Perhaps it was lumping all southerners together and calling them all inbred racists that resulted in a bad time for you. I think a lot of people would like to explore Georgia as a Florida alternative

Replace the word southerner with some other minority and see how it sounds. Not all southerners are racists, and inbred is just a slur.

That said, the political climate is a real concern for me, but I'm hoping it wouldn't be in my face in a tourist town.