I grew up in a region that has a Canadian influence layered over the Norwegian-English accent (think Sarah Palin, but smart). As a child anything that sounded different was interesting, and to those childish ears Southern accents in general sounded "dumb."

Having living around the US east, west, north and south now, those old regional biases are long gone, but my ears perk up out of interest when I hear a strong regional accent. They're disappearing. Think Jimmy Carter, Ann Richards, or Molly Ivins. Smart southern accents that get listened to.