Tell ya what man, Mississippi (only southern state that has decrim'd pot) may not have the best beaches inland, but if ya take a 40 minutes ride out to Horn Island you'll be impressed. If Mississippi is one of your choices, take a look at Ocean Springs, MS... it's a very relaxed small town on the coast. Although it's expanded a lot since I've moved from there, I lived most of my life there and loved it, bike trails everywhere, tons of forest just north of Ocean Springs/Hwy 90, Gulf Islands Nat'l Seashore park, the list goes on... and it's just right across the bridge from bigtown Biloxi and only an hour plus some away from beautiful beaches in Florida. Just giving you my experience from living there for 13 years... hope all works out for ya.
P.S. If your wife can get on with Dr. Buddy Brice in Biloxi, she's got a meal ticket for a long time. I went to him for over 10 years and he's still in business, I freakin' LOVED that dentist... now how many of you can say that about yours? Just look at this!
http://ratemds.com/filecache/doctor-ratings.jsp?did=23514