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Inside the Wild World of Shag and Shots in North Myrtle Beach

The only reason Derek Goodwin wasn't in the weeds behind the bar at Fat Harold's at 4 p.m. on a spring Wednesday was because he was prepared. While it felt like the rest of the world was in the middle of Zoom meetings or afternoon coffee orders, here at this North Myrtle Beach institution, it was go time. The Society of Stranders [SOS] Spring Safari is an annual festival that's a week-long shag dance party, filling North Myrtle's Ocean Drive bars with capacity crowds even before the sun sets. This year, as always, Fat Harold's was one of the host bars for the April 23-May 4 event, and they'd made sure they had the makings on deck for thousands of shooter cocktails. North Myrtle has always been the 'quieter' side of what's known as the Grand Strand of South Carolina, and despite the high rises that dominate the beachfront, you can still find plenty of classic wooden beach houses for rent within a couple of blocks of the ocean. It's also become a haven for retirees, with a 2023 census noting that seniors make up almost 40 percent of its 20,300 residents. It felt like a lot of them were here, waiting for Goodwin to make a drink, a shooter to be exact. That shouldn't be confused with pure liquor shots, as they are their own unique beast, and he knows 160 recipes for them, from Alabama Slammer to Sex with an Alligator. Fat Harold's sits off Ocean Drive, its jukebox-style facade an architectural icon of the area. Inside, neon-lit rooms ramble from a front grill area, turning out hot dogs and fried bologna sandwiches with speed, to the main room, complete with a dance floor, bandstand, and an elevated bar that allows an easy line of sight to watch the dance floor action. The back room features even more seating and another bar, making it a convenient stop for those returning after a cigarette break behind the building. Throughout it all, walls are covered with memorabilia and commemorative photos of the DJs Hall of Fame, making its low-ceilinged spaces a meandering shrine to the golden era of shag. The live band was jamming, and the room was filled with hundreds of people who, while they might know their way around an AARP card, were mixing, mingling, and twirling to classic beach music hits on the dance floor. The Carolina Shag, sort of the 'swing dance of the South,' originated in North Myrtle Beach in the 60s, and Fat Harold's is still the epicenter of the culture, which welcomes all ages but is dominated by dancers who learned to dance — and drink — during that era. Beyond the bottled beers, the simple highballs, or shots of tequila, the shooter reigns supreme as the drink of choice for SOS gatherings every year. Fat Harold's sold hoards of these multi-ingredient shots throughout the week-long shag. To prepare the mega orders, Goodwin lined up mini plastic cups on cafeteria trays, free counted the ingredients in a cocktail tin, and then served batches at a time. 'My favorite shooter is a Payday,' said Amy Bolen of Madison, North Carolina, who drives four-plus hours to attend the SOS Safari. 'It tastes just like a Payday candy bar. I had it for the first time right here at Fat Harold's eight years ago, and it's been my favorite ever since.' This outpost of shooter devotion is an anomaly in the age of the craft cocktail. According to historian David Wondrich, shooters, these mini bar drinks, first appeared in the 1970s when bartenders combined liquors with sweet syrups and cordials, then sold them under cheeky names. In the era of rebellion, this was anything but your father's Old Fashioned, and the highest compliment for a shooter was not simply that it 'didn't taste like alcohol,' but often that it tasted like something else: a candy bar, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a Jolly Rancher hard candy. Many shaggers discovered shooters in the 1970s and they never looked back. 'The dancers can have a drink, something quick that is sweet and lower alcohol than a traditional cocktail, and keep on dancing,' Goodwin explains. Over the course of the week, groups ordered rounds of shots for each other: Kamikazes, Raspberry Lemon Drops, Redheaded Sluts, Liquid Marijuana, and plenty of Paydays. The groups of friends took shots and then got back on the dance floor, dazzling with moves they've been perfecting for decades. In an era where the Atlantic is calling for Americans to party more, the shaggers have kept the good times going all along. 'It's just a great group of people here,' Bolen said. 'Everyone knows how to have fun. And we love to have shooters every now and then. Yeah, love it.' 2 ounces of butterscotch schnapps Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into cups with a salted rim and serve immediately. See More: Bars Dining Out in the Carolinas Eater Scenes