Salad???
 

Salad???

Well, that was a marathon of a day. But, everything fell into place with no hiccups and I think everyone was fairly well-pleased with Snow's. Spec's was...well...Spec's. Not much more can be said about that. Lake Travis, though pitifully low, was the perfect afternoon event, mostly due to the glorious weather and great mix of people. And, what could be said about the view of the sunset from Uncle Billy's at the Lake? Just wondrous.

I'm tired but happy that everyone seems to have had a great time so far. Also, happy that I get to sleep in a bit in the morning. See you all between 10:30 and 11:00 AM, when we board the bus for lunch at the Salt Lick in Round Rock.

Some important information/reminders are posted in post #5 of this thread related to our event on Sunday.

What a spectacular bbq orgy. We came, we ate bbq - and bbq - and bbq - and bbq. Franklins, Blacks, City Market, Snows. The week built and built to Snows on Saturday am. Everything about Snows appealed - the tiny town, the out of the way location in the tiny town, the fact it is only open one day a week so there was a hint of exclusivity, the fabulous food, and the fun visiting both with locals in line and with FTers at the picnic tables. Thank you to Pa Kettle and mackieman for stunning event that absolutely held up to the marvelous bbq Do of two years ago.

It sounds like it was a wonderful event & I look forward to 2014 :)

Cheers.

The 2012 Austin Mega Do draws to a close today. After four days of nearly non-stop eating and drinking, I personally am very ready for a nap. And perhaps another beer. :)

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who took time out to travel down and hang out with us. We would also like to thank the many locals who have helped us pull this event off. It simply would not happen without a small band of dedicated frequent travelers who know how to have a good time.

Finally, huge thanks go out to our sponsors: MilePoint, Starwood Preferred Guest, and FlyerTalk. Most of the events that we enjoyed this weekend would've been impossible, or at least far more expensive, without their gracious support. A special thanks to Randy Petersen for picking up breakfast for everyone on Friday morning.

We'll be gathering links to pictures and video throughout the event and posting them in the threads and on the media page on the website. If you have pictures you'd like to share, please get in contact with me.

The 2013 event planning has already started (with William and Corey sitting in the Aloft lobby this morning). Early March of 2013 looks to be the likely timeframe, but we'll provide lots more details on all of that in the coming months.

Thanks again for coming out with us; we'll see everyone next year!

Well that was sure a good time. :)

Huge thanks to Pa Kettle, Mackieman, Mrs. Mackie, and everyone else that helped make this a fabulous weekend.

From all accounts I missed one of the highlights on Thursday (Franklin's), but these highlights were pretty reasonable compensation: ;)
1. Shotgun Fridays
2. BBQ breakfast at Snow's
3. Glorious afternoon on Lake Travis (especially the in-depth analysis of our nearest neighbors ;))
4. Sunset at Uncle Billy's

There may also have been a beer or two. ;)

All in all, a great trip for my first time in Texas. It will definitely not be my last. Glad to have met so many cool new folks, and to have reconnected with so many people from past events. Thanks!

My thoughts on the weekend: ^^^^^^^^^^

My thoughts on v2.5 ^^^^^^^^^^

Kudos to Pa Kettle, Mackieman, Mrs. Mackie, the sponsors, etc.

And the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

I'll second that! ^
Great to see everyone!

'Twas a great time, that's for sure -- good seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I hope that all from out-of-State haz something good to say about the Great State of Texas after last weekend...I certainly do after eating the last of my stash of Snow's BBQ this evening (and I live here)! :D Thanks again to the planners, helpers, and volunteers for putting on one of the best DO's ever. :-:

A HUGE thank you to all our organizers -- as I mentioned to a couple of you at Snow's, your efforts were very much appreciated! We realize what a sacrifice it is to have to sample the various BBQ venues around central TX... ;)

I was very happy to hear from William while we were eating at Snow's there will be a smaller event next year rather than having to wait until 2014! I look forward to seeing info on that...but we'll give y'all a few days to recover from this past weekend.

Thank you to Randy for covering the bus and also breakfast on Friday. Breakfast tacos & Round Rock doughnuts...always a great way to start the day.

Snow's is still my favorite brisket, though to be fair, I haven't yet been to Franklin's. What a treat it was getting to talk with the family a bit both before y'all arrived and after the bus left.

+1 to all the previous kudos! ^^^

I'm so confused now that I have to actually fend for myself for meals??? :eek:

How am I supposed to find sustenance without the wisdom of Mackieman & Pa Kettle guiding my every meal time need?:confused::eek::confused:

Guess it's a good thing I'm still full from AUS. :D

THANKS AGAIN to William, Corey, Randy, their better halves and all their local minions for putting on a stellar DO.

I have a lot of folks to thank, so here is hoping that I don’t miss anyone.

First of all, I’d like to thank my wife, Ma Kettle, for her patience and long-suffering in allowing me to traipse around the countryside with Mackieman and TexasYankee while we did our not-so dry runs, for listening to me gritch when things did not go according to plan, and for being an Austin Mega Do 2 widow for practically the last week. Thanks, Baby!

Next, a big thank you to Mackieman (and of course, Mrs. Mackie) for having shouldered some of the event responsibilities and practically all of the technical and financial responsibilities necessary to pull this off. I’m not sure I could have borne the weight of this one on my own. Indeed, it might not have happened at all without you.

Also, I’d like to thank TexasYankee for his assistance with quality control, advice, the loan of his coolers/chairs, and his overall good-natured spirit. And, a special thanks to Mrs. Mackie, Flyer_70, and paranoiatx for the assistance given in putting together the swag bags when Mackieman’s job got in the way of our plans to do it the weekend before the Do.

With those housekeeping notes of thanks squared away, I’d like to turn to our sponsors:

Milepoint, with the direction of Randy Petersen, once again stepped up to the plate and literally made the Do the success it was. While it is certain that we would have had an event, without their contribution, it would have been just a Do instead of a Mega Do. ^ Not only did they cover our chartered bus costs, but also breakfast on Friday morning. I can’t tell you what a relief it was for us to plan the events we did knowing that the chartered bus would alleviate so many issues for the attendees (cost, logistics, etc.) and breakfast was just the whipped cream on top. Randy, thanks again for your superlative generosity, which was never more evident than during this Do.

Starwood Preferred Guest also generously supported us with most of the swag and the bags in addition to a rental car for the weekend, and some miscellaneous items like gasoline, the lanyards, and cookies. Basically, all of those small things that went into adding some lagniappe to the event, as well as paying for the Party Barge rental at Lake Travis on Saturday afternoon. Thanks especially to Chris H., Gretchen K., and Rebecca M. for all the support along the way.

Internet Brands also kicked in a donation to the transportation cause. The additional support in this area was very much appreciated, so thanks to Carol for starting me of in the right direction and to Brent and Paul for following through.

A big shout-out goes to Melanie O. at the Aloft Austin at the Domain for working with us on the group rate when no one else would. I hope we did not wear out our welcome! Everyone seemed to have had a great stay…well, at least no one told me if they didn’t. ;)

Finally, a big thanks to everyone who came. It really was a pleasure to see many old friends again and to make some new ones. I’m working on a poll for both Flyertalk and Milepoint so you can rate the BBQ you tried during the Do, so look for them soon. (Note: If you vote in one poll please don’t vote in the other one so we have an accurate tally at the end.)

Wow, thank you Pa Kettle. This was my first trip to Austin. I had heard about the great Austin MegaDo and was glad to be part of it this year. Hey, any event where Randy would take his wife to celebrate her birthday has got to be top notch. Julie, I hope you enjoyed your birthday breakfast BBQ at Snow's. It was so good to meet you.

Thank you Mackieman, TexasYankee too. Putting together a DO is serious hard work and all your efforts are greatly appreciated. #success

I'll be posting photos as soon as I can get to it. Hope all had an easy trip home.

Thanks to everyone who put this together, all the donations, and all the people who pitched in along to way to make it a success.

Enjoyed every minute of the weekend and every bite of BBQ.