Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

[JeffJ]

This is the result of allowing MCS to get the better of you. A few weeks ago I sold my Bradley electric to a friend/neighbor. Since adding the OKJ my wife has been really bothered by its encroachment on our patio. Let's face it, an 18' diameter patio with a round table and chairs + PBC, 26" Kettle, Performer and now an OKJ is just too much. So, I'm moving the Performer "Up North". My parents have a place in northern Michigan and we get up there a few times per year. So, this is more like sending your kid away to college rather than an outright departure. We are heading up for Memorial Day tomorrow evening and tonight will be its last night on my patio. The silver lining is obvious - it will be at the vacation place. My parents have an older Weber 3-burner Spirit and we have a Smokey Joe up there, but for charcoal cooking I was bringing up my 14.5 WSM. Now, all I'll need to bring is the SnS. Looking forward to having it up there but I will miss it, so this is bitter sweet.

[RonB]

At least it's not just gone.

[JeffJ]

Agreed. I can still visit.

[Mr. Bones]

Tough to do, but at least it'll still be accessible, on occasion. Once ya talk her into a bigger patio, mebbe it can return home??

Hoistin a toast to yer Performer, fer now...

[ComfortablyNumb]

The solution is obvious, you need a bigger patio....

[FireMan]

C’mon, gimme a break! She ain’t goin nowhere out of yer life. Ya still has her, just in a more nicer local. It’s up north & in Michigan you say that with reverence. Plus, ya kin still write letters & texts & stuff. And when ya get up there ya appreciate it even more. Nope, everything is juss fine!

[JeffJ]

Yep! That's how I'm looking at this. Also, it's a 22" kettle. I am still retaining a 18" kettle (Jumbo Joe) and a 26" kettle. Plus, I LOVE the fact this this "old friend" will be up there and it will get put through its paces, once again, this weekend.

[Mudkat]

Just don't forget about the little 14.5". You'll have to take it on a trip every once in a while. They're bred for road trips, not rocking chairs. 😀

[JeffJ]

Funny story about the Smokey Joe...the reason we have it up there is that I brought up the 14.5 WSM to smoke 22 individual cut short ribs but somehow managed to leave the lower grate at home. I bought the Smokey Joe solely for the grate so that I could fully utilize the small WSM.

[Huskee]

You could've taken it to central MI and saved a few miles.....

[JeffJ]

That was my initial plan and I tried to put a map pin there and...it was weird...something about MCS overload in that part of the state...it was difficult to translate and it came through muddled but a few keywords jumped out...Yoder..SnS..A--on......my GPS was overwhelmed...

[Troutman]

It’s not goodbye but so long !! I did the same with a gasser I had, brought it to my beach house but the salt air rusted it out. Another sad goodbye

[Mr. Bones]

It's tough, at those moments!

[JeffJ]

It's still out there. I look forward to cooking on it this summer at its new location.

[Skip]

Have a good trip. Be sure to Buckle Up and Call when you get there!

[Nuke em]

Ya mean a porch is meant to have chairs and tables? Yeah right. ppppphhhhhtttt. When pigs fly

[smokin fool]

I'm planning to build a second deck for cookin toys alone....planning being the operative word here, will see if it gets done or not.

[Anton32828]

The best thing I ever did was install a paver-stone porch out back. Room for grill & smoker, plus a fire pit in the cool weather. I call it my $2000 BBQ accessory (it's not terribly big, but does the job). Budget permitting, think about adding extra real-estate to your patio.

Warning: it may increase your consumption of alcohol. Nothing says, "drink a cocktail after a long day at work" like a nice lounger sitting out back by the fire pit.

[JeffJ]

My wife initially said that there was no way we were adding a stick-burner, even a small one like the OKJ, without expanding the patio. Patio expansion isn't in the budget, so relocating the Performer was my compromise.

[jfmorris]

JeffJ you will have to change up your avatar with the Performer leaving the patio! . Sorry to see it go, but it sounds like you needed a good charcoal cooker up north anyway. I've got 3 "out of use" cookers stashed at the end of the house, out of sight from the pool, as I just could not keep so many out by the pool and still have room for other stuff! The 4 burner Genesis displaced the old 2 burner Genesis to Siberia, along side the offset and my son in law's crappy dual fuel Charbroil thing that is one of those side by side charcoal and gas grills - where neither side is very good! I gotta convince him to ditch that when they move into a house next year. For now I get to store it for him.

[JeffJ]

Agreed regarding the avatar. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while anyway as it's gotten kind of stale.

[klflowers]

I want, I mean I don't want this "problem".

[JeffJ]

jfmorris Per your suggestion, I've changed my avatar. It is the view out of my parents' place "Up North". I thought it was appropriate as this is where the Performer is going to reside effective tonight.

[JeffJ]

jfmorris That is Lake Charlevoix. It's a beautiful lake. It's bottom is all sand. The surface area of the lake is 17,250 acres. The main body of the lake is 14 miles long (the south arm is 9 miles long). It's maximum depth is 122 feet and it attaches to Lake Michigan. My avatar picture doesn't do it justice. Try this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=lake+charlevoix&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiar9rio7LiAhVDJt8KHUH7COIQ_AUIDygC&biw=1680&bih=939

[jfmorris]

Wow looks like an amazing lake! Much prettier than the muddy Tennessee river that I used to run up and down with the kids in a runabout (pulling them on skis and tubes). Get a strategic grilling shot of the Performer smoking with the lake in the background down the hill!

[JeffJ]

jfmorris I'll try. Unfortunately all grills have to be kept out front. But, we have a gap between my parent's unit and the next one, so I should be able to pull it off, but it will be at ground level, not from up high.