Charleston, SC is the 4th friendliest city in the world? What a joke! Try having a northern accent there and see how friendly they are.
Simple solution: Don’t be a yankee.
Friendly doesn’t necessarily mean inclusive. Most Southerners I’ve met have been cordial, but maintain a (justifiable?) distrust of Yankees. It saddens me, but I can’t really blame them.
I’m not from Charleston, but as a Southerner I can tell you it isn’t the simple fact of your Northern pedigree that we dislike. What we have no use for are those Yankees who come down here with an attitude of contemptuous condescension for the South.
There’s Charleston, then there’s the rest of South Carolina. Kind of like NYC & upstate New York.
Old joke: Why are Charlestonians like the Chinese? Because they eat rice, worship their ancestors, & speak an untelligible language.
We’re not the richest state but there’s lots to see & do. All those miles of coastline, for starters.
Northerners don’t have accents. Southerners have accents.
That’s because they don’t want you bringing your unfriendly Yankee ways down there.
I live in Charleston but am not a native.
Do you expect a native Charlestonian to greet a bunch of yankees with “marry my daughter”?