I don't think you're guilty of romanticizing at all. The map below clearly shows the "Solid South" is the land of freedom and liberty. We're proud of our culture, our values and we won't buckle under the jackboot thuggery of Big Labor goons with their forced socialism:
Now more than ever before, the "Southern Accent" places an emphasis on individual liberty and our twang favors business and free enterprise. The extortion racketeers of unionism steer clear of Dixie.
Thank you for your kind reply. I could live in the south, however the humidity would get me and being a Yankee it would take 5-6 generations to be accepted. :-)