flesh fest 2010

known to the rest of the world as ribfest, flesh fest is a weekend dedicated to eating meat, piles and piles of delicious barbequed (and yes barbequed in the real sense of the word) meat.

for three years running we've counted down the days, stretched out stomaches, and mentally prepared for ribs, glorious ribs.

year one was sweltering, then poured, then ended with us stranded on the platform at ravinia for 2 hours thanks to a bonus express train that flew through evanston unstopped.

year two was cold. we bundled up, we ventured out, we ate meat, after a disastrous half slab we took notes on meat so we could be better prepared for year three, we ate more meat and finished our bellies off with a good helping of fried potatoes followed by a plate of fried dough. life was good.

year three started strong. we eliminated the poor contenders from the year before, we walked the street, we were ready. this year our group of three had expanded to eight since ribfest coincided with GRADUATION DAY! (yelled as roary gilmore does in the preview for post grad) and the valley/whalen clan were in town for the festivities, which made the whole ticket purchasing extravaganza more complicated ... but we were ready.

we progressed to our favorites from last year armed with 18 tickets to throw down for a full slab right off the bat. and then we met spare rib. and so we took a pic.

and then we ate some ribs. and a pulled pork sandwich. I should have known then that this year would be different. but it was ok pulled pork is still bbq after all. We devoured the slab, sat for a moment to let meat coma pass, too some more pics, this time with the characters of our new favorite game, and went back for ribs round two.

and THEN, on the mention of waffle fries, a completely acceptable SIDE to ribs, the idea of a fish sandwich was thrown out because that would go good with the fries. WHAT??? this is RIBfest not FISHfest. this was bad. but THEN they came back with piles of vegetables. sacred tickets spent on broccoli. some people just dont understand. clearly I need better screening when choosing companions for my day of MEAT. at least we ended with one final taste of what the day was meant to be.

The company was good, but as a kansas city native I live for this day...which perhaps makes me a little defensive.