway Café, Harbors View Marina (smoking on breakwater dining deck)
Wolf Creek Diner in Grove
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