Well, to start off my trip I met Brian Jay and headed to LGA to fly to Memphis and thankfully he checked in online for both of us while he was at work earlier in the day. I was greeted by the bad omen that due to a weight restriction issue, 10 people would not be allowed to board the plane for the flight to Memphis. I assumed myself being one of the heavier people, I was probably a goner! Luckily for me they don't do it by how much you actually weigh, but rather by the final 10 people to check in for the flight! Let's just say this would be a good start to the trip, as I figured if this were to happen on the way home, the fact that I was definitely going to gain some weight on this trip would not be an issue in me getting home.
David and Adam Rosen were already down in Memphis having taken an earlier flight and they were warming the group from Ubon's up for our arrival in typical Rosen fashion - shit talking about how much they could eat! We were made aware there would be some freshly smoked pork butt sandwiches and Ubon's Specials (hope I am not giving away a trade secret here - 2 parts Bourbon, 1 part pineapple juice, 1 part Sprite, and a few pineapple chunks thrown in for good measure) waiting for us when we arrived and to come down to the site of the cook-off about 3 blocks away from the hotel on Beale Street. After Brian Jay's fearing my driving from the airport to the hotel (so I may have headed towards St. Louis briefly!), we arrived and checked in.
We headed down to the grounds and it was quite an interesting scene. Unfortunately it was at this point of the weekend that I learned that my digital camera, which had served me well for a few years now (and Clef for a few before that), was no longer in operation. Thus, there are no pictures for you to see of night #1. But I will just say there were A LOT of drunk people walking around looking at folks setting up the different booths and getting their drink on! People were toting open alcohol containers all over the place, even right in front of cops! Apparently, we were told, it is not legal, but the cops were pretty cool about it and were more their for safety then for busting drunks with open alcohol containers. (Too bad that was never the case when I went to school in Ann Arbor 10 years ago!) Also, one other point to note was I was unsure of exactly what type of scene this would be in the sense of, Was this just a bunch of guys getting together to smoke pork and booze heavily and blast music? Or would there be some Southern Belles walking around joining the fray and enhancing the scenery around us? Thankfully, it was the latter! There were lots of women both participating and walking around boozing heavily and adding to the mix of what exactly this was all about. One thing I think is that the women of the South are used to this type of thing, as opposed to the haughty women of the North who would probably never dream of hanging out at a glorified cook-off all weekend. Hell with those Yankee women, I'll take a Southern Belle anyday!
Lastly, we got down to the booth site and joined Adam and Dave, and Allen (from the Ubon's team) made us some DELICIOUS pork butt sandwiches and mixed Brian and I some damn fine (and mighty stiff) Ubon's Specials and the weekend was ON in grand fashion. Damn those Ubons Specials flow down easily! We met the team, or those who were still down here drinking and hanging out, and got to know everyone. We were quickly dubbed "The Yankees" by the Mississippi crew and the booze was flowing. I was impressed (read: happy!) to see that they must have had a good 25+ cases of beer ready to roll for the weekend - folks after my own heart. We stayed down here until a little after midnight and then called it a night and headed back towards the hotel and Beale Street. Just as we were about to leave, Mike (with the Ubon's crew) accidentally bumped some young, drunk punk, and I thought we were going to have blood on our hands as the two sides gathered and the uncertainty of whether or not a fight was about to break out was in the air. It ended peacefully, but these misguided punks thought they stood a chance. Frankly, I almost wanted to see Mike (a tough-as-nails Marine) beat their asses, but it was probably a better idea to walk away and stand down...for their sake, anyway.
The 4 Yankees hit a bar on Beale Street just outside of our hotel and then packed it in for the night as we had to be up fairly early for Friday. Rumors of a legendary "Perfect Sandwich" for lunch, Ubon's Bloody Mary's beforehand, Leslie's ribs for dinner, and more Ubon's Specials were in the air and this was enough incentive to make sure we were ready for it!
David and Adam Rosen were already down in Memphis having taken an earlier flight and they were warming the group from Ubon's up for our arrival in typical Rosen fashion - shit talking about how much they could eat! We were made aware there would be some freshly smoked pork butt sandwiches and Ubon's Specials (hope I am not giving away a trade secret here - 2 parts Bourbon, 1 part pineapple juice, 1 part Sprite, and a few pineapple chunks thrown in for good measure) waiting for us when we arrived and to come down to the site of the cook-off about 3 blocks away from the hotel on Beale Street. After Brian Jay's fearing my driving from the airport to the hotel (so I may have headed towards St. Louis briefly!), we arrived and checked in.
We headed down to the grounds and it was quite an interesting scene. Unfortunately it was at this point of the weekend that I learned that my digital camera, which had served me well for a few years now (and Clef for a few before that), was no longer in operation. Thus, there are no pictures for you to see of night #1. But I will just say there were A LOT of drunk people walking around looking at folks setting up the different booths and getting their drink on! People were toting open alcohol containers all over the place, even right in front of cops! Apparently, we were told, it is not legal, but the cops were pretty cool about it and were more their for safety then for busting drunks with open alcohol containers. (Too bad that was never the case when I went to school in Ann Arbor 10 years ago!) Also, one other point to note was I was unsure of exactly what type of scene this would be in the sense of, Was this just a bunch of guys getting together to smoke pork and booze heavily and blast music? Or would there be some Southern Belles walking around joining the fray and enhancing the scenery around us? Thankfully, it was the latter! There were lots of women both participating and walking around boozing heavily and adding to the mix of what exactly this was all about. One thing I think is that the women of the South are used to this type of thing, as opposed to the haughty women of the North who would probably never dream of hanging out at a glorified cook-off all weekend. Hell with those Yankee women, I'll take a Southern Belle anyday!
Lastly, we got down to the booth site and joined Adam and Dave, and Allen (from the Ubon's team) made us some DELICIOUS pork butt sandwiches and mixed Brian and I some damn fine (and mighty stiff) Ubon's Specials and the weekend was ON in grand fashion. Damn those Ubons Specials flow down easily! We met the team, or those who were still down here drinking and hanging out, and got to know everyone. We were quickly dubbed "The Yankees" by the Mississippi crew and the booze was flowing. I was impressed (read: happy!) to see that they must have had a good 25+ cases of beer ready to roll for the weekend - folks after my own heart. We stayed down here until a little after midnight and then called it a night and headed back towards the hotel and Beale Street. Just as we were about to leave, Mike (with the Ubon's crew) accidentally bumped some young, drunk punk, and I thought we were going to have blood on our hands as the two sides gathered and the uncertainty of whether or not a fight was about to break out was in the air. It ended peacefully, but these misguided punks thought they stood a chance. Frankly, I almost wanted to see Mike (a tough-as-nails Marine) beat their asses, but it was probably a better idea to walk away and stand down...for their sake, anyway.
The 4 Yankees hit a bar on Beale Street just outside of our hotel and then packed it in for the night as we had to be up fairly early for Friday. Rumors of a legendary "Perfect Sandwich" for lunch, Ubon's Bloody Mary's beforehand, Leslie's ribs for dinner, and more Ubon's Specials were in the air and this was enough incentive to make sure we were ready for it!
