Monday, October 5, 2009
Friday - American Royal trip
Friday we woke up early and were out of the hotel by 8 AM…. Gord voted for Waffle House for breakfast and since it was his birthday we tagged along… It was actually pretty good. Fast, greasy, and tasty. Perfect start to a BBQ weekend.
Our next stop was the Royal, time to unload and set up camp. This was easier said than done as the wind was gusting and causing problems with the canopies…. So Dad & I left to fill the water buckets (ie weights) with water… When we came back the canopy had been damaged a bit… Still useable but it needs repairs.
With the canopies properly anchored down we were ready to get the last of our supplies… firewood. The Wood Lot was located just a mile or 2 away, so we picked out some hickory, oak, and apple, and stopped in for lunch. The owner was all to happy to give us a tour of the home made brick pit, offered us some chicken to snack on before we even went inside the building. We ordered a bit of everything, and while the service and ambience were awesome, the food was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken was the best part; The drumsticks were tender, juicy, and with crisp skin.
After that, I was dropped back at the tent to start trimming my meats. That continued through the afternoon until it was time to head out for supper. We were celebrating, so we found a great upscale brewpub (chain) - Gordon Beirsch. Great food and good beer. It was located in downtown Kansas City, the power & light district I think. Lots going on, neat area.
We went back to the Royal and hung out for a bit, did some more rubbing, injecting, etc... then over to the Mad Cow BBQ camp for a PNWBA get together... good to hang out with the other Canadian teams for a bit and meet some of the PNW teams too. Thanks Wayne!
11 pm came quickly and we were off to camp again to get the pit fired up. With the big meats on we headed down to "The Dark Side"... the Southern section of the American Royal grounds is where the BIG, WILD, some would say INSANE parties go down... We made it over there (LONG walk) a bit after 12:30 but it was quite clear we missed the action. There was only about 20% of the people in there than there were at 11:00, judging by the overhead view of the area as most of our crew drover directly over it (overpass) at that time - apparently the whole area was like Mardi Gras. So we'll have to check it out earlier next time.
Gord hung out for the night, we each slept for a couple hours in the bone chilling cold, the breeze never really let up and the zero gravity chair wasn't the warmest vessel, even with clothes and a couple blankes. Fortunately it was warmer the next night.....
Our next stop was the Royal, time to unload and set up camp. This was easier said than done as the wind was gusting and causing problems with the canopies…. So Dad & I left to fill the water buckets (ie weights) with water… When we came back the canopy had been damaged a bit… Still useable but it needs repairs.
With the canopies properly anchored down we were ready to get the last of our supplies… firewood. The Wood Lot was located just a mile or 2 away, so we picked out some hickory, oak, and apple, and stopped in for lunch. The owner was all to happy to give us a tour of the home made brick pit, offered us some chicken to snack on before we even went inside the building. We ordered a bit of everything, and while the service and ambience were awesome, the food was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken was the best part; The drumsticks were tender, juicy, and with crisp skin.
After that, I was dropped back at the tent to start trimming my meats. That continued through the afternoon until it was time to head out for supper. We were celebrating, so we found a great upscale brewpub (chain) - Gordon Beirsch. Great food and good beer. It was located in downtown Kansas City, the power & light district I think. Lots going on, neat area.
We went back to the Royal and hung out for a bit, did some more rubbing, injecting, etc... then over to the Mad Cow BBQ camp for a PNWBA get together... good to hang out with the other Canadian teams for a bit and meet some of the PNW teams too. Thanks Wayne!
11 pm came quickly and we were off to camp again to get the pit fired up. With the big meats on we headed down to "The Dark Side"... the Southern section of the American Royal grounds is where the BIG, WILD, some would say INSANE parties go down... We made it over there (LONG walk) a bit after 12:30 but it was quite clear we missed the action. There was only about 20% of the people in there than there were at 11:00, judging by the overhead view of the area as most of our crew drover directly over it (overpass) at that time - apparently the whole area was like Mardi Gras. So we'll have to check it out earlier next time.
Gord hung out for the night, we each slept for a couple hours in the bone chilling cold, the breeze never really let up and the zero gravity chair wasn't the warmest vessel, even with clothes and a couple blankes. Fortunately it was warmer the next night.....
Friday, October 2, 2009
more day 2
After lunch we headed to the butcher shop to pick up our briskets and pork butts. And WHAT a butcher shop. This place is family owned, we talked to the 4th and 5th generation owners. They have a 60 foot fresh meat counter, they sell EVERYTHING, from the oink to the tail. Or from the moo to the hooves if you will... They raise and slaughter their own pigs & cattle too. They invited us back to the aging lockers where all the sides of beef and whole hogs are hung... I'll save those pics for another day! Very nice folks and very welcoming.
Hand-picking briskets & pork butts for this weekend's competitions...
After that we went to check into our hotel, the Best Western I booked a month ago. I called Tuesday to cancel the first night (wednesday) since we weren't going to be here Wednesday as originally planned. I cancelled the first night, promising to check in on Thursday. "OK man, got ya!" was the response I got... Well when we checked in, they had no record of that cancellation. In fact, they charged us for Wednesday night and gave away our room for the rest of the weekend! NO ROOMS LEFT. Perhaps this is where I should mention everything going on in KC this weekend:
- American Royal
- Miley Cyrus concert
- Nascar race
- Chiefs game
- College football game
- And something else I don't remember right now. Safe to say, rooms in this town are few & far between. SO, after some negotiating, many phone calls to central reservations, and some sweet talking of the clerk, he found us a room with one queen bed. So right now, Dad is on a cot, Gord is in the recliner, Jacy is in the bed and I'm on my way.
First, the rest of the day. I did forget to mention the BBQ brisket I had across the street from the meat market... Don't remember the name of the place, just got a half pound of brisket to go. WORST BRISKET I have ever eaten. Clearly re-heated for me, slices were thin and dry, NO flavor of smoke or rub of any kind. This shit could have been boiled, I swear it was that bad. so it all hit the trash. Hoping to find a gem, I found a big rotten lump of coal.
Supper was a Kansas City institution. well, a BBQ Institution that is among the country's few top rated joints - Arthur Bryant's.
We ordered a half pound each of brisket, burnt ends, sausage, and pulled pork. Here's a pic, halfway through chowing down.
The brisket was decent, the pork was shredded and drowned in sauce, nothing to write home about. The burnt ends were bathed in sauce and loaded with flavour - fantastic food. Sausage was a bit different, I liked it but I'm not sure if anyone else did. They did have some ribs out by the time we were half done eating so we picked up a half slab. It was very overcooked, dry, thin, and the two small bones weren't edible. They should not have been served.
This sounds like a lot of complaining but the food was in fact quite good. This sides (especially beans) were awesome.
The place reeks of history, LOTS of celebrities have dined here and the old brick pit in the back has certainly seen decades of smoke.
We'll pay it another visit the next time we're in town.
After supper we just came back to the hotel... Jacy and I headed out to a Target to get a few more ingredients for the weekend. We had a quick dip in the hot tub, then everyone crashed. Well except me, just had to get online and tell our story! That's it for tonight, a big day tomorrow!
later
Hand-picking briskets & pork butts for this weekend's competitions...
After that we went to check into our hotel, the Best Western I booked a month ago. I called Tuesday to cancel the first night (wednesday) since we weren't going to be here Wednesday as originally planned. I cancelled the first night, promising to check in on Thursday. "OK man, got ya!" was the response I got... Well when we checked in, they had no record of that cancellation. In fact, they charged us for Wednesday night and gave away our room for the rest of the weekend! NO ROOMS LEFT. Perhaps this is where I should mention everything going on in KC this weekend:
- American Royal
- Miley Cyrus concert
- Nascar race
- Chiefs game
- College football game
- And something else I don't remember right now. Safe to say, rooms in this town are few & far between. SO, after some negotiating, many phone calls to central reservations, and some sweet talking of the clerk, he found us a room with one queen bed. So right now, Dad is on a cot, Gord is in the recliner, Jacy is in the bed and I'm on my way.
First, the rest of the day. I did forget to mention the BBQ brisket I had across the street from the meat market... Don't remember the name of the place, just got a half pound of brisket to go. WORST BRISKET I have ever eaten. Clearly re-heated for me, slices were thin and dry, NO flavor of smoke or rub of any kind. This shit could have been boiled, I swear it was that bad. so it all hit the trash. Hoping to find a gem, I found a big rotten lump of coal.
Supper was a Kansas City institution. well, a BBQ Institution that is among the country's few top rated joints - Arthur Bryant's.
We ordered a half pound each of brisket, burnt ends, sausage, and pulled pork. Here's a pic, halfway through chowing down.
The brisket was decent, the pork was shredded and drowned in sauce, nothing to write home about. The burnt ends were bathed in sauce and loaded with flavour - fantastic food. Sausage was a bit different, I liked it but I'm not sure if anyone else did. They did have some ribs out by the time we were half done eating so we picked up a half slab. It was very overcooked, dry, thin, and the two small bones weren't edible. They should not have been served.
This sounds like a lot of complaining but the food was in fact quite good. This sides (especially beans) were awesome.
The place reeks of history, LOTS of celebrities have dined here and the old brick pit in the back has certainly seen decades of smoke.
We'll pay it another visit the next time we're in town.
After supper we just came back to the hotel... Jacy and I headed out to a Target to get a few more ingredients for the weekend. We had a quick dip in the hot tub, then everyone crashed. Well except me, just had to get online and tell our story! That's it for tonight, a big day tomorrow!
later
Thursday, October 1, 2009
American Royal - day 2 (Thurs)
We rolled into Kansas City a little after Noon... Lots of old warehouses, around, some very neat ones. Didn't take pictures of those ones however...
Here's our spot... We have more pavement than you can see but this is it. It includes some grass too. That's our own private porta potty
too.
We dropped off the pit and some gear so we would have room for more supplies. Met our neighbors who live about 4 hours away. They were a bit stunned to hear how far we drove but seem like great folks.
First stop for lunch: Oklahoma Joe's!!! Run by some very experienced competition cooks, our lunch was nothing short of AWESOME. We had brisket, ribs, beans, beer and... well that might be it. Oh, fries too. Everything was top notch. Brisket had great flavour, sliced thin and not dry, ribs were well seasoned with a light coat of sauce. Great smoke flavour and good tenderness. One of my best BBQ meals ever.
Some of the trophies on the way in...
Here's our spot... We have more pavement than you can see but this is it. It includes some grass too. That's our own private porta potty
too.
We dropped off the pit and some gear so we would have room for more supplies. Met our neighbors who live about 4 hours away. They were a bit stunned to hear how far we drove but seem like great folks.
First stop for lunch: Oklahoma Joe's!!! Run by some very experienced competition cooks, our lunch was nothing short of AWESOME. We had brisket, ribs, beans, beer and... well that might be it. Oh, fries too. Everything was top notch. Brisket had great flavour, sliced thin and not dry, ribs were well seasoned with a light coat of sauce. Great smoke flavour and good tenderness. One of my best BBQ meals ever.
Some of the trophies on the way in...
Day 1 - American Royal (Wednesday)
We left Regina right on time, 5:30 AM. I woke up at 4:00 AM to shower and finish loading the truck, and went to bed at 3:15 am the night before. I mean, who wants to sleep the night before leaving for a 3-day BBQ marathon anyway??? So i promptly fell asleep and woke up in Estevan, 2 hours down the road where we pulled into the Husky for a quick hot breakfast.
30 minutes later we pulled up to the Portal border crossing into the good 'ol USA. They poked around in the BBQ and the back of the truck, asked about 50 questions and let us go. The spooky part was when they asked "Are you the guy that called 2 days ago asking all the questions about bringing meat across the border"?? Um.. yes sir. "OK then, have a great day." With that, we were on our way.
Keying addresses into the GPS...
We mounted a new storage box on the back of the pit, LOTS of new storage space, and we filled every inch. A little bit ghetto, but the food is killer!
Chinese buffet in some small town in Southeast North Dakota. Not bad! About 50 different things, only $7.50.
Gord "Studying" the game plan for our first ever KCBS BBQ competition. I have meticulously scheduled every component of this cook... something I kind of do anyway but we really need to be on the ball for this one.
We pulled into Sioux Falls at about 9 PM, lost an hour when we crossed the border and a couple hours later than planned. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery through North Dakota and South Dakota was exactly the same as Saskatchewan - dead flat, no trees. The WIND was crazy though, gusting heavy all day and blowing in the NW direction... So we were driving into this wind all day. It was not a cheap day for gas. Supper was at Texas Roadhouse, a steakhouse chain. We each had a nice steak, and they were all very good. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, a great meal for a chain.
30 minutes later we pulled up to the Portal border crossing into the good 'ol USA. They poked around in the BBQ and the back of the truck, asked about 50 questions and let us go. The spooky part was when they asked "Are you the guy that called 2 days ago asking all the questions about bringing meat across the border"?? Um.. yes sir. "OK then, have a great day." With that, we were on our way.
Keying addresses into the GPS...
We mounted a new storage box on the back of the pit, LOTS of new storage space, and we filled every inch. A little bit ghetto, but the food is killer!
Chinese buffet in some small town in Southeast North Dakota. Not bad! About 50 different things, only $7.50.
Gord "Studying" the game plan for our first ever KCBS BBQ competition. I have meticulously scheduled every component of this cook... something I kind of do anyway but we really need to be on the ball for this one.
We pulled into Sioux Falls at about 9 PM, lost an hour when we crossed the border and a couple hours later than planned. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery through North Dakota and South Dakota was exactly the same as Saskatchewan - dead flat, no trees. The WIND was crazy though, gusting heavy all day and blowing in the NW direction... So we were driving into this wind all day. It was not a cheap day for gas. Supper was at Texas Roadhouse, a steakhouse chain. We each had a nice steak, and they were all very good. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, a great meal for a chain.
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