At the Apex!
Following a bunch of crazy months with work and getting ready for the season, the team thought it would be a great idea to head south in June and venture into foreign lands…North Carolina, for our fourth competition of the year.
Leading up to the event, we heard nothing but good stuff. Other competitors, especially Jerry from Redneck Scientific, praised the event and we were looking for a great time.
One of the best organized events, and team friendly, on the east coast. Graham Wilson and his team did an exceptional job. We made a lot of great new friends, especially the wonderful folks at The Beer Dispensary. If you’re ever down in the triangle, make sure you give them a try. Hopefully you’ll get to meet Jessica there as well. A torrent of knowledge about beer, and a great homebrewer.
We had a great spot to set up in. It was HOT, as you might imagine, but everything went about right with the cook. We even had a bunch of visitors!
Miss Amy Parker (now Sayre) and her husband Jeremy came by on both Friday and Saturday. Well, I should say…Amy came back on Saturday. Someone, ahem, despite their zeal for brisket, underestimated their zeal for beer and a good time…
That being said, it was great to see old familiar faces prior to getting started with our cook.
The surprises would keep on coming!
On Saturday morning, Leigh Anne was outside cleaning dishes and came in the trailer and said, “Hey boss. The rep wants to talk to you outside.”
My response was, “What the **** do they want…” and stormed out the door. (Don’t take it personal, reps. I was busy!)
Lo and behold, it was Kim’s dad and his girlfriend, Bob and Carey! They made a surprise appearance, all the way from Myrtle Beach!
We got all our food in, and cooked a bunch of pork for the Apex Rotary to sell. Lemme tell you about these people…they had about 20 people chopping, saucing and selling pork for 7 hours straight. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. All volunteers. We cut up some ribs for ‘em, and also took a rack up to The Beer Dispensary for their hospitality.
It was much to our surprise, later, when we found out that we had passed out 1st place ribs! Couple that with another strong brisket call (4th) we finished up the day pretty well, with a 7th overall in our first foray into the South. Big props to Jerry with Redneck Scientific and Brian with Smokin’ Skullies for their hospitality. And coincidentally, congrats to Jerry with Redneck Scientific on their GC, and Brian with Smokin’ Skullies on the RGC. Funny how that works! And huge props to Graham, the Apex Rotary, and of course The Beer Dispensary for making us look forward to our trip to Apex next year!