Local participating in barbecue study

By Staff
Melissa Cason
Learning can feel like a chore, but for one Russellville native learning is more like an adventure.
Art Richey is taking off with three college friends this week in route to visit the most unique and famous barbeque restaurants in the South in hopes of finding out what makes the places so renowned and famous.
"It's an interim course I am taking at Birmingham-Southern College," Richey said. "I'm a senior there, and I wanted to do something fun for the interim where I'd get to travel."
The group is doing a Southern barbecue study to find out what it is that makes each place famous.
"We are going to visit the smaller, most unique places in five states," he said. "We are going to avoid the chains altogether."
Richey said he and his friends are going to find out if it's the sauce, the meat or just the character that makes these places so famous.
"I love barbeque, and we wanted to visit places with character," he said.
Planned stops include Rendezvous Memphis, which is located in a basement, and B's BBQ.
"At B's, a man and his wife get a big pig and cook it. They close when they run out of food. Hopefully, we'll get there in time to get a barbecue sandwich," Richey said.
The group will leave on Jan. 7, and they will return home on Jan. 25.
"It's an 18-day study," Richey said. "We have set up a blog and a YouTube page on the Internet."
Richey said the group hopes to gain a following of people who read the blog and see the videos the trip as part of the study.
"We also have PayPal in case anyone would like to sponsor a meal for us," Richey said.
Richey said he and his friends have thought this trip through, and they encourage people to log onto www.southernbbqboys.com to follow their adventure each day.