South Mississippi, our beloved coastal home, is known well by tourists and locals as a place of fun and fancy, of soul and celebration. We are a culture of fishermen, artists, musicians, loving families and deep friendships. To those who live outside of our little slice of heaven, however, the perception of even the Gulf Coast is that of Mississippi’s mired history. Often, far too much so, those from outside of the South look upon our culture and think only of the stereotypes, and the long struggle of our diversity, with the occasional passing thought that we must be given credit at the very least for our music. As locals, we know that we are so much more than these things. But now Peter Greenberg, decorated veteran journalist of world travel, has seen fit to offer up a much more accurate view of who we are to the greater population. This offering comes in the form of the latest documentary in his “Hidden” series, aptly titled America’s Hidden Coast: Mississippi.


“For the last 11 years we’ve done these shows with the title of ‘Hidden’ and the concept of the show is this: no gift shop, no tour bus, no guidebook, no brochure, no Tripadvisor stickers.” Says Greenberg proudly.“ I take the audience to the most amazing experiences within a destination that nobody knows about, or few people know about, that are totally accessible to them. So of course the very first one we did was ‘Hidden Mexico.’ But then we did ‘Hidden Ireland,’ ‘Hidden Saudi Arabia,’ ‘Hidden Turkey,’ ‘Hidden Poland,’ ‘Hidden Aegean,’ ‘Hidden Canary Islands,’ ‘Hidden Belize,’ ‘Hidden Uganda,’ ‘Hidden Egypt.’ And then it dawned on me that we’re missing an opportunity here, we’ve done nothing on the United States.”
It was this train of thought that brought to mind Mr. Greenberg’s time as the Newsweek correspondent in Houston, where he covered stories throughout the South and Southwest. This, coupled with a chance meeting with Director of Communication and Engagement for Coastal Mississippi Pattye Meagher, presented the perfect opportunity to put South Mississippi squarely in Mr. Greenberg’s sights.