BBQ Fest Day 0: Friends & Family Night

I didn’t have to ride the shuttle to BBQ Fest either way yesterday. Caught a ride out there with Otto and our sponsors WordPress; rode back with Lauren and friends. I heard the shuttle ran very well though. It’s the little casino mini-buses. Here are some pics from yesterday.

 

This was B.S. With people riding shuttles and catching rides, no one could exactly time their arrival at the park. You’d think Memphis in May would be understanding and would let Friends & Family ticket holders in a few minutes before the 5:30 start time. But no, they made us wait, and not just til 5:30, but they opened late at 5:40. MiM has generally done a great job moving BBQ Fest but on this I have to give them a thumbs down.
Esther wins the Best Dressed Award
Dinner is served!
We miss you buddy.
Our friends at Squeal Street BBQ cooked a 20-pound suckling pig. Her name was Donna and she was delicious.
View from the second story of our BBQ rig. Doesn’t look that different from any other BBQ Fest.
Assembling the faux stained-glass windows for our team booth
Mikey, me and Bones
The exterior of our booth, still under construction with stained glass windows installed.
The booth across the sidewalk was a popular place. They had two TVs tuned into the Grizzlies game.
It took Lauren, an interior designer, nearly 30 minutes to hang one piece of fabric.
Afterward at the Silly Goose. I gave Katie Mac, pictured here, a hard time because she wanted to find someplace to sing karaoke. Katie: “I just wanted an excuse to stay out and drink.” There are much better excuses than karaoke.
Rough night for Mardoqueo at the Goose. Hola to all my Mexican readers, by the way.
At the Goose: Brick, me, Kalista, blond chick whose name I forgot

Complete photo album (about 110 photos) here. Charging the phone and camera, then back at it today. Will pre-game at the Saucer at 11, then hop a shuttle down there.