Have you been through the southern United States [Louisianna, Mississippi, Alabams, Texas, etc]? It's pathetic, but would explain why it's real to him.
EDIT: And I live in Texas (not educated here

)so I speak from experience
I've been to Carolina/Florida/Georgia, but only for some sweet tea (damn good) and a vacation (damn hot, but damn good). I'm just a simple PA boy with hopes and dreams of one day going to the big city (I live next to Allentown, yeah the one Billy Joel wrote about, our claim to fame).