ModelMaker
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Since the Jack dissed me for my 30th I made way to this Royal thingie. I traveled and bunked with Rookie 48 & Mike Green from "Woodward BBQ".
We arrived Thur around 5 and drank beer, ate smoked cheese and visited till about 10 and went to the Golden Ox for all you can eat Prime rib.
Fri. we arrived around 9:30 am and drank beer, ate smoked cheese, Original NY style Pizza Margarita (most excellent Poobah).
I visited the dark side in the afternoon to get the gist of it all and made plans to return around 10, oh my! The various stages of drunkenness attendees were shoulder to shoulder. I returned to the corp site that had the hot tub set up to find two bikinized female dancers with store bought girlie parts. I went up to the cute one and axed her why she was dancing in a hot tub, she said because it was fun (I didn't believe her) I axed are you selling hot tubs? She says no the blah-blah corp had hired them to draw crowds, it worked and I thanked her for doing such a nice job. She seemed to like the praise. Next place down the line had a mechanical bull and watched a couple cuties get pitched. Further down the line was a 12 light chandelier hanging from a overhead road. Every other site had a band blasting causing a cacophony of ugh.
I finally stoped off at Boondoggle sat in the leather couch and watched the show pass by. It was better than tv, all the pretty young things stopping by to warm themselves at their fire pit. Thanks Bob & Don, as it turned out that was one of the best experiences of the weekend.
We blew out of there at midnight so as not to be frating with the teams.
Sat morning was very interesting watching 138 judges chomping at the bit to get going. Mike Lake made note of this being my 30th and enjoyed the following appreciation from my peers.
Dave and I were only planning on doing the 4 meats but Mr. Lakes gilt trip about this being the damn Royal and judging all 8 should be mandatory got to me and I relented. Oh my God was that a mistake!! I was overpacked mostly because I don't have enough sense to ease up.
In for a penny in for a pound. I was there for my first Royal and I was determined to experience the whole shebang for better or worse.
Sun I was only going to TC but once again was pressed into service as a double duty hero. Four meats and sausage about did me in.
Watching the KCBS crew seat 80 tables in 30 minutes was pretty outstanding, but during judging hearing that this table had 3 non-certified judges and one with 4 (I'm sure there were more) I think they should have spent another 10 minutes seating even experienced tables.
After judging came awards and fully enjoyed seeing my friends old & new make the stroll to glory. I was aware of where the top names in BBQ were setting and noticed the new wave of top cooks doing most of the walking. Not to diminish the old guard, but there is a new breed of youngsters that are taking names and big payouts (and a large portion of them from IOWA).
I can't tell you all how much fun it was meeting the old friends and the new faces also. I want to thank you all for the hospitality shown us as we visited and sat in your camps. I hope we didn't become pests.
I won't mention all the teams we squatted with for fear of missing some, but we seemed to always meet up around the Tippycanoe camp (I not insinuating anything but karma is its own reward) Thanks Joe and crew.
I don't know if I'll ever go back but I will not ever forget my Royal weekend.
Ed
We arrived Thur around 5 and drank beer, ate smoked cheese and visited till about 10 and went to the Golden Ox for all you can eat Prime rib.
Fri. we arrived around 9:30 am and drank beer, ate smoked cheese, Original NY style Pizza Margarita (most excellent Poobah).
I visited the dark side in the afternoon to get the gist of it all and made plans to return around 10, oh my! The various stages of drunkenness attendees were shoulder to shoulder. I returned to the corp site that had the hot tub set up to find two bikinized female dancers with store bought girlie parts. I went up to the cute one and axed her why she was dancing in a hot tub, she said because it was fun (I didn't believe her) I axed are you selling hot tubs? She says no the blah-blah corp had hired them to draw crowds, it worked and I thanked her for doing such a nice job. She seemed to like the praise. Next place down the line had a mechanical bull and watched a couple cuties get pitched. Further down the line was a 12 light chandelier hanging from a overhead road. Every other site had a band blasting causing a cacophony of ugh.
I finally stoped off at Boondoggle sat in the leather couch and watched the show pass by. It was better than tv, all the pretty young things stopping by to warm themselves at their fire pit. Thanks Bob & Don, as it turned out that was one of the best experiences of the weekend.
We blew out of there at midnight so as not to be frating with the teams.
Sat morning was very interesting watching 138 judges chomping at the bit to get going. Mike Lake made note of this being my 30th and enjoyed the following appreciation from my peers.
Dave and I were only planning on doing the 4 meats but Mr. Lakes gilt trip about this being the damn Royal and judging all 8 should be mandatory got to me and I relented. Oh my God was that a mistake!! I was overpacked mostly because I don't have enough sense to ease up.
In for a penny in for a pound. I was there for my first Royal and I was determined to experience the whole shebang for better or worse.
Sun I was only going to TC but once again was pressed into service as a double duty hero. Four meats and sausage about did me in.
Watching the KCBS crew seat 80 tables in 30 minutes was pretty outstanding, but during judging hearing that this table had 3 non-certified judges and one with 4 (I'm sure there were more) I think they should have spent another 10 minutes seating even experienced tables.
After judging came awards and fully enjoyed seeing my friends old & new make the stroll to glory. I was aware of where the top names in BBQ were setting and noticed the new wave of top cooks doing most of the walking. Not to diminish the old guard, but there is a new breed of youngsters that are taking names and big payouts (and a large portion of them from IOWA).
I can't tell you all how much fun it was meeting the old friends and the new faces also. I want to thank you all for the hospitality shown us as we visited and sat in your camps. I hope we didn't become pests.
I won't mention all the teams we squatted with for fear of missing some, but we seemed to always meet up around the Tippycanoe camp (I not insinuating anything but karma is its own reward) Thanks Joe and crew.
I don't know if I'll ever go back but I will not ever forget my Royal weekend.
Ed
