Memphis in May BBQ Competition Recap

Brad and I spent last Friday in Memphis at the Memphis in May World Championsip BBQ Cooking Competition. It was a long day - first hot, then rainy - of meeting folks, taking pics, sampling pork, smoking cigars, singing along with David Allen Coe, and, as you'll see from some later pics, even some hand massages (Even BBQ connoisseurs need to exfoliate, people.).

Almost 250 teams from around the country (mostly TN and MS teams) and even one or two international teams competed for top prizes in 3 main pork categories: ribs, shoulder, and whole hog. We flew home Saturday, so we missed the awards, but you can check them out here. Also can't say enough nice things about the ladies who coordinated with all media. They were great.

We met some great folks, including (1) Brett Orrison, who runs The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint in Austin (Brett was cool enough to become an affiliate of The Q Card on the spot.), (2) my Twitter buddy DesertSmokeBBQ, from scorching Scottsdale, AZ (Yeah, but it's a dry heat.), and (3) some Nashville girls that I'm pretty sure slap the Music City around on a nightly basis. Also met our friend Anslee's brother, who was there with his team (AirPork Pilots) from Statesboro, GA, met the president of Stubb's Legendary Kitchen, and got to see my dear hometown friend Natalie and her husband and precious daughter. It was also a treat to sit down with world-champion pitmaster Chris Lilly, who runs Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL - about an hour North of my hometown of Jasper. Videos of my interview of Chris coming up, along with about a month's worth of pics.

All in all, well worth the trip. Fun event, friendly people, succulent pork. Not a bad way to spend a Friday.