Called "The Ultimate BBQ Lovers Road Trip Event" by Forbes.com from "the world’s leading outdoor cooking resource", join us July 31, 2020 through August 2, 2020 for an AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up in Memphis, home of great barbecue, blues, soul, and rock & roll. Hang out and toss a few back with Meathead, Max, Clint, Huskee, Spinaker, David, and your virtual friends from the Pitmaster Club.
The Meat-Up will be based in the famous historic grand Peabody Hotel, just around the corner from Beale Street. Things will kick off with a dinner Friday evening at the famous Rendezvous, Saturday we will have a day of interesting pork centric seminars in the hotel, with special porky meals because Memphis is most famous for pork, and Sunday we will board buses and visit four or five BBQ joints for a deep dive into the historic tastes of Memphis barbecue.
We are capping attendance at 400, first come, first served. With 16,000 members of the Pitmaster Club alone, we expect this event to sell out rapidly. The ticket price, which includes all events and meals, is only $687 if you make a $100 deposit by November 28. After then the price will be $787. To guarantee your space, make a $100 deposit now. The balance is not due until May 1, 2020 and payments are fully refundable until then.
GOLDEN TICKET!!! If you get in your down payment by 11/28 your name will be put in a hat and the winner will get a Golden Ticket for BBQStars (price $297). * See note below *
Hotel rooms, adult beverages, and parking are extra. All meals are included. We encourage you join the the gang in the heart of the weekend's activities by staying at the Peabody. There you will be mere steps from all of the action including Friday's welcome dinner at the Charlie Vergos Rendezvous, all of the weekend sessions, the whole hog dinner, the bus pickups, evenings out with fellow attendees on Beale Street, and more!
This trip would be a fantastic gift! Drop a few hints to your spouse. And if you have a copy of the book “Meathead, The Science Of Great Barbecue And Grilling” bring it and Meathead will personalize and sign it.
If you want to bring family or friends there is plenty for them to do in Memphis. Heck you might want to come in early or stick around a few days and visit Elvis’ Graceland mansion, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was shot, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, Sun Studio, the Pyramid of Memphis, Mississippi riverboat tours, the Memphis Zoo, the original Gus's Fried Chicken, and more. The hotel will extend the discount for you.
Click Here To Reserve Your Ticket
If you are buying more than one ticket you need to fill out the form for each person.
I Booked But I Can't Make It And I Need A Refund
Click Here To Book Your Hotel Room
or call 1-800-PEABODY and tell them you are booking the AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up. If you plan to come in early or stay after and want the special rate, call for your reservation.
Contact Us If You Have Any Questions
* ABOUT THE GOLDEN TICKET. The BBQStars series sells for $297. The odds are only 1 in 400! The drawing will be conducted by a third party sweepstakes administrator under the same rules and restrictions as our Great Giveaway. If you win and you cancel your reservation for the Meat-Up you will be billed $297.
Here is the itinerary
Details are subject to change
IMPORTANT: Please do not book your flights yet. We are looking into possible optional activities earlier on Friday and on Monday.
Friday, July 31
4:00 p.m. Check-in at the Peabody begins.
5:00-6:30 p.m. We kick things off is style with the first of two seatings for a welcome dinner at the most famous BBQ restaurant in the world, Charlie Vergos Rendezvous. A Memphis landmark since 1948, it is just a few steps from the hotel. We will be greeted by a member of the Vergos family who will explain their novel cooking methods and their fascinating history. Because seating is limited, we will have to split into two groups, the first seating at 5:30, second at 7:30. Conference registration will be at the restaurant. That's Nick Vergos in the picture above. Alas, he died in September 2019.
7:00-8:30 p.m. Second seating at Rendezvous.
After dinner. Hang around hotel bar or walk a block to Beale Street and the many famous night clubs and juke joints (BB King's is right on the corner).
Saturday, August 1
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the hotel’s Deli.
8:00 a.m. Breakfast buffet and conference registration.
9:00-9:30 a.m. Welcome from Meathead.
9:30-10:30 a.m. The Story of Memphis Barbecue with Memphis resident, our own Clint Cantwell and other local experts.
10:30-11:00 a.m. Break.
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. All About Duroc Pork With Jim Compart from Compart Family Farms.
12:15-1:45 p.m. Lunch with two porkchops, a standard “commodity” grade chop and a Duroc chop from Compart Family Farms.
2:00-3:00 p.m. Everything you wanted to know about pork by Chef James Murray of the National Pork Board.
3:00-3:30 p.m. Break.
3:30-4:30 p.m. Q&A with a panel of the AmazingRibs.com team: Meathead, Clint, David, Max, Huskee, Spinaker, Jerod.
5:00 p.m. The Peabody is famous for their ducks who, every morning at 11, march from the elevator to the fountain in the lobby, hang out in the fountain all day and head back to the roof at 5 p.m. where they overnight in the penthouse. Today, Huskee will serve as Honorary Duck Master.
6:00-7:00 p.m. Reception on the rooftop or visit with champion competition cook Mark Lambert in the parking lot where he will be cooking our whole hogs. Mark owns Sweet Swine ‘O Mine, producer of award winning rubs and sauces and is the former president of the National Barbecue and Grilling Association.
7:00-10:00 p.m. Dinner on the Peabody rooftop featuring Compart whole hogs cooked for us by Lambert.
10:00 p.m.-Whenever. Party at a juke joint on Beale Street. Bring your instruments and let's have a jam session.
Sunday, August 2
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the hotel’s Deli.
8:00 a.m. Breakfast buffet.
9:00 a.m. Bus tours depart with each bus hitting four or five of Memphis’ best barbecue joints. At each stop the owner or manager will share with us the restaurant’s story, philosophy, and tastes of their specialties. If possible, we may get to tour the pits. Because none of them can handle a group of 400, each bus will be visiting different restaurants at different times. We can’t promise which restaurant your bus will visit.
4:00 p.m. Return to hotel.
5:00 p.m. Duck march with Meathead as honorary Duck Master.
6:00-8:00 p.m. Cocktails on the hotel roof.
8:00 p.m.-Whenever. At liberty on Beale Street or in the hotel bar.
Monday, August 3
6:00 a.m. Complimentary coffee or tea in the Deli.
11:00 a.m. Checkout time.
Click Here To Reserve Your Ticket
If you are buying more than one ticket you need to fill out the form for each person.
I Booked But I Can't Make It And I Need A Refund
Click Here To Book Your Hotel Room
or call 1-800-PEABODY and tell them you are booking the AmazingRibs.com Meat-Up. If you plan to come in early or stay after and want the special rate, call for your reservation.
Contact Us If You Have Any Questions
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