OFFICIAL 2011 - Memphis in May WCBBQ Thread

[deguerre]

Glad I don't own a property in Harbor Town right now.

 

[msavard]

One more bit of info. Buddy lives by Agricenter and he just contacted me. Flooded... the whole complex. Parking lot, fields, etc... all under water. With the water level still due to rise by several feet I think we can safely cross the Agricenter off the list of potential venues. :clap2:

1) Fairgrounds
2) Snowden Grove

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

One more bit of info. Buddy lives by Agricenter and he just contacted me. Flooded... the whole complex. Parking lot, fields, etc... all under water. With the water level still due to rise by several feet I think we can safely cross the Agricenter off the list of potential venues. :clap2:

1) Fairgrounds
2) Snowden Grove

Where's Snowden Grove?

 

[Yazoo's]

Where's Snowden Grove?

Southaven. Very nice amphitheatre, power and water already set up for teams (well, probably half, then you would have to run gen's for the others).

Parking would be a bitch for this big of a deal, though I'm sure some of the farmers would suddenly discover another cash crop for the week.

And oh, it's 4 minutes from the house. We vote for Southaven!

 

[Swinebuck]

Parking was very bad for Springfest, a mud hole, and this would be ten times worse. The fairgrounds would be my first choice.

 

[msavard]

Southaven. Very nice amphitheatre, power and water already set up for teams (well, probably half, then you would have to run gen's for the others).

Parking would be a bitch for this big of a deal, though I'm sure some of the farmers would suddenly discover another cash crop for the week.

And oh, it's 4 minutes from the house. We vote for Southaven!

4 minutes? Pete, got a guestroom? :becky:
I kid. I kid. We've got several good friends who live right around the corner from there so crash-pad would be a non issue. It would be a pretty rough drive home for folks staying downtown though.

I really think all things considered (parking, space, electrical, traffic patterns, etc) that Fairgrounds is our best option. We'll see how it goes.

Major road closures starting in Memphis. Sheriff Luttrel has just declared a state of emergency for the city of memphis. Much of Bartlett has flooded. Casinos are closed in Tunica due to flooding. Most of the agricenter is underwater. Christian Brothers' Football field is underwater.

And despite all that, they're expecting record crowds downtown with Musicfest, Grizzlies Playoff (Game 6), Redbirds AAA game, Show at the Orpheum, and Downtown Trolley Tour tonight. Hell I'll be on the river at Tom Lee this evening. Will snap tons of pics and post them to Slab Yo Mama's shiny new twitter feed (as well as here) later this weekend.

http://twitter.com/#!/slabyomama

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

Scary stuff. Hopefully everyone stays safe and we'll see you in a couple weeks!

 

[msavard]

Some more random shots to give you guys an idea of what's goin down in lil ol memphis.

Baptist Hospital East - Currently open but evacuation plans prepared in case it gets worse:

Wolf River barely fitting under I-40

Christian Brothers Football Field

 

[deguerre]

That's CBHS, not CBU right?

 

[getyourrubonbbq]

Some more random shots to give you guys an idea of what's goin down in lil ol memphis.

Baptist Hospital East - Currently open but evacuation plans prepared in case it gets worse:

Wolf River barely fitting under I-40

Christian Brothers Football Field

Keep in mind folks, this is not even near the park where the comp is held.

 

[deguerre]

Keep in mind folks, this is not even near the park where the comp is held.

About 8 miles East - inland - of the Mississippi and the river causing this flooding flows INTO the Mississippi.

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

A few pictures I pulled of the park from the news. Crazy!

 

[deguerre]

This is at 38 ft if taken today. If the river hits 45 as expected, this is under water looks like.

 

[Jorge]

This is at 38 ft if taken today. If the river hits 45 as expected, this is under water looks like.

Close to it, using the van in the pic for scale. With the investment and equipment that comes with MIM, I'd be looking for an option if I had that responsibility.

Best of luck to ALL that are planning to cook this event. I've heard about the rain, and mud over the years. This is something different and I can't imagine the headaches that come with shifting such a big production. In a lot of cases it's more than just moving a setup to a different 20x20 space. In some cases it involves some construction.

Hope everything works out for the best, for everyone.

 

[TooSaucedToPork]

Close to it, using the van in the pic for scale. With the investment and equipment that comes with MIM, I'd be looking for an option if I had that responsibility.

Best of luck to ALL that are planning to cook this event. I've heard about the rain, and mud over the years. This is something different and I can't imagine the headaches that come with shifting such a big production. In a lot of cases it's more than just moving a setup to a different 20x20 space. In some cases it involves some construction.

Hope everything works out for the best, for everyone.

The sidewalk is the main concern...the booths are on the other side of the sidewalk which sits at 46.5 feet, should be lapping about 3 ft away from the sidewalk if it is 45ft or lower as predicted

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

I could fit two teams in my MILs backyard up on the bluffs. Now we just need room for about 250 more.

 

[CajunSmoker]

I work on the river and thought maybe some of you might want a link to follow the river stage. This is the one I use to plan my day.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/rive...rograph&data[]=obs&submit=Make+my+River+Page!

 

[msavard]

I'm pretty sure we could still pull it off at the agricenter with a couple pontoons...

 

[deguerre]

I could fit two teams in my MILs backyard up on the bluffs. Now we just need room for about 250 more.

The on site judges are gonna LOVE that climb...

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

By the way, if anyone was looking for me to lend a hand with the overnight cook Friday, I'm gonna be at the Fed Ex center for game six against OK City!