Summertime's Calling Me...

When I walked out my house this morning, I could not have been greeted by more beautiful weather for the month of February.  It only made me want summer to get here even faster.

I drove to school with the windows down and beach music playing on my iPod.  And, I am not talking about that Beach Boys stuff...I am talking real Carolina Beach Music by General Johnson and Chairman of the Board, The Embers, The Catalinas, and The Drifters.  I grew up listening to these tunes with my parents - riding around in my Dad's truck, at my parent's parties, and out on the boat.

Learning to shag is a rite of passage in the Carolinas (South and North).  I think my parents started teaching my sister and I to shag around the age of five.  For those of you, unfamiliar with South Carolina's state dance, it goes something likes this...

I, by no means, am as good as these semi-professional dancers, but I do know my way around the dance floor.  South Carolina even has a shaggers hall of fame.  One tidbit about the Shag - it was a dance designed for a gentleman to have his beer in one hand and his lady in the other.  It is also a dance that can easily be learned.  My dad taught himself when he went to college by tying a tie to his bed post and "dancing" with it.

Dad and I shagging at Carolina Cup 2007.

In the summer, shag nights are held all over the coastal regions of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.  All ages attend and shag the night away.  The Shag is more than a dance is symbolizes a way of life only found at the beach.  Yes, people shag all over the Southeast and other parts of the country, but each shagger is taken back to the lazy, hazy days of summer when dancing it.  I am reminded of sunburnt shoulders, sand between my toes, and salt dried hair.  There is even a movie based on a "true story" about the shag and the lifestyle it invokes.  Here is a brief clip from the end of the movie...

I love the line at the end where Carson says, "We wanted to go to the beach and meet boys and go to wild parties and dance."  Because isn't that what every summer road trip is suppose to be about?!? If you have never seen this movie, you should rent/netflix/buy it!

I have a iTunes playlist dedicated to beach music that has close to 150 songs.  Here are my Top 15 Favorite Songs on that list (in no particular order):

1. Shama Lama Ding Dong

2. Soul Days (sorry for the poor quality)

3. Carolina Girls

4. I Love Beach Music

5. Barefootin'

6. Be Young, Be Foolish, But Be Happy

(This was my senior quote)

7. Ms. Grace

8. Double Shot of My Baby's Love

9. I'd Rather Be in Carolina

10. Monkey Time

11. Gone Fishin'

12. If You Can't Shag

13. She Can't Fix Grits

14. Under the Boardwalk

15. Walking Up A One Way Street

"Beach people love life harder than anybody else. We do! We have a tendency to be, well, slightly excessive in our behavior. You usually won't see us eat on boiled peanut, drink one beer, tell one joke, or get just a little bit of sun." ~ Dorothea Benton Frank

Do you have any memorable shagging experiences?  Have you always wanted to learn? Or, did you have no clue what I was talking about?

Soulfully,

Ashton