Welcome Mike you came to the right place. Lots of great information and people on this site. You'll love the versatility of the 26er for real estate, grilling and even smoking. I have a pile of Webers and the 26er is my go to kettle and is the only one that has a spot on the patio. Spend some time in the weber kettle section on some of the older posts to see some of the mods and uses of the 26. Gary S has spent a lot of time discussing the many, many different ways he uses his 26er.