Texas MeatUp April 10-13, 2025! Book Your Rooms Here…

[Panhead John]

Located in Spring, just a few minutes from our hotel, is a shopping/dining/entertainment district called Old Town Spring. It’s a walkable area comprised of over 100 small mom and pop businesses, including Corkscrew BBQ. I thought I’d throw this in there for anyone who’d like a little diversion while in town. It’s really a pretty neat place and is well known here in Houston. Just a few of the highlights which might interest our crowd…..a few breweries, a “home made tamales” shop, a hot sauce store that also sells salsas, rubs and BBQ sauce, souvenir and T-shirt shops, a cigar shop… and don’t tell Mosca or we’ll never see him again, but there’s also a cheese shop! 😳 In addition there’s antique stores and even a knitting place which should interest WI Bubba 🤓. There’s a whole lot more than this so I’ll include a link to Old Town Spring’s website, as well as links to some of the stores I’ve mentioned above.

https://oldtownspringshopping.com/

[Mosca]

That looks interesting. I will have a cooler bag with me. (Every time I think I’m making headway on my cheese stash I find something else I have to try. I’ve decided it’s hopeless. Most recent is smoked blue cheese, which is insane.)

I was hoping that “just a few minutes from the hotel” meant walking distance, but G Maps says 9 minutes by car and an hour on foot, so, nope. But it’s excellent that Corkscrew is right there.

[WI Bubba]

I could use some new mid-point circular needles. Thanks for the heads up!

[58limited]

I'll be checking out Excalibur Brewing for sure.

[Panhead John]

Long range weather forecast for Houston next week looks……..great, so far! 🙏



Sunny
78°/56°
11%
S 8 mph Thu 10

Sunny
79°/54°
9%
NW 14 mph Fri 11

Sunny
81°/59°
15%
WNW 9 mph Sat 12

Sunny
82°/60°
4%
NNW 15 mph Sun 13


Another forecast……this one From The Weather Channel..👇


Wed 09
Sunny
76°/55°
22%
SE 8 mph

Thu 10
Sunny
80°/56°
19%
W 13 mph

Fri 11
Sunny
82°/58°
19%
NW 13 mph

Sat 12
Sunny
85°/62°
12%
S 15 mph

Sun 13
Mostly Sunny
86°/65°
12%
S 16 mph

👍👍👍

[Mosca]

Huskee You know that can be done, right? Just get on the plane!

[Huskee]

Mosca Even if I wasn't a sceerdy cat with flying, I can't afford that lavish lifestyle y'all live

[Mosca]

I gotcha. Actually, we do almost nothing. We were planning on traveling after I retired: Ireland, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc, but Mrs can’t now. She would be upset if I didn’t go. But except for this, we don’t do anything, so there’s budget for this. Her slot machines balance it out.

[Michael_in_TX]

Has anyone tried to modify their reservation online? If I try to shrink my stay, I lose the discounted rate. (Maybe this is the world telling me I should not do that lol!)

[58limited]

Call them directly.

[LA Pork Butt]

+ 1

[Panhead John]

Michael, you’ll need to call the sales manager directly. I’ll PM you his cell #.

[Panhead John]

Just a heads up for anyone who might be thinking of attending…our block of rooms they were holding is now released and back on the market for the general public. The link at the beginning of The MeatUp post is no longer valid or working. If you want to attend though, YOU CAN STILL GET OUR DISCOUNTED RATE by calling the Sales Manager directly on his cell phone. PM me and I’ll give you his cell phone number. IF ANYONE ATTENDING NEEDS TO CHANGE THE DAYS YOU'RE STAYING, please do the same, PM me for his number….Thanks!

BE SURE TO MENTION YOU’RE WITH THE AMAZING RIBS GROUP

[Panhead John]

ONE LAST WEATHER REPORT…🥸

The weather is going to be almost PERFECT for the MeatUp next week. All the local TV news are in agreement. We’ve got a cold front coming through this Saturday that will drop our temps and the humidity for the next week. Woo hoo! We’re going to have sunny skies, low humidity and daytime temps in the mid 70’s to the low 80’s!

[Panhead John]

I’m bringing my Speedo!

[Davek8282]

Thank God I can't visualize you in a speedo John

[Draznnl]

Brrrr!! That's long pants weather.

[Michael_in_TX]

Yes, this is a photo of me from two decades ago, but it expresses how happy I am right now.



I had some expected major expenses....simply not materialize so I will be there Thurs through Sun!

(Also, if you are allergic to cats, perhaps do not sniff my clothing. I have twenty-one of these babies and they like to help me pack!)

[MBMorgan]

I'll add to the warning. I don't have 21 cats ... but I do have one that is probably four times the size of the one on your shoulder ... and is a spectacularly prolific feline hair factory. Let the sniffers beware ...

[58limited]

I'm bringin' my cat so you all can sniff right from the source if you want.

[Panhead John]

I’ll bring some Elmer’s in case y’all wanna sniff some glue instead.

[Huskee]

Sad that I'll be missin' all this sniffin'.

[Purc]

123

[Michael_in_TX]

I wonder what gastronomical adventure we all will be celebrating exactly one week from now?

[Panhead John]

Dickey’s?

[MBMorgan]

Thanks for reminding me: Just checked and I've got plenty of Prisolec and Tums in stock.

[SheilaAnn]

Panhead John I’ll miss you……

[58limited]

Its crawfish season if anyone is interested for one of the evening meals. Boiled crawfish are popular in the area: Spring has a Crawfish and Music Festival from 4/18-4/27 so I'm sure there are several restaurants that have them.

[Panhead John]

For the weirdos who don’t eat seafood….🤓

https://pappasitos.com/location/61

[J-Melt]

Pappasito’s has been one of my favorite spots to hit during my Texas visits over the years! Their fajitas are really good.

[SheilaAnn]

I’ll eat crawdads all day!

[Michael_in_TX]

The weather does look fantastic this coming week!

[Sweaty Paul]

Envious of you all. I know you will all have a great time and fabulous eating adventures. Hope to make one of these events in the coming years.

[Panhead John]

Better hurry, most of us are already kinda old…

[Sweaty Paul]

Panhead John I have this pesky problem called work.

[Panhead John]

Have your boss call me Paul. I’ll get him straightened out for you. 🤓

[Michael_in_TX]

Getting the bad weather out of the way before next week.

[Jfrosty27]

Panhead John Geez John. 49 was our HIGH today. 🤣🙄

[Mosca]

We hit 46°, with thundershowers.

[MBMorgan]

Didn't quite make it to 40 today. Light snow the whole time.

[Panhead John]

Heh, heh heh….

[realdocBBQ]

Yeah, you won't be laffing in July and August.

[MBMorgan]

Might have to rethink this meatup trip ... temps look 15-20 degrees too high for my taste ...

[acorgihouse]

Looks like I'll need sweater for the evenings! We have been hitting 90s already.

[Panhead John]

UPDATE TO THE PREVIOUSLY UPDATED UPDATE…

For the folks coming who haven’t attended one of our Meatups before, here’s a general idea of our plans and what to expect.

Thursday afternoon/evening… After checking into the hotel we usually all meet downstairs in the lobby/seating area for a few drinks and to meet up with old friends and make some new ones, usually from around 4 to 6:30 or so. Around 6:15 to 6:30 we leave for our traditional Thursday night Tex-Mex/Mexican food dinner. After dinner it’s back to the hotel lobby for the big party! It’s been known for some of these to last well past 9:30!…..

Friday….Around 8-9 am people start filtering in for coffee in the lobby and to finalize our lunch plans for the day. Realistically, the majority of us will have BBQ at 2 different places, for lunch Friday and lunch Saturday. The majority of the top places close in the mid-afternoon or when they sell out. Feel free to order extra BBQ for a dinner meal OR some of us go to a nearby restaurant for dinner OR a few times we’ve had pizza delivered to the hotel, the choice is all yours. Even if you’re flying in I STRONGLY URGE EVERYONE TO BRING A COOLER of some type. You will thank me later…😉 One of the reasons you should bring a cooler is that 58limited had a great idea a while back of bringing his vacuum sealer for folks who wanted to freeze any leftover BBQ… for folks who wanted to bring some home with them. We will have a food sealer this weekend for anyone who would like to do so. Remember also that each of our rooms has a full size fridge with freezer for us to use. Bring some type of cooler anyway! 🥸

Saturday… This is basically a repeat of Friday, meeting in the lobby for coffee in the morning and to decide where we go for lunch that day. Most of the BBQ places open for lunch at 11am. Wherever we go, we should plan on being in line no later than 10-10:15am. In the past, we’ve found it’s better to get there early to avoid even longer lines after they open. It’s actually kinda fun to wait in line and talk with other like minded BBQ freaks. It’s not like we’re going to the DMV… Here’s a list of some nearby TOP NOTCH BBQ joints we can choose from. Remember, anyone is free to go anywhere you’d like, there’s no pressure here.

1. Tejas Chocolate and BBQ….in nearby Tomball
2. Bar A BBQ…..located about 25-30 minutes away in Montgomery, Tx.
3. Corkscrew BBQ… a recent Michelin Star winner right there in Spring, maybe 10 minutes from the hotel
4. Truth BBQ…Ranked #3 on Texas Monthly’s last Top 50 list in 2021, about 25-30 minutes away from the hotel.

There’s a few more I can recommend if needed, but most of them are a bit of a drive. 58limited and myself have eaten at all of the above places and there ain’t a dud in the bunch, there’s a few we liked a little better than others, but it’s all good! Spoiler Alert! Tejas and Bar A should be on your list…

Sunday… We meet again downstairs for coffee and our goodbyes….

For anyone wanting to make dinner plans for Friday or Saturday nights, I’ll have some other restaurant recommendations for us, all will be fairly close by. One thing about Houston, we’ve got plenty of great restaurants here, whether it’s Mexican, Thai food, Cajun seafood or whatever….you can find it here!

[Uncle Bob]

Sunny and I are usually in the motel breakfast area 30 seconds after it opens, that 8-9 thing is for the more "delicate" in the group....

[Mosca]

I usually get there right after 7AM, you guys have empty plates and the second cup of coffee already!

[Purc]

I'll be the fourth as before.