“Red Sky at Night . . :” Southern Maryland Brew & BBQ Festival in Leonardtown, MD (August 1-2, 2014)

Mike Palmer knows how to throw a motherhumping competition.

Beautiful location? Check. Ample power and water, and free ice? Check. 80’s hard rock band asking for sexual favors from the stage? Check! Professional wrestling mid-afternoon? Check! A 60-team field of heavy-hitting KCBS teams cooking their asses off? Check! A 60-team field of heavy-hitting KCBS partying their asses off well into Sunday morning’s wee hours? Check!

Luke and Kim helped out with the judging for the Friday Backyard competitions before settling down to dinner with our good friends at Grand Slam BBQ. By then, Friday evening was…in a word…moist. Demoralizingly wet. Yet, spirits were high. With awesome live music in the background, we got everything in order and did our best to light our fires.

Leigh Anne, who mans the night watch at the Black Gate (aka the OVS Porch) reported that the rain stopped around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and it held off for the most part of Saturday. Our wonderful friend Roger Fair stopped by and dropped off our new banner holder. We proudly displayed our 2013 MABA Rookie of the Year Banner in it. Speaking of our favorite regional association, OVS hosted a well-attended 10 a.m. MABA shot, and Mike Fay gave all attendees MABA-branded shot glasses.

After our Greek tragedy of a chicken score in Galax, imagine our surprise to get an 8th place call for our bird in Leonardtown! We also walked away with a 3rd place for brisket, which helped us finish 10th overall. WOOT WOOT! At this point, the insanity began. With Kix blaring in the background, inhibitions were shed, moonshine was consumed, golf carts were commandeered, and hangovers were earned.

DP Family

We cannot heap enough praise on Mike Palmer, Beckie Palmer, and the amazing crew at Full Effect Live! Entertainment Group. You folks have set the standard for organizing a competition. Just go ahead and take our entry fee money now for next year! Congratulations to Big Ugly on the GC and 3Eyz on the RGC. We love hanging out with our Dizzy Pig friends Grand Slam and Pepper Monkey. Always a pleasure seeing DivaQ — you keep spending time down here and you might as well get an apartment! It’s damn hard to find better neighbors than JD’s Smokin Misfits and Checkered Flag 500 BBQ. Roger Fair — thank you again for our sign and the photos!!! As always, we couldn’t have done this without support from Dizzy Pig, BBQ Guru, BBQ Bob’s Have’n’a BBQ, Huntspoint, and all our Kickstarter friends.

It’s a quick turnaround! We’re back on the road to Bel Air, MD next week. See you all there!!!!