2014 "Cheesburger In Paradise" Poker Run held back in July 2014
Read the Star Telegrams version of the story:
http://www.dfw.com/2014/07/29/912910/cheeseburgers-in-paradise-at-eagle.html
First things first, if you missed out on the Cheeseburger in Paradise Poker Run well you missed out on something special. The Eagle Mountain Classic Boat Club
did a top notch job in organizing this 1st annual event and from the great turnout their will be more to come. The low water depth did not stop us what so ever. We did not have any problems getting to the 4 lake establishments we visited. First, all of us met at the beginning at Eagle Mountain Marina to register and receive our first cards. Nick Maggio, Andy Butchard, and Dan Stober of the club had everything running smoothly from the get go. Nick even brought along with him a temperature gauge, scale, and tape measure to accurately give out the readings of all cheeseburgers at every stop. Since I was a captain of a ship I received a joker card. I thought I was off and running with a winning hand. I could just taste victory and we hadn't even left the starting gate. But as usual I always count my chickens before they hatch as we'll see by the end. So off I went with my top notch crew. Pictured below.
The first stop on this expedition was West Bay Grill @ West Bay Marina where they sure were waiting for us.
Andy Butchard, Nick Maggio, Walter Covington, Dan Stober @ West Bay Marina.
After sampling the cheeseburger here I thought that the contest was over. I thought this one was going to be hard to beat but again I'm counting my chickens before they hatch again. We proceeded to eat a little bit of the cheeseburger and sides to much delight. I had a lot of room in my stomach because I received several calls from club organizers the day before not to eat at all before coming out the event. I followed those instructions to a tea. After scoring my results on the scorecard and got my second card which was an ace then it was time to load up the pontoon boat and off we went towards Lakeview Marina to Poppy's Restaurant Grill & Bar. But a funny thing happened along the way and we came under attack by something out of the sky. I thought it was "Hells Angels" in the air coming in for the kill or Lake Patrol in disguise. As this object from outer space zoomed down upon us it started taking pictures of us like this one.
Well, it so happens it was a Drone accompanying us on our journey. The Drone was being operated by contestant Bryant Gaines and his son Parker. I tell yah this poker run just keeps getting better and better. After getting distracted by the Drone and posing for it a few times we zoomed on as seen in this photo.
We reached our second stop along the way Poppy's Restaurant where we were met by their Harbor Master and he made sure we were put in the right places. Then we proceeded to sample their Cheeseburger to much delight and then proceeded to chat with the media that was there covering the poker run.
I received my 3rd playing card which was a jack. So as it stands right now I have an; ace, jack, and wild card. Pretty good so far. I'm telling my crew at this point that drinks are on me at the Fort Worth Boat Club after the event. LOL! Now it's off to the third stop, Augies followed by the eye in the sky which hovered over again and shot this picture.
As we were making the long trek to Augies
I kept thinking that I've had this cheeseburger many times and have been impressed by it, but so far by now the first 2 stops we've made have passed the grade on taste tests. So as we are traveling the 20 or so minutes down to Augies I've got my 1st mate, Gary McGinnity on the phone app navigation system, Navionics to make sure we stay in the channel and not hit a sandbar. Gary did a great job in that department as we reached the main body of the lake without incident. We came upon Augies and had to beach all the boats. At this point I'm telling the crew that Cheeseburger part of it is over. This place is going to win before we even get to our last destination of Boon-Docks. Here I go again counting my chickens again and oh, by the way, I drew a douce card putting my poker hand in serious jeopardy. Plus to add to the fact that someone already had 3 jacks. I was about to cry foul before I had my fifth card but the club marked the cards with everybody's name on them to prevent cheating. The Augies burger was as good as always. Now it's time to proceed to our last stop, Boon-Docks. We pulled right in and were greeted by owner/partner, Dusty Gregg. I briefed him on what has happened on the 3 previous stops. He and his partner in the restaurant, Steve McDonald were ready for the challenge along with their head chef. I could swear it was Gordon Ramsey on the hot plate. So it was put up or shut up time so we sent JD McKown take the first bite
J.D. McKown put in his vote for Boon-Docks.
and then ate the whole thing. The contest was over for him. He declared Boon-Docks the winner but wait a minute JD just because you have 35 years out on this lake your word isn't the only word today. Their are still 40 other people voting on who has the best cheeseburger on the lake. So now you want to know who was declared the winner of the 1st annual "Cheeseburger in Paradise" poker run. Well, after Nick & Melissa Maggio tallied up all the ballots the winner was Boon-Docks. 2nd place went to West Bay Grill. 3rd place went to Augies and 4th place went to Poppy's. In all I'd have to say that all 4 of the lake establishments had a great cheeseburger as reflected by the ballots. For winning the best Cheeseburger on the lake contest Dusty Gregg and Steve McDonald of Boon-Docks will receive a plaque from the club to display proudly in their restaurant. In closing I would have to say you can't go wrong by eating at any of these 4 establishments. Oh, I forgot to tell you what my last card was. It was a 3 so I lost the poker hand which meant I couldn't buy my crew drinks at the Fort Worth Boat Club.
Lake & land peeps I encourage you to attend these events. They are open to the public. The #1 concern I get is that I don't know anybody there at these events. I guarantee, you will know someone there and probably more than one person. It is for you. These individuals and clubs live to prepare a great event for you. In addition, they are hassle and drama free. The hosts will be the first to greet you.
The last stop @ Boon-Docks.