As we look at this word search, we can fairly quickly find the names of American states hidden in the puzzle. Discovering this theme, it is possible to locate every state name in the grid with the exception of Florida. As clued by the title and flavor text, this omission is intentional.
The completed grid appears as follows:
Reading the unused letters from top-to-bottom and left-to-right, we get the phrase GREAT, YOU FOUND FORTY-NINE STATES. THE ANSWER IS THE CAPITAL OF THE ONLY STATE LEFT OUT. Since Florida is the only state not to appear in the grid, the answer is its capital, TALLAHASSEE.