Yelp sucks May 21

The headline says it all.  We’ve been getting great reviews on Yelp but since the people who use this service are those that are too busy to sit on Yelp and review all day, their reviews have been “filtered”.  They basically don’t show up on our Yelp page unless you click on “Filtered Reviews”.  To make it worse, we don’t have a rating even though our average is 4.75/5 stars.

Anyways, we thought we would post the reviews here to show the overwhelming responses we’ve gotten.  Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

“Nick did a fantastic job helping plan our event.  His tips were excellent, and every one of his recommendations really added to the experience.  He clearly knows his stuff around Austin, and didn’t hesitate to tell me when he thought I had found as good of a deal as he might be able to arrange.  In all, his expertise led to one hell of a bachelor party.”  - Chris R from Atlanta (4/20/2011)

“Our party planner Nick did a fantastic job planning and executing our party. He made sure we were on schedule without making us feel rushed. As the evening unfolded our transportation was right where we needed it to be. He was professional in every way and kept in communication with us to ensure we were all having a great time. I highly recommend Spark for any Bachelor party needs.”  - John J from Round Rock, TX (2/22/2011)

“I live in Houston, and I was in charge of putting together my friend’s bachelor party in Austin.  Although all of us had been to Austin before, none of us knew Austin well.  Since I was swamped with stuff at work, and at the same time I didn’t want to procrastinate the party planning, I contacted Spark Parties to help me arrange the bachelor party.  Spark was great.  They put me in touch with a party manager.  We discussed the things that I wanted to do for the bachelor party, and my party manager took care of all the logistics.  Even though we drove to Austin from Houston, I had Spark arrange a van service so that we would not have to worry about having a designated driver.  We did a lot of things over the weekend such as we ziplined in the Hill Country, we hung out at some cool bars, we ate delicious bbq, and we did the things that guys do at a Bachelor Party.  We had 9 guys in our party, and for accomodations, our party manager suggested and put us up in this mansion off of South Congress.  It was pretty awesome, and memorable.  South Congress is in the happening part of Austin so we felt that we were getting the most of our stay.  The nice thing was that I did not really have to do anything once I contacted Spark, and if I ever had any problems or questions during our time in Austin, I could always contact my party manager.  Saved me time, and I wish I could outsource all my work like this.”  – SS from Friendswood, TX (2/7/2011)

“We had a great action-packed three days with 7 of my best friends.  Spark took care of planning non-stop activities including outdoor and nightlife for a great weekend.  This including tubing down a river and followed by some great Texas BBQ.  They know their way around Austin, so we were even able to change gears on the fly if we wanted to try a new place.”  - SB from Smyrna, GA (1/11/2011)

Couple more parties coming up March 31

This Saturday, we’ve lined up an indoor gun range with a booze cruise right on Town Lake after.  Good thing it’s not the other way around.  The waiver would have to be a lot longer!  Should be amazing weather — highs in the 80s with lows in the 60s.  Can’t wait!

In a couple weeks, we’re helping with a four day extravaganza.  Starts out with a BBQ tour through the hill country.  The next day is a dude ranch or maybe Enchanted Rock.  Saturday is going to be Reggae Fest or the Old Settler’s Music Festival.  And of course, great restaurants and bars sprinkled throughout!

Two parties this weekend! February 14

We’re excited to get going again this Spring (it’s gonna be sunny and in the 70s all week!).  We have two parties this coming weekend that we’re busy working on.  One is a local party, so it’s just Saturday evening, but we hooked up a nice fixed-price dinner at Zax Pints and Plates, discounts at Palazio, a bar crawl, and some late-night eats!  The other party is an all-weekend affair so there should be skeet or indoor shooting, maybe some ziplining, and golf (with BBQ and drinking of course).

See why people are loving the knowledge Spark brings to the table and contact us today!

Summer in January? Why not drink beer while sightseeing? February 14

Couple weekends ago, it was 80 degrees here on Sunday–that is definitely not normal but it was a great day to be out.  I was motivated to finally write about the Pubcrawler since I saw it going down West Sixth.  It’s a rider-powered sightseeing thing where a keg is hooked up and you pedal to get it going.  Everyone on there was super happy so I’m guessing the fun outweighs the work aspect.  So, if you’re interested, we can hook it up!

http://www.pubcrawlerofaustin.com/

February 6

I moved away from Austin about 8 years ago and have been yearning to move back ever since. I’ve lived in Chicago and now I’m in D.C., and in comparison, Austin has the trifecta – babes, bbq, and beautiful weather.

My ideal day: strike up a conversation with local strangers at Jo’s on Congress over a Turbo, head out to the Hike and Bike trail just to take in the city, map out the Greenbelt on foot, a quick bite at Kerbey Lane, swing by Barton Springs for a dip in the pool, get some Mexican martinis and a stuffed avocado at Trudy’s, and then hit up one of the many bars on the East side.

I’m still figuring out my plan on how to move back. Wish me luck.

Announcing a Military discount January 20

For any active military members or veterans, we now offer a 20% discount off the services.  So when you guys get back into Texas, call us up and we’ll have everything set up for a fun weekend in Austin!

Guys on horses and mules get arrested on Sixth Street for DWI January 18

For those of you that have been to Sixth Street in Austin, you’ll know it can get pretty crazy.  When you have over 50 bars in a 5-6 block stretch, it can get pretty rowdy.  I think of it like a cousin to Bourbon Street.

Well, if you click on the news story, you’ll see that weird stuff happens but this one is simply hilarious.  Two dudes on horses and mules got wasted and started parading down Sixth only to get DWIs.  In the video, one of the guys can barely stand up!  Gotta love Austin…

http://www.kvue.com/home/Two-men-riding-horse-mule-arrested-for-DWI-113324824.html

Pictures from our favorite activities January 12

There’s kind of a beach at the same park where we go cliff jumping;

Hamilton Pool is a unique place to hang out and swim.  Only pictures can do it justice:

Does Exercising Make You Drink More Alcohol? January 6

Sure it does. You need to replenish calories somewhere and what better way to unwind than by grabbing a beer after a run? According to the New York Times, there seem to be a number of studies on the topic:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/does-exercising-make-you-drink-more-alcohol/

So if you’re ever in Austin on a Sunday afternoon, you can combine exercise and alcohol! We recently discovered a “sport” called hashing and it sounds like a lot of fun:

http://www.austinh3.org/Hashing101.aspx

Austin Nightlife January 3

Austin voted in TripAdvisor for top destination for Nightlife!!!

Check it out at: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g30196-Austin_Texas-Vacations.html