It’s Time…..Spring 2026 Texas Hill Country MeatUp! Book Your Rooms Here!

[SheilaAnn]

WI Bubba looks like it! Trip advisor site…..

[Purc]

WI Bubba here are pitmasters klflowers 58limited and Mosca at the grill at the hotel from the last San Marcos MeatUp. They were grilling different sausages to serve with our various cheeses and crackers during cocktail hour at the hotel. We also had several bourbons offered to our group.

[WI Bubba]

Hmm... It's got the old brain hamster running in the wheel. Could be dangerous.

[Sid P]

I’m booked, arriving in Austin 2:00 Wednesday afternoon and departing Sunday evening. Hopefully that leaves me enough time to do the Burnt Bean on Sunday. Mosca klflowers and anyone else that will be around on Wednesday, do we have a dinner plan?

[Mosca]

My plane doesn’t land until 8:30 in Austin. That sometimes happens when it has to fit available free miles. I won’t be in San Marcos until later.

[klflowers]

I don't have anything Wednesday. We may be the only ones there. I'm game for whatever.

[jayjordan]

Bump....getting closer! Just looked, still rooms available at the Amazing Ribs price. Y'all come on down!

[Oak Smoke]

My reservations are made! I’ll be there.

[LA Pork Butt]

Looking forward to seeing you, and we’ll leave the light on for you.

[Oak Smoke]

Thank you guys. I’m humbled and grateful.

[Sid P]

Jeez, I figured you signed up on day one.

[Panhead John]

If you’re going to attend the MeatUp and haven’t booked a room yet, get a move on! In 11 days, on March 17, all remaining rooms in our block will be released to the general public. While you might be able to still get a room, your chances of getting one could go down each day. Also on March 17th the link to our discounted rate will expire, so, after the 17th, you’ll need to call the hotel to book your room. That’s all, carry on!

[CaptainMike]

If Lynn and Kevin are going, then I'm going.

[Oak Smoke]

I can see it now! Los tres amigos! Maybe a whole lot more than three!

[58limited]

Yay!

[Alan Brice]

Yup!

[Panhead John]

Dang! This is shaping up to be our biggest MeatUp so far….for Tx. and La. I’ve counted 16 members attending and 21 total with spouses. If we don’t have any cancellations, this will be our largest MeatUp so far! There’s going to be 5 people coming in on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, so I’ll start the new MeatUp post Wednesday morning.

[Sid P]

Has anyone taken an Uber or Lyft from the Austin airport to San Marcos? How much did it cost? TIA.

[CaptainMike]

I checked Uber this morning and it's in the $70 range on Wednesday afternoon. I'm leaving the hotel at 0500 Sunday morning and it's about $80.What are the dates and times for your flights? Maybe we can split the fare(s) if convenient. I'm arriving Wed at AUS around 5:00 PM.

[Sid P]

CaptainMike Thanks Mike, I’m so used to Lyft demanding my location I didn’t realize you can do an advance quote. I arrive at 2:00 Wednesday afternoon and need to be back at the airport around 4:30pm Sunday.

[58limited]

I was originally planning on meeting a friend for lunch on Thursday like I usually do when we have a San Marcos Meat Up but since several members are going to 2M, a place that I want to go to as well, I might change plans.

[Alan Brice]

Bump! We arr Aus. noonish Thur. I believe we are combining travel with SA, to the hotel. Kim is asking what plans there may already be arranged. Kinda along the lines of the Gaty Boat Tours.
I said we will have plenty of options but that was not good enough. Me thinks she wants to be sure n pack the proper Bonnet. I'm good but Kim gottsta know.
Just a reminder, if you are going to the Meatup, time is nearly past for booking your room!
Any help from veterans to ease my Kimmy's worried mind will be greatly appreciated. Panhead John

[SheilaAnn]

Yup. The three of us land within a few minutes of each other, so we will ride together to the hotel.

[Panhead John]

Be sure to thank whoever drives and, don’t be critical of their driving skills! 🥸

[Panhead John]

Bruce and others who might be interested…..at the first San Marcos MeatUp several of us did a guided tour of Natural Bridge Caverns and it was waaay cool! It’s located about halfway between San Marcos and San Antonio. They have guided tours that are offered about every 20-30 minutes [I think] Anyway the tour we went on lasted about an hour or so, some absolutely stunning scenery! Here’s a couple of videos I shot while there.

https://naturalbridgecaverns.com/

[Mosca]

The caverns are a once in a lifetime wonder. Highly recommended.

[SheilaAnn]

I would be down for this!

[texastweeter]

Well, while we were originally planning to make a surprise appearance, life has thrown a curveball....why is work always the pitcher though. I have to be in Santo Domingo Dominican Republic on the 20th. Not sure ill be able to cram these in back to back.

[SheilaAnn]

Boo! I was so looking forward to meeting y’all!

[58limited]

Dang, was hoping to swap a few game recipes.

[texastweeter]

58limited you can pm me text me, or call me bud.

[CaptainMike]

I really dislike having to do this, but I need to back out of this one. Too many spinning plates right now. Rena and I are hoping to make it out next fall. I was really looking forward to this one, too.

[texastweeter]

I HATE drywall work. Good luck.

[SheilaAnn]

Man oh man…..

[58limited]

Don't know how I missed this post the other day. Who needs a finished house? Come hang with your friends!

[Panhead John]

AMAZING RIBS MEATUPS, FUN FACTS!……….

Attending the MeatUps has always been one of the highlights of the year for me. Believe it or not, the next one in a few weeks will be the 11th MeatUp we’ve had! There’s been 7 in Texas, 1 in North Carolina and 2 in Lafayette, La. The one next month will be the 8th in Texas.

1. The 1st MeatUp was held in June of 2021 in Rockdale, Tx.
2. Rockdale - October 2021
3. Rockdale - April 2022
4. Blanco, Tx. - October 2022
5. Winston/Salem North Carolina - May 2023 Expertly put together by WayneT !
6. Lafayette, La. October 2023
7. San Marcos, Tx. - April 2024
8. San Marcos, Tx. October 2024
9. Spring, Tx. - April 2025
10. Lafayette, La. - October 2025
11. San Marcos, Tx. - April 2026…..upcoming

With one exception, everyone attending the MeatUp next month will have attended “at least” one MeatUp before. This will be the first one for jayjordan …hopefully it won’t be his last! I’ve had the pleasure of joining Uncle Bob and 58limited at every single MeatUp we’ve held in Texas and Louisiana….perfect attendance awards!

Since this will be our 3rd time in San Marcos the itinerary might be a little hard to pin down…with the exception of Thursday night’s dinner. I’m leaning towards visiting Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant for our traditional Thursday night Mexican dinner. We ate there previously and the food was pretty darn good if I’m not mistaken. It’s also close to the hotel, but I’m open to other suggestions! If WI Bubba is up to it and he has the passenger van, I’d expect a full load for Thursday night, but we’ll still need a few others to help with driving to the restaurant. It looks like we’ll have about 20 people total attending.

For lunch on Friday and Saturday, I’m guessing this will be a scattered affair, with 2 or more groups going to different places. I’m pretty sure that decisions on where to eat will be depending on if you’ve already been there before and want to try a new place, this is me for sure. If you haven’t been to this area before, your hardest decision will be where to eat! There’s so many choices of where to go, almost all within an hours drive or less. For these reasons I’d expect everyone’s choice of where to go will be decided on Thursday night or Friday morning, talking about it among ourselves.

My personal suggestions for anyone who hasn’t experienced Texas BBQ before, I have two recommendations….The Burnt Bean in Seguin and a visit to Lockhart! As we all know, the Burnt Bean was awarded Texas Monthly’s #1 BBQ joint in Texas! Me and others have eaten there before at least once and they are worthy of that award! The lines will be long, so if you go here’s a couple of tips. I’d suggest going on Friday morning instead of Saturday. Theoretically there should be less of a line on a weekday. Bring a folding chair if you’re able to, for the wait. Before their #1 ranking we got there around 10 am and the line wasn’t too bad. I’d suggest a 9:30 arrival time this go around, although I haven’t been lately and can’t say for sure.

If you decide to visit Lockhart, either Friday or Saturday you’ll be good on traffic. It’s about a 30 minute drive from the hotel down long and winding backroads, a very pleasant drive either day! Don’t miss out on Terry Blacks in Lockhart. While their food is very good, it’s the atmosphere, decor and layout of the place which makes it extra special. There’s also at least 4 or 5 very good BBQ joints in town in which to choose from, and they’re all less than a mile or so from each other.

I’m going to plan on visiting Austin for at least one day. There’s about 4 or 5 top notch places in the area that I haven’t tried before. One of them is KG BBQ, which several of you have raved about. Anyway, like a lot of you I won’t make my final decisions until I’m there. Only 19 more days!….but who’s counting. 🥸

[Mosca]

The 10AM arrival at Burnt Bean was good for a top 20 spot in the line; I think the second time it was top 10. In a week or so I’ll google “burnt bean wait time”.

[Panhead John]

They were ranked #4 on the 2021 list both times we all visited…and as of last year they’re now #1. 💪