Alabama students create BBQ road trip for class

ALABAMA: Barbecue-eating a 'tasty academic' course at Birmingham-Southern College

Four college students spent January traveling around the South, eating at some of the best barbecue restaurants as part of a self-designed class that combined academics with pulled pork.

They documented their experience with stories, photos and video posted on a blog and the Web site they built, southernbbqboys.com. Those components, along with a final essay each one is currently finishing, are being graded by the English instructor who helped them design the class.

The four mapped out a trip through Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. They stuck to places that specialize in pork "because Southerners KNOW pork is the only real barbecue."

Here's where they went:

• Germantown Commissary , Memphis, Tenn.
• Neely's Bar-b-que , Memphis, Tenn.
• Corky's BBQ , Memphis, Tenn.
• Jack's Bar-b-que , Nashville, Tenn.
• Sticky Fingers RibHouse , Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Lexington Barbecue No. 1 , Lexington, N.C.
• The Pit , Raleigh, N.C.
• Stamey's , Greensboro, N.C.
• B's Barbecue and Grill , Greenville, N.C.
• Wilber's Barbecue , Goldsboro, N.C.
• Scott BBQ , Hemingway, S.C.
• Sweatman's Bar-b-que , Holly Hill, S.C.
• Fresh Air Bar-B-Que , Athens, Ga.
• Old Clinton Bar-b-q , Gray, Ga.
• Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q , Atlanta, Ga.
• Byron's Smoke House , Auburn, Ala.
• Dreamland Bar-B-Q , Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q , Decatur, Ala.

Also in the South:

ARKANSAS: Projects listed for proposed tobacco-tax hike money

FLORIDA: Bill introduced to enforce Internet sales tax collection

GEORGIA: House votes to ban property assessment increases for two years

KENTUCKY: Lawmakers consider major overhaul of business incentive program

LOUISIANA: Port of South Louisiana sees 10% decrease in cargo

MISSISSIPPI: NAACP turns 100, fights to keep struggle alive

NORTH CAROLINA: State sees decline in tobacco's influence

SOUTH CAROLINA: DHEC board approves coal plant near Florence

TENNESSEE: Four state legislators want President Obama to prove citizenship

VIRGINIA: Embattled head of state GOP to give up seat in House

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