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Georgia Mountain Eggfest

egret
egret Posts: 4,168
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Well, it's in the history books now! The first annual GA Mt. Eggfest is over and done. I have so many memories of this one.......Crimsongator showing up most unexpectedly was a wonderful surprise......thank you, Gene, for taking all that time and effort to be here! Fidel and crew with that super enthusiasm and putting out all that great stuff including those funnel cakes cooked on the BGE! Rebecca (eenie meenie) taking time out of her life to be here and cooking up a bunch of killer ribs. The great showing of the North GA eggers group that were so much a big part of this fest. Pork Butt MIke and Kim Youngblood for their most excellent classes. Jay (SSN686) coming up from Brandon, FL to be here. Bobby Cresap and Brenda Miller, long time good friends and huge BGE fans, thank you for being here. Kevin Jenkins and Fred Genovese from Talk Radio Station 1160 out of Atlanta. Jim and Kay Legros who came, and were welcome, as special invited guests. Michael Tripp and his daughter Wanda Hodges who cooked up some killer chicken wings among other things. J. Barrett Carter and his large cooking group that was first in line on the firing line as he masses arrived and put out some killer cooks. Lost the names temporarily, but, the two young gentlemen at the first booth on the left upon arriving who put out a huge effort. Paul Massey (outrageous) came all the way up from Tifton, GA to be here. If I've left anyone out, it's not that you're not important, it's just this old tired mind's not working well! :laugh:

Here are a few shots of our fest :

Main gate to the fest.
HiawasseeEggfest001.jpg
Jay (SSN686) doing his thing.
HiawasseeEggfest021.jpg
Chef and the Fatman from Talk Radio station 1160 out of Atlanta.
HiawasseeEggfest027.jpg
Some shots of our fest venue.
HiawasseeEggfest029.jpg
HiawasseeEggfest016.jpg
HiawasseeEggfest013.jpg
HiawasseeEggfest012.jpg
Looking forward to next year already.......

Comments

  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,676
    Sorry I couldn't make it this year John but beware I won't miss it next year :evil: :woohoo: :laugh:
  • eenie meenie
    eenie meenie Posts: 4,394
    John, I still have a big smile across my face thinking of your fest! :)

    The names of those two young gentleman in the booth on the left are Chris and Andy. Did they ever cook up a storm: a whole pork shoulder, a brisket, ribs, and several chickens. I predict they'll get a Bubba Tim Carnivore Meat Award one of these days. :lol: If Pat's coming next year, we'll have to keep him away from their booth. :woohoo:
  • SSN686
    SSN686 Posts: 3,500
    Morning John:

    BEAUTIFUL! EXCELLENT! WONDERFUL! GREAT! FANTASTIC!...not sure if I think of too many more superlatives to describe the 1st ANNUAL Georgia Mountain EggFest (I don't think you have to worry about the Omaha jinx!)...this was one of the most organized and fun fests I have attended...The total venue, Music Hall for the Meet & Greet, Fest area itself and the pavillion on top of the hill for the afterparty were unbelievable...

    For those who missed it here is the entrance area on Friday before everyone started showing up...
    GaMtn-05-1.jpg

    and the setup for the Meet & Greet...
    GaMtn-09.jpg

    the view from the afterparty area...
    GaMtn-13.jpg

    and the afterparty pavillion (just ignore those two characters to the right)...
    GaMtn-14.jpg

    Again...thanks for doing a great job...and tell all of your "helpers" how good of a job they did...see you again next year!!!!!!

    Have a GREAT day!

       Jay

    Brandon, FL


     

  • Firetruck
    Firetruck Posts: 2,679
    Awsome venue John. Sure wish I could have made it.
  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
    John, it was so much fun and well worth the trip over. As one of the nicest and most genuine folks on this forum, I had really hoped to make it over and support your fest. Everything from the relaxed M&G to camping with friends (thanks again Rod) and then having some remarkable food was just great!

    The highlights were the funnel cakes (Fidel), mini pancakes (girlyegg), pork with sauce OR BBQ shrimp OR pig candy (CTredwell) and of course the running joke between Little Chef and I.....oh the Mac and Cheese (Mint Tulip).

    I hope everyone made it home safely and look forward to doing it again in a year. Next time you and Joan find yourselves near Huntsville, we need to do dinner. Take care my friend!
  • John, I had no doubt. The pics look great and I can tell how much everyone enjoyed themselves. I think it will be even bigger next year. I hope to see you soon!
    Happily egging on my original large BGE since 1996... now the owner of 5 eggs. Call me crazy, everyone else does!
     
    3 Large, 1 Small, 1 well-used Mini
  • EmandM'sDad
    EmandM'sDad Posts: 648
    John, sounds like a great time! We'll be there next year for sure!
  • loco_engr
    loco_engr Posts: 5,759
    John:

    What a wonderful setting for an Eggfest!

    Gotta love all that shade!

    Thanks for the pics and congrats for what looks
    like an truly great eggfest!
    aka marysvilleksegghead
    Lrg 2008
    mini 2009
    XL 2021 (sold 8/24/23)
    Henny Youngman:
    I said to my wife, 'Where do you want to go for our anniversary?' She said, 'I want to go somewhere I've never been before.' I said, 'Try the kitchen.'
    Bob Hope: When I wake up in the morning, I don’t feel anything until noon, and then it’s time for my nap
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    Great pic's Jay. It looks like a wonderful place to be. ;)
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    It sure looks like a wonderful place to be. ;)
  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    Your first at bat was a grand slam baby!!!!! Awesome, simply awesome...now go rest for a bit, you & Joan desrve it. ;):)
  • GadgetGeek
    GadgetGeek Posts: 13
    It was a wonderful time. here is some numbers and a post to say how happy we at Chefandthefatman were at being there with you EggHeads.

    Georgia Mountain Eggfest 5/21/2011

    John Hall dreamed this event up over a year ago and made it all happen on Saturday last


    Thanks to the folks at Hiawassee Hardware the ordered Eggs got sent to the right place, loaded and then unloaded and then sent home with their new owners.

    I now know that 42 folks signed up for the Big Green Egg discount/take-away
    there were 58 cooks that signed in early online and by phone
    345 people Pre-bought tickets online
    AND 620 folks paid walk-in price

    We all came out for a lovely day there at the Park.


    The "midway" was packed at 10:45, and really packed at 1pm. I didn't hear about anyone running out of food, but this Eggfest like the others I have been to do not charge for food at the booths, a single ticket at the door is the whole deal. The guy in the booth next to CnFM cooked well over 100lbs of chicken drummettes to hand out, and most other cooks had the same story. We were busy with the show so I didn't get a chance to walk around and take pictures until after 3pm. By then the crowds had cleared, the folks were relaxing and some of them were heavy in preparation for "something special" for the "after" party. I drove back home and didn't do the after party, but I hear it was a well fed crowd that left the venue at midnight. ;)

    It is a terrific place to do that sort of thing and I hope we get a chance to do it again next year, it was shady, it was foodie, (they seemed to have relaxed the "no alcohol" rules for this event), and a bunch of good BGE users, new BGE owners/users and a small handful of vendors had a big day of it.

    I like Hiawassee a lot, and would go there and live but for it being even farther than Snellville is from the restaurants that we love. I also think that while I sortof dislike Helen (it seems seedier and even more touristy now), I do love the drive on GA. 75 North from Helen to Hiawassee. I would love it more in a sports car or on a motorcycle, but damn if it isn't fun wrestling the big Tahoe around those curves.

    I included a picture that I took while driving back from Hiawassee. I had thought I might get some good overlook shots so I placed my trusty camera on the passenger seat (CP was not with me on this trip), the camera was set to infinity and had multiple exposures set, so that when I pushed the button it would take somewhere near 7 frames/sec if all the conditions were right. Well I rounded a bend and there was a big Mama Black Bear and two cubs crossing the road in front of me, I slowed but did not stop (notice the blur in the pictures) and shot about 11 shots of the three of them before they went off the left side of the road into tall grass.


    Our dish for the after party. A sausage & Cheese stuffed butterflied Pork Loin wrapped in bacon.

    StuffedPorkLoin22.jpg

    Todd Hippo and his family vending his Carnivore line of fine BBQ sauces and rubs

    CarivoreBBQ22.jpg

    Winding down after a busy day feeding folks.

    Venue22.jpg

    Folks at the event

    VenueB22.jpg

    Yep, right out of the story. No Goldilocks showed up...

    3bears22.jpg

    .....
  • Hey, this is Chris and Andy. We had a blast at our first EggFest. The standard was set pretty high by John and the folks of Hiawassee. It was great meeting everyone and we'll be back!