Welcome to the madness. Get a food grade, unlined 55 gallon drum and make an Ugly/Upright/Unbeatable Drum Smoker. They are FANTASTIC!
Where are you from originally, that you were surrounded by BBQ joints? We've got people from all over.
And our own Bugnasty just moved to QC, was saying how terrible it will be living right near the Pork shop!