I've fallen so deeply in love with Mississippi that I am almost embarrassed to say it. Tupelo is one of the best small towns I've ever seen. Bay Saint Louis, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs are idyllic. Take the Natchez Trace and you'll find ecosystems and landscapes that will take your breath away and completely strip away any pretense of what "the South" means to you. The people great. You can drive two hours north of New Orleans and find ghetto trailer parks in the pines filled with people who feel like they're out of a John Grisham novel. That is to say, they're almost too cliche to be real and in ways that only deep abuse from the rest of the country can create in people. Sweet, funny, deep, eccentric.
America's best kept secret is Mississippi.