Pork In The Park Revisited!

This year was the first time I had the opportunity, prior commitments kept me from attending, to come out to Pork in The Park and it was a blast. I had my first rack of ribs at 10:30 am and I kept going through out the day.

My favorite aspect was walking around the BBQ competitors set-ups. Each competitors BBQ equipment varied from "the Egg" which was a egg shaped ceramic cooker, custom made smokers, and whole custom made trailers. These trailers were commercially finished which could be used for both competitions and for vending; no expense was too much. I spent a lot of time talking to these people and they, after things settled down from cooking competitively, were very accommodating to shoot the breeze. Truly these were some friendly people!

I was amazed at the time some of these people spend on the road. One gentleman was a nurse on the weekdays and once the weekend came he transformed into BBQ Chef. He said he traveled pretty much every weekend to go to competitions or cook. The Skin n' Bones crew, the stand with the line that never seemed to get shorter, from Florida travels year round competing across the Country. Talk about dedication! Passion is these peoples' middle name!

The "blues" finished off the ambiance to a T. BBQ and Blues is one of the greatest combinations in the history of man. Eating a massive BBQ sandwich, washed down with one of the many beers they had to offer, well maybe 2 sandwiches with a few beers, followed by mellowing out to some music while not falling asleep is a great feeling! Each of the performers put on a great show.

Pork In The Park is growing and I'd love to see this event get bigger; a few more vendors, more attractions, bigger band names. Everyone was commenting how much it has grown since its' inception! There was much rejoicing during the celebration of the BBQ'ing of the pig and good times was had by all.