Hopefully someone finds this and can suggest something.

I had a look on https://lemmyverse.net but there don't seem to be any location-based servers for the south east. Perhaps pick a general US-based server, or one themed around a hobby?

Probably go to a few and check the local feed. The main difference between servers will be the local feed, so find a server where that's somewhat active and has content you want to see. I think it's a good idea to aim for a server with 500-5,000 users so the local feed is somewhat useful.