State blazing a 'Hallelujah Trail' for tourists 32 North Alabama...
Fried chicken served on church grounds, Huntsville's Oakwood College choir singing spirituals and a crowd flapping hand fans launched a "Hallelujah Trail" driving tour of 32 North Alabama churches.

Tourism and government officials revealed the trail and its markers Thursday at a new amphitheater and patio of St. John's Episcopal Church in Decatur, one of the honored churches.

Marsha Folsom, wife of Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., said the churches are signposts of community heritage and "places of visual and spiritual wonder."

The concept fits with Alabama's Year of the Arts in tourism, said Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, which helped fund the project.