This will have been drawn from the work of Erin Reed
Though its worth noting her only firm, DO NOT TRAVEL, so far, is florida. Though the rest are of course still dangerous.
Cajun is A level, but let's not pretend the south has a monopoly on BBQ and Fried Chicken in the same way as Louisiana and Cajun. And when it comes to southern seafood, Maryland is right there on the map.
Fine. You get one city and the rest is wasteland. Now lie to my face and tell me that your flyover state small town has options beyond traditional diner and pizza.
Those are probably true but 'left behind' people make bad choices at the ballot box. We kind of had this in the UK where all the poorest constituencies in the North of England voted for brexit.
Shit, I'm as lucky as they come, straight white male, and I don't want to visit any of the missing states, except for Savannah, Georgia, which is just a nice time.
Upstate NY probably not so Trans friendly either, but always gets lumped in with NYC. It's really a wasteland outside of maybe the finger lakes region. Saratoga/Lake George are all right too.