March 14, 2014

#39: SOS Fall Migration

Shag Dancers on the
Water Tower of NMB
The following is an article first released in Weekly WCS Note #39: You'll Love It! on September 9th 2012. Revised and updated.
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If you live anywhere on the East Coast, or are visiting the East Coast any time soon, then you NEED to drop by the SOS Fall Migration, anytime between September 14th-23rd in North Myrtle Beach, near the border of North and South Carolina.

I'm serious. Go. Even for a day... GO! Why?

Number one, there's no such thing as bad music in shag country. It's ALL swingable, all the time.

Number two, they love it when you dance WCS. Not rude WCS, where you throw your partner into other couples, but real slotted WCS... they'll even ask you to dance. And if you want to do a little shag? Anyone will help you learn. They are a very supportive, loving, nurturing and, well, rockin' community.

Number three, it's the experience of a lifetime. Get this- North Myrtle Beach (not to be confused with Myrtle Beach... that has a trillion million crazy miniature golf courses and gift shops with "shark doors" where you walk in through a two story high shark bite), is mostly comprised of one big main street. And on that one big main street is, what, a ton of shag clubs?

I mean, you can't miss shag there even if you tried. I mean, look at the picture. If you look up, you'll see water tower has shag dancers on both sides of it. And when you look down, you'll see that every brick on the street has the etchings of a shag club from every corner you can think of. Along with big huge "walk of fame" made up of massive golden records with famous shag DJ's name's on them.



Super Happy in NMB
It's the Disneyland of swing. Don't like the band in this club? Cross the street and go to that club. Danced with everyone in that club? Go next door and start with that crowd.

Want to know a bit about their history? Go to hotel lobby down the street and find a massive Hall of Fame, with pictures, bio's and trophies dating back to before you were born.

Want to see history in action? Go to the OD Pavilion. We met so many Hall of Fame dancers that told us they'd been dancing on that same floor since the 40's... the 40's!!! I felt like taking some of that sand home...

Sand? Yes, sand. Because OD Pavilion is directly on the beach. It's got a roof, it's got a floor, but no windows and no door... just the main street ending in a sandy beach. I have to say, our time there was nothing short of magical. We learned so much from them, and they said they learned so much from us... and we weren't even there during SOS.

And when there isn't any dancing (um, does that even happen at SOS?), the music being played all night is still amazing. Nick and I couldn't go anywhere and stay still.

I promise, you'll wear holes into your shoes.

And finally, it's the SOS that most WCS dancers go to. Not a ton, but many more so than the Spring Migration. It's a perfect time to go. It's just a few thousand swing dancers to dance with... I hope you go and make me jealous!

and visit for at least a day!

What is SOS? 

Have fun ya'll... and say 'hi' for us while you're there!

xoxo,
Nick & Katherine