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#29 Maryland BBQ Bash, Bel Air, Maryland - August 2006
1st place overall / 39 teams GRAND CHAMPION 2nd Year Straight
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Chicken
11th
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Ribs
5th
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Pork
12th
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Brisket
1st
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| We came back because it was such a nice contest, and with shorter than a 2 hour drive it was easy to decide to return to defend our 2005 championship. The weather could not have been any better no matter how you cut it. Craig and his gang did an amazing job of putting on a fantastic weekend. Jerry and Linda Mulane, as usual, were as professional a pair of reps as you will ever find. It gets better every year, and the crowds were out in force. Plus in a rare case, we had the entire team with us to enjoy the contest. Friends came to visit since it was so close, and we all had a lot of fun. Winning the Grand Championship honors among this group of teams was an incredible finish to a near perfect weekend in Maryland! |
Maryland BBQ Bash, State BBQ Championship
7 contests so far this year, and 3 of them had good weather. We consider ourselves to be a strong bad weather team, but it is starting to look like we do better with good weather! Bel Air was a blast. A steady line of people walked the streets, and the vendors had a banner weekend selling BBQ. The place was hoppin!
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| For the third contest in a row, our travels brought us through the industry laden city of Baltimore. |
Already set up when we got there, our friends at the BBQ Guru were ready to get going on their strong 4th overall finish. |
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| Tony came up on Thursday to help Chris get set up, and we ended up with a SWEET spot right on the corner. Tony grabs a branch and sweeps up! |
Jimmy Jim James (Sea Bass) brings over some of Shotgun Fred's special breakfast pizza. |
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| John spends some time getting to know the local police force! |
The quiet street scene before the crowds. |
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| Our corner lot, right under the tree. Craig, please save us this spot next year!! |
Tony was a blessing to have around. Always positive, and he worked his tail off....always seeming to know exactly what we needed. |
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| Thursday night, Bob from BBQ Guru started talking trash about how good his salmon was. So we challenged each other to a little informal contest to get the competitive juices flowing! |
We took nearly identical pieces of Sockeye salmon and both cooks treated their entries quite differently. Chris won the judges over with some Raging River salmon with a butter/bourbon glaze. Bob's was also very good. It was really interesting to taste the differences. |
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| Our friends over at Wood Chicks BBQ worked their tails off vending, and managed to pull off a strong third place overall finish. Congrats to them! |
Jack McDavid's Down Home Barbecue had a great weekend vending, but unfortunately could not repeat their reserve grand honors from 2005, but got two big 8th place calls in chicken and pork! |
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| With all the guys being there, we had some major team work going on. Here are Chuck and Chris prepping the butts as Tony keeps us all smilin'! |
Woo and Chuck prepare to get prepping on our traditional chicken nad stew. |
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| Kenny has been cooking ABTs regularly for quite a while, and he has some great techniques he has been working on to make these wonderful morsels even better. |
I swear this Rich fellow from Lost Nation looks bigger every time I see him. Here he dwarfs our own Woo Doggies. |
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| Rack of lamb is becoming one of our favorite camp cooks. This one with Red Eye Express rub sure did turn out sweet! |
Looking down the street on a fine afternoon. |
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| We had such a good time that it was tough to catch somebody NOT smiling! Chuck and Chris enjoy a break. |
Chuck "The Rock" seems to be in on everything. Here he helps Kenny take off the ABTs while a passerby peers in with interest. |
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| Hillard catches up on some zzzz's while doing a fantastic job of maintaining his hold on the radio. |
John took a really cool shot around sunset. Just beautiful. |
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| We love the overnight hours so much, we usually include some night pictures. Here is the scene from our spot. |
Our own site is usually hopping in the evening. Lee Ann from Wood Chicks came by for a visit and to enjoy some of this cool evening with us. |
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| Kenny cuts up some cantelope, as fruit always tastes good when you have been smelling BBQ for days. |
Woo and Andy get set up in the morning light to do some boxes! |
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| We had our eggs cooking almost the entire time we were there. |
Jim Tabb stopped by for a few visits, and enjoys a piece of Saturday morning talking to the guys on the team. Nicest fellow you could meet. |
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| War Pigs, and our competition across the street on this fine morning. |
Chuck and Tony taking off the ribs. It's almost turn in time boys!! |
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| Our solid team work gives us a bit of an advantage sometimes. Everyone seems to know just what to do these days. Here's an example! |
We did the beef ribs category with some dinky ribs they provided. We had 7 ribs total, and 6 had to go in the box! We ended up taking 17th with those anemic lookin ribs. They sure cooked up nice, but not much meat. |
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| John chillin' out and tellin some stories. |
The awards ceremony always carries with it some anxiety as they count down the top ten teams in each category. |
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| This picture was snapped after our first place brisket call. We had no idea that we were just about to be called for grand! |
All the guys were here, and it makes a difference. The chemistry in this group is amazing, and it helped us win another one. Here are the grand champs (l-r) Andy, John, Chuck, Chris, Kenny and Tony. |
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| Packing up is a whole bunch easier after a successful weekend. We got to hang out with Craig, the amazing organizer, after the awards. Thanks for putting on such a great contest Craig. |
Jerry Mulane is a hard workin man that is all about BBQ. He is also one of my favorite KCBS reps. Jerry and Chris talk about the wild weekend. |
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