AR Do's and Don'ts

Wear one of your briskets around your neck...Albatross like...So folks will be warned.






























OH! And...Congrats!!!

Wear COMFORTABLE shoes!!! To walk around the area with over 550 teams set up (with most having oversized sites!) you will quickly understand my first comment!
Also, watch out for Friday night! PARTY TIME!!! If you have friends cooking you might be invited to hang with them, otherwise you might get trampled by the THOUSANDS of party goers that arrive by bus load!!!
Check out the instructional sessions in the vendor's area. You might pick up some tips or ideas (plus some free stuff!).
Judge parking is a few blocks from the arena, but there are shuttles that run every 10-20 minutes. The parking area is a dirt lot that is VERY dusty in the dry and VERY muddy in the wet!
Take a walk through the KCBS Hall of Fame.
Get to the check-in spot fairly early on Sunday. You will have to wait in a LONG line, but the actual seating goes really fast!!!
Don't forget that you will judge the four KCBS categories and then sausage at the end.

I've been judging the Invitational and the Open the past couple years, but won't be able to make it out there this year.
Stop by any team flying the "BBQ Brethren" banner - always good to put a face with a name! Most of them are even fairly friendly!

ENJOY!!!

There is a Best Western that is on the list of recommended hotels - sorry I don't remember the address or phone number, but they have a shuttle that will take you to the site and pick you up. If you stay there, utilize the shuttle on Friday night. You really don't want to drive in on Friday if you can help it, trust me on this one. We were able to take the shuttle during the day on Friday to Boulevard Brewery for a tour and he even stopped at a package store on the way back to the hotel. Julie

There are a lot of things going on in KC that weekend. Get your hotel room now!

Don't need no steenkin' hotel room! :lol: The 34 foot fifth wheel works great and there's a mobile home park 8 miles from the Liberty gate where I camp for 25 bucks a night - full hookups.

And Ditto what Tom said about the shoes. I usually have a couple of different pairs in the trailer so that I can swap them out every other day. As far as coolers go, leave this up to me - I've got a system that's worked pretty good for a few years :wink:. Of course it all depends on the kindness of a team here or there, but most of the teams are great people and easy to get along with. Same with the parking at the AR - a good plan is hard to beat.

txschutte said:

I'll be tagging along with a bearded farker that has his MBJ, and 100 contest pin. Rookie '48 actually talked my wife into letting me go with HIM.:shocked:

The last reply I got from him was "Better start exercising your liver". But, it all up to him to where we go, ultimately.

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I can assure you that the bearded farker you are going with will make standing in line for 3 hours more enjoyable. I speak from experience on this one as well. :wink:

Hell yeah. Dave swung by our site last year when we were there. He'll take good care of ya.

Rookie'48 said:

Don't need no steenkin' hotel room! :lol: The 34 foot fifth wheel works great and there's a mobile home park 8 miles from the Liberty gate where I camp for 25 bucks a night - full hookups.

And Ditto what Tom said about the shoes. I usually have a couple of different pairs in the trailer so that I can swap them out every other day. As far as coolers go, leave this up to me - I've got a system that's worked pretty good for a few years :wink:. Of course it all depends on the kindness of a team here or there, but most of the teams are great people and easy to get along with. Same with the parking at the AR - a good plan is hard to beat.

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I would recommend doing 3 things.....find Dave; follow Dave; do what Dave do

As an enbattled vetren of the 3 or 4 day "fun with Dave" trip, pre treat your liver if you want to survive. Bring a collapsable can coozy for your back pocket, it will come in handy. Also watch out for apple pies, they're everywhere.
A notebook to write down names of the all people you will run into on the "Dave march" there will be hundreds...
I generally only go every other year as it takes me longer to recover.
All that being said it is something every person familiar with BBQ should experience at least once in their life.
Ed

Don't leave your site for too long or you may come back to find your trailer completely surrounded by porta-johns. :heh:

Who would do a thing like that? :heh::heh: