Event (PICTURES ADDED) 11th Annual South Florida Gathering - December 2-4, 2022

Hey Everyone!
We've decided to host the 11th annual gathering the weekend of December 2-4, 2022 this year! The normal weekend in November that we usually booked has filled up.

The gathering will be at Highland Hammock State Park in Sebring, FL. Feel free to come, go and camp as much as you want. Our main day is Saturday the 3rd where we generally cook, eat, drink and play games all day! No planned meals on this day as we normally just cook and eat all day. Some people come the entire weekend and some just come for saturday. There are hotels that can be booked nearby as well.

We'll discuss having a friendly rib competition and other competitions that we've done in the past shortly. As always, check back to this post on Page 1 for updates, i'll be updating this post as details and campsites are booked.

If you book a site, please let us know where and i'll add that to here. If you look at the map on the booking site we generally around Site 80-83 and we'll have a gathering site where we set up tents for meals, games and much more

Attendees and Site
78 fxsales1959
79 Discus39
80 floridasteve
81 dougmays
82 @orlandosmoking
83 @orlandosmoking
86 @orlandosmoking
87 @orlandosmoking
88 (Main Gathering Site) JckDanls 07
89 JckDanls 07

Activities
Snack Stick Making?
Cold Smoking Cheese?

Competition(s)
Friendly Rib Cook Off

• No KCBS or FBA judging, no categories...just "favorite rib".
• Judges might be internal (friends and family) or neighboring campers
• Any Pork or Beef Rib will do
• We'll set a turn-in time but we can be flexible

Cocktail Comp? We did this once in the past, just throwing the idea out there

Supplies needed

• Paper Plates
• Plasticware ( dougmays )
• Napkins and/or paper towels
• Vacuum sealers
• Vac seal bags
• ziplocks
• Firewood (for nightly bonfire)
• Extra Ice

 

[Discus39]

We had a great time this weekend. Thank you Keith for the lesson on snack sticks and sausage. Ill be getting some new equipment for x-mas i appreciate all the advice on how to manage my fire and smoke from Al Keith and Brian.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Where to start... ( let me apologize now for the length)

First off... Everybody (not just the S. Fl. crew) Please, Please, say a prayer for one of our fellow crew members and family, John and carol506 . John is battling some cancer right now and it's not sounding to well... John and Carol, Charlotte and I have y'all deep in our thoughts and we pray everyday for a succesful outcome... We missed y'all ...

Lets all thank Jeff ( TulsaJeff ) for such an AMAZING forums... Without him these gatherings never would have came about... Also, Jeff, Thanks for sending all the SMF Swag. It was greatly apperciated...

Brian ( bmudd14474 ) and all the other Admins and Moderators... Thanks for all the work y'all do here on the forums, keeping it clean and family friendly without all the drama ...

Also to Brian... What a great surprise it was to turn around from loading the smokehouse and seeing you and son Micheal standing there ... Now we just need to get Jerry ( pineywoods ) to come on down... And Joe ( boykjo ) to make a return visit ...

Now its Doug ( dougmays ) and Al's ( SmokinAl ) turn for a BIG THANK YOU. Thanks to both of y'all for starting the best gathering on the forums... Sure the headcount was a little less than usual but still a good time was had by all...

Al and Ms Judy, thanks for stopping in and hanging out for a while... It was great to see y'all again ...

It was great to meet a few new members John ( Fueling Around ) and his wife, And John ( fxsales1959 ) and his wife... I hope we didn't scare them to bad so they will return next year .. John ( Fueling Around )... Please tell your wife I'm sorry she wasn't feeling well and a BIG thank you for comforting Rob.

Mark ( Discus39 ).. Thanks brother for all the contributions you made to help the gathering be a success... preciate it brother ... If you have anymore questions on anything don't be afraid to give out a shout... I'll do my best to answer or point ya in the right direction ...

And last but not least... Congrats to the winners of the "Friendly Competitions"
Steve ( floridasteve ) 1st place in ribs...
John ( fxsales1959 ) 2nd place in ribs ...
Mark ( Discus39 ) 1st place for Cocktail (mini beer) ... They were delicious...

Again... Thanks to everybody for coming out and making the 11th annual S. Fl. Gathering a huge success ...

 

[gmc2003]

I thought Brian lived in California.

Chris

 

[JckDanls 07]

I thought Brian lived in California.

Chris

I thought so to... and he did... but he quietly moved to Fl. and secretly graced us with his presence... I can't imagine the look on my face when I turned around to see him standing there (I had met him before at the N. Fl. Gathering)...

 

[Brokenhandle]

I thought so to... and he did... but he quietly moved to Fl. and secretly graced us with his presence... I can't imagine the look on my face when I turned around to see him standing there (I had met him before at the N. Fl. Gathering)...

I was thinking the same thing! Was thinking he really wanted to go to your gathering lol. Looks like alot of fun was had!

Ryan

 

[dougmays]

clifish - Sorry for the delay, i'm out of town for a work on-site. So this was the ruff "camping edition" of a dish i make pretty often. Normally i do Asparagus, 2 sticks of butter, garlic cloves (sliced thin), lemon slices and lemon juice. Cooked in the oven at 400-420 for 20-25 mins. i'll see if i can find a picture of the real deal :)

Great times for sure!! I'm glad we got alot of new and old faces, i actually think this is one of the biggest ones we've had!

Thanks everyone for the contributions, experience, knowledge, entertainment and willingness to help!

Cannot wait till next year! Speaking of....we've gotta start thinking about booking because these dates fill up quickly. What does everyone feel about keeping it in early Dec or bringing it back to the 2nd weekend in Nov? Maybe too soon as we are all still catching up on sleep and sore livers

 

[SmokinAl]

clifish - Sorry for the delay, i'm out of town for a work on-site. So this was the ruff "camping edition" of a dish i make pretty often. Normally i do Asparagus, 2 sticks of butter, garlic cloves (sliced thin), lemon slices and lemon juice. Cooked in the oven at 400-420 for 20-25 mins. i'll see if i can find a picture of the real deal :)

Great times for sure!! I'm glad we got alot of new and old faces, i actually think this is one of the biggest ones we've had!

Thanks everyone for the contributions, experience, knowledge, entertainment and willingness to help!

Cannot wait till next year! Speaking of....we've gotta start thinking about booking because these dates fill up quickly. What does everyone feel about keeping it in early Dec or bringing it back to the 2nd weekend in Nov? Maybe too soon as we are all still catching up on sleep and sore livers

Doug, I think this is a great date. We are almost sure of nice weather. In November it can & does get hot, as you know.
Al

 

[SmokinAl]

I know a bunch of you guys took photo’s, most of mine were a massive upload from Judy’s iPhone. So post up what you got!
Al

 

[Fueling Around]

...
Cannot wait till next year! Speaking of....we've gotta start thinking about booking because these dates fill up quickly. What does everyone feel about keeping it in early Dec or bringing it back to the 2nd weekend in Nov? Maybe too soon as we are all still catching up on sleep and sore livers

I like the first weekend of December. That's the earliest I can be there.

I know a bunch of you guys took photo’s, most of mine were a massive upload from Judy’s iPhone. So post up what you got!
Al

Al
Neither I nor my wife took any photos of the soiree.
I missed some good ones of Keith stuffing the sticks and Discus39 prepping the suckling pig.
Here's the only photo I took on Saturday and that was when my wife and I went for a bicycle tour.

View attachment 650468

 

[Discus39]

I think the 1st weekend of December is perfect.
For all you tent campers I reccomend looking into this website for camper rentals. Outdoorsy.com , all sizes and options available from pop ups to diesel pushers and 5th wheels. It is what I use a few times a year when we venture out.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Doesn't matter to me which weekend... As long as I know ahead of time to put in for vacation...

 

[bmudd14474]

Everyone it was great to be there even for a few hours. I wish I would have thought to video me coming up to Keith as he looked so surprised like he had seen a ghost.

If you have never been to a gather I would encourage it as you get to meet people that you only get to type to on a normal basis which is great because you can truly get to know them and that is hard to do via typing.

I look forward to next year. Maybe ill stay a bit longer this time. LOL

 

[dougmays]

Discus39 I might look into a camper for next year, especially if i'm bringing Brad!

Sounds like the first of December is most popular, let's do it! The booking site only allows you to book 11 months in advance so next year, the first weekend would be 12/1-12/3 of 2023. So we can start booking 1/1/23

 

[fxsales1959]

Where to start... ( let me apologize now for the length)

First off... Everybody (not just the S. Fl. crew) Please, Please, say a prayer for one of our fellow crew members and family, John and carol506 . John is battling some cancer right now and it's not sounding to well... John and Carol, Charlotte and I have y'all deep in our thoughts and we pray everyday for a succesful outcome... We missed y'all ...

Lets all thank Jeff ( TulsaJeff ) for such an AMAZING forums... Without him these gatherings never would have came about... Also, Jeff, Thanks for sending all the SMF Swag. It was greatly apperciated...

Brian ( bmudd14474 ) and all the other Admins and Moderators... Thanks for all the work y'all do here on the forums, keeping it clean and family friendly without all the drama ...

Also to Brian... What a great surprise it was to turn around from loading the smokehouse and seeing you and son Micheal standing there ... Now we just need to get Jerry ( pineywoods ) to come on down... And Joe ( boykjo ) to make a return visit ...

Now its Doug ( dougmays ) and Al's ( SmokinAl ) turn for a BIG THANK YOU. Thanks to both of y'all for starting the best gathering on the forums... Sure the headcount was a little less than usual but still a good time was had by all...

Al and Ms Judy, thanks for stopping in and hanging out for a while... It was great to see y'all again ...

It was great to meet a few new members John ( Fueling Around ) and his wife, And John ( fxsales1959 ) and his wife... I hope we didn't scare them to bad so they will return next year .. John ( Fueling Around )... Please tell your wife I'm sorry she wasn't feeling well and a BIG thank you for comforting Rob.

Mark ( Discus39 ).. Thanks brother for all the contributions you made to help the gathering be a success... preciate it brother ... If you have anymore questions on anything don't be afraid to give out a shout... I'll do my best to answer or point ya in the right direction ...

And last but not least... Congrats to the winners of the "Friendly Competitions"
Steve ( floridasteve ) 1st place in ribs...
John ( fxsales1959 ) 2nd place in ribs ...
Mark ( Discus39 ) 1st place for Cocktail (mini beer) ... They were delicious...

Again... Thanks to everybody for coming out and making the 11th annual S. Fl. Gathering a huge success ...

Sorry for the late response. A special thanks to Mark and Keith for the take home treats. After a three hour trip dragging the trailer and gear home, I had to unload and load up a rental for a 3 day broadcast show i did in Orlando. Linda hid a pouch of 5 spice snack sticks in my travel bag which reminded me of the weekend while I was working the convention floor. I think I have new hobby coming trying to create snack sticks. I'm sure many questions will follow.

 

[JckDanls 07]

ok.. So which flavor of the snack sticks did y'all like best ??

 

[fxsales1959]

without a doubt, the 5 spice. wishi had been a piggy and grabbed more than one pouch.

 

[JckDanls 07]

the 5 spice.

That was actually 7 Pepper... and pretty much my favorite ...

 

[Discus39]

7 pepper by far my favorite. The jalapeño mixed was a close 2nd.

 

[fxsales1959]

That was actually 7 Pepper... and pretty much my favorite ...

killed a lot of brain cells that weekend... my bad thank you for the treats

 

[bakerman]

Looks like y'all had a blast. Really enjoying the pictures. Fun trying to put faces to the names. Thanks for sharing all the fun.