Monday, December 18, 2023

Make Sure Transit Reaches our Fairgrounds

 

The Lowcountry must stand up to make sure our already compromised plan to build a rapid transit line is not further reduced by surrendering to demands not to connect our transit system to our fairgrounds.


This petition is being offered by Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc. William Hamilton, Ex. Dir. (843) 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com.


Sign the Petition

A  petition is being circulated attacking the plan to place the Ladson area terminal for the long planned Lowcountry Rapid Transit System at the Fairgrounds in Ladson. The Fairgrounds have suffered from terrific congestion problems for years, which in turn is alleged to have substantially reduced attendance. As the Ladson area has developed along the accepted pattern of suburban sprawl, the extremely limited LINK rural transit bus service hasn't been able to contribute much to helping meet the area's mobility needs. Bus stop shelters were even removed in Summerville. As always, weak, unreliable transit doesn't work. Sprawl strangles our quality of life. The Lowcountry refuses to learn that inadequate effort in things like transportation, housing and education doesn't solve problems. it's time for the failures to stop.

A Plan that is Already Compromised. 


The 2014 I26 Alt plan for the transit line approved by Charleston County Voters in the 2016 referendum called for rapid transit from Charleston to Summerville, the result of over 20 years and ten million dollars in planning. This plan has already suffered greatly by repeated decisions not to surrender to resistance by giving up use of the railroad line into Charleston as a transit corridor and turning it over for use as a dog walking park for rich people. The plan to have a transit hub in the central city has retreated from the Visitors Center, to Line Street and now to Mt. Pleasant Street, almost two miles from the central city. The system no longer operates as rapid transit in in it's own dedicated lane South of Reynolds Ave. in N. Charleston, running as a regular bus in mixed traffic and flooding to MUSC downtown. The plan for a transit line stop connecting the LCRT to our Train and Bus Station in North Charleston has been abandoned and the nearest stop is now half a mile away. Plans to connect Summerville were abandoned when the system was cut back to the fairgrounds. A critical stop near Huger Street was moved half a mile South into an area with weaker connections. Each of these decisions has been made without a public vote, in secret. What is left is a system which won't have the capacity to provide mobility and relieve traffic congestion the region needs. 


Our political leaders have quietly and undemocratically surrendered the region's rapid transit future to the piecemeal complaints of people who will be enraged when they're spending two hours a day snarled in traffic five years from now with no functional alternative to reach places of business who can't hire staff because people have no way to get to work there in a reasonable time and nowhere to live nearby which they can afford. 


Sign the Petition

Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit is circulating it's own petition to demonstrate support for having a public transit terminal at the Fairgrounds. For most of the year, this will have no impact on the fairgrounds at all, since it is deserted. On the handful of weekends when the Fairgrounds fully uses it's parking, the access provided by the Lowcountry Rapid Transit System will more than replace the fair attendance the loss of a few parking spaces might cause.


The Petition Reads

Image, left, transit stop in Mt. Pleasant. 

Sign the Petition to Make Sure our Transit Line Reaches the Fairgrounds


As a resident of the SC Lowcountry, I would like to be able to travel to and from our region’s fairgrounds by Public Transit using the planned Lowcountry Rapid Transit System. 

I am disappointed that an agreement has not yet been reached to build a transit station at the Fairgrounds to serve the community, make this location more valuable to the region, increase fair revenue for local charitable causes and to reduce traffic congestion associated with events held there.  A functional transit terminal adjacent to the fairground would increase the value of the fairgrounds to the entire community for all the events held there and activity at the adjacent Coastal Carolina Flea Market. Reducing traffic congestion will also help ensure safety by avoiding blocking fire, police and EMS services from operating in the area during the fair. 

I do not believe it is appropriate for outdated attitudes about racism and discrimination to get in the way of assuring our community enjoys the benefits of public transit and a successful, inclusive fair in the future. 

I am asking the Exchange Club to work diligently to reach agreement with local governments so we can all move forward quickly to the day when everyone will be able to reach the fair without fighting traffic including the disabled, elderly, those without access to automobiles and those who prefer not to drive. 

Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc. 

This petition is being offered by Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, Inc. William Hamilton, Ex. Dir. (843) 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com.


Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Connect Future Lowcountry Transit to the Fairgrounds

 

Charleston, SC, USA- At the October CARTA Board Meeting, Ron Mitchum, Executive Director of the Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester Council of Governments reported that an agreement on placing a stop at the Fairgrounds for our planned Lowcountry Rapid Transit System had not been reached.  The exact nature of the reason why this has not been accomplished during the Eight years that the system has been in planning at a cost of over Five Million Dollars was not fully explained.  

Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit will mobilize transit riders and supporters to encourage the Exchange Club and associated organizations connected with the management of the Fairgrounds to move quickly to resolve this important issue during this year’s Coastal Carolina Fair, scheduled to begin Friday.

Members of the organization will be asked to hand in forms showing their support for a stop at the fairgrounds and an online petition will be run, which will be delivered to the Exchange Club at the end of this year’s Coastal Carolina Fair. Links to the form can be accessed from the group’s facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BFLowcountryTransit online.

The Form and petition read:

“As a patron of the Coastal Carolina Fair, I would like to be able to travel to and from our region’s fairgrounds by Public Transit using the planned Lowcountry Rapid Transit System.

I am disappointed that an agreement has not yet been reached to build a transit station at the Fairgrounds to serve the community, make this location more valuable to the region, increase fair revenue for local charitable causes and to reduce traffic congestion associated with events held there.

Please work diligently to reach agreement with local governments so we can all move forward quickly to the day when everyone will be able to reach the fair without fighting traffic including the disabled, elderly, those without access to automobiles and those who prefer not to drive.”

For more information, contact
William J. Hamilton, III
Ex. Dir. Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit
wjhamilton29464@gmail.com, (843) 870-5299

Monday, June 5, 2023

Guided Transit Trips to the Beach at IOP

Guided Rides- Helping New Transit Riders Reach the Beach

Temporary Content- Check Back for Revision

New material appears first on our Facebook Page at www.bfltransit.com

We know rising our limited local transit system is hard. This summer we're planning a series of events to help get everyone to the beach. As the parking on the Island disappears, experienced transit riders will meet you inland and help you reach the beach. Transit to the Atlantic, Summerville to the Sea. 

Most of the guides leading our rides will be experienced members of our corps of conductors. 

We're also doing the opposite, setting up some Flee the Sea rides for IOP residents escaping the congestion and the crowds for shopping and diversions on the mainland because transit should be about options. 

Image, left - Members of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit March to the Sea to Demand a Bus to the Beach

Flee the Sea Ride- Sunday, June 18- After coffee, we'll lead and escape party from the Island headed inland for Lunch, shopping or maybe a movie. Registered participants on our first flee the sea ride get a commemorative button. Sign up for our June 18 Flee the Sea Ride now on Eventbrite

Guided rides and events for people from Summerville, Ridgeville, Lincolnville and Brownville will mark the end of Juneteenth. 

Sat. July 1- T-Day Veterans take the Beach and the Bus

Veterans from across the Lowcountry will begin the Independence Day Holiday period by helping each other and the community reach the beach at the Isle of Palms  See the Eventbrite ticket sign up for guided rides originating near where you live.  We’ll have experienced transit riders working as guides from veterans facilities in inland areas. On the Isle of Palms, veterans will be welcomed at the VFW Post 3137, the Post on the Coast, with it’s wonderful oceanfront deck and view.  To Reach the VFW Post see vfwpost3137.org

For a very different way to enjoy the beach, look into our Pirate Project. The Beach is Breat, but it can be better for some people if they are pirates. Read about Queen Ruby of the Pirates and Her Ladies in Raiding. 

How You Can Help

All of these effort depend on people working together. If you would like to help please contact us. Donations can be made to Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit through Act Blue

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Queen Ruby, Sir Isaac Newton and the Decision to Engage

Chapter 4 


Something Radical Onboard

Something truly radical had been going on during the years since the Ruby and the Ladies in Raising had liberated themselves from Pirate Anderson’s Marauders. Members of the crew had come and gone, many returning to their homes. Ruby and those remaining aboard have been recruiting women of ambition and intellect. Within the wooden walls of the Jeweled Princess, the greatest treasure being sought and stored is human knowledge. 

While famed for their acts of charity and their fights against the cruel pirates and monopolistic West India Company, these women have been educating each other. Ruby began teaching the other women as soon as they were free. Her Admiral father was a member of the Royal Society when it was led by Sir Isaac Newton. Ruby has her father’s books and continues to cultivate some of his connections to intellectual life in Britain and Europe. The booksellers of London don’t know the heavy orders of scientific and philosophical literature being sent overseas to a number of fictional names end up in the library of a pirate ship. Over time, other exceptional women have joined the crew bringing what they know, learning and teaching others.

Sir Isaac Newton
The Jeweled Princess is the most advanced institution of higher learning in the Caribbean and equal to most colleges and universities in the Western Hemisphere. In a world where women are barred from formal higher education, these lady pirates are probably the largest collective of educated women in the New World. Their outfits and theatrics they delight in mask their true nature. Their mastery of Newton's calculus contributes to the exceptional precision of their artillery fire. 

Ruby also met and has read the writings of John Locke, who wrote, "The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only have the law of nature for his rule." 

Locke felt that women had the ability to reason, which entitled them to an equal voice. He wrote, "It may not be [wrong] to offer new... [ideas] when the old [traditions] are apt to lead men into mistakes, as this [idea] of [fatherly] power's probably has done, which seems so [eager] to place the power of parents over their children wholly in the father, as if the mother had no share in it; whereas if we consult reason or [the Bible], we shall find she has an equal title." 

John Locke
At this early stage of the Enlightenment, science and reason are on the rise. Many people look to the new world as a place where these ideas can be developed. Locke drafts parts of the fundamental constitutions which set up government in the colony of Carolina. Locke invests in the new world and is one of the stockholders in the “Company of Adventurers to the Bahama Islands.” Locke also invests in slave trading, which Ruby and the women abhor. 

Ruby had been attempting to discover how the key to the sea worked, but that is far beyond the science of her time and ours. A rigid separation between science, religion and magic hadn’t yet evolved, but Ruby is certain she can solve the riddle of its power. She has no idea why or how the power of a major hurricane has thrown the ship and crew 300 years into the future, carrying a boatload of the Kings Guard and Dread Pirate Anderson’s band with them. She doesn’t know how the key landed her back on the surface of the Earth when the planet and the sun had moved billions of miles through space in 300 years. 

Uneven Progress in the World of the Biscuit Which Mesmerizes

Everywhere that Queen Ruby and her ladies go in the modern world, she discovers how uneven human progress has been. Medicine is a wonder, though Ruby isn’t sure how they’ll access a modern hospital if one of them becomes injured or ill. There are computers, aircraft and electricity. Poverty, disease, and oppression are still everywhere, even in an advanced society like the United States. Though chattel slavery is gone, race and sexism are still huge issues. 

Having struggled to obtain books and scientific equipment in her time, Ruby is shocked to see how little universal instant access to all sorts of knowledge has contributed to human happiness. She resents “the Biscuit that enthralls,” her invented term for the smartphone. Everything necessary for human happiness can be found in this world, often in abundance. Much of it is wasted. In Charleston she finds huge libraries of books, videos, and access to electronic information, often nearly empty. In California she sees brilliant minds wasted and as companies seek quick profits and discard human talent. 

There is a rising tide of violence which could be avoided. Politics is as corrupt as ever. Ruby knows she can’t rob the massive corporations of this century and hand out necessities to the homeless around her and long survive. The ship’s store of treasure is large, but it won’t hold out forever. 

Wary of the risks of becoming entangled in the modern system of documents and identification with the bogus identities offered to her by her high-tech friends in California, Ruby and the Ladies in Raiding are locked out of large parts of the economy. They’re able to sell their antique doubloons for huge amounts of money, but since they’re limited to cash and some experiments with gift cards they can’t book a hotel room or rent an automobile. 

They’re riding transit and camping out with the homeless. Ruby notes that a trip around Charleston is slower on transit stuck in traffic than it would be on horseback. Nearly everyone has a car that can go 80 knots, but they’re sitting still in them. 

With the Key to the Sea thrown in the ocean for safekeeping, Ruby has to find a way forward for her and her ladies. They can’t hide out forever. Sooner or later, someone is going to make a mistake and law enforcement, or some government agency is going to discover there are women from 300 years in the past walking around the Holy City. Questions will be asked that can’t be answered. If that happens, Ruby’s ladies will need friends, people who share her hatred of oppression and long for progress. 

Ruby visited the VWF Post on the Coast on the Isle of Palms on Memorial Day using the Bus to the Beach (no way to use Uber) hoping those old warriors might be able to help her. She meets many women who have fought in the modern armed forces. As one of them tells her, the cannons and wooden ship thing sounds cool, but she wouldn’t stand that up against her RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter Gunship. The veteran lady shows Ruby a video on her “Mesmerizing Biscuit.” Ruby smiles when she thinks of what Comanche helicopter gunship could do to Anderson. 

Ruby has already made some friends who pay her fee to march in Charleston’s Pride Parade. She’s no stranger to issues of gender and sexuality. In the watery frontier of her time, she’s seen a lot and she and her ladies have accepted the variety of human choices. Ruby knows that given the staggering risks of modern existence racism and sexism have long outlived their time. Having fought these things her entire life, she and her ladies resolve to take the Ruby Flag down the streets of Charleston with hundreds of other marchers. 

They’re still undercover. Most people regard the Ladies in Raiding as a fun, but rather strange sorority with quaint mannerisms and an acute interest in severely dated social philosophies and scientific ideas. Sapphire is up to date on Isaac Newton, but she’s still working on Einstein and Quantum Mechanics. Locke is great, but the crew is still chewing through the Feminine Mystique and the Shock Doctrine. Nobody has heard of their favorite woman playwright, Ana Caro, whose romantic comedies they sometimes presented to each other on deck. To relax, the crew are big fans of science fiction. They prefer Picard to Kirk and Janeway to both of them. They hate pirate movies.

They still wear their pirate outfits some of the time. Most guys never see beyond the fishnet stockings and corsets. That’s very useful. They’ve gone thrifting and bought modern clothes as well.  They’re making friends, but it’s time to move.

Opening the Rolls for Enlistment of Modern, Remarkable Ladies

Queen Ruby and the ladies vote to open the rolls of the Ladies in Raiding to people who identify as modern women. They’ll sign them up to march with them in the Pride Parade. Another friend gets them a listing on Eventbrite, though Ruby would prefer a quill and parchment. She prefers clear, committed relationships to vague electronic entanglements. Someone has modern copies of their tattered ruby pirate flag made. Crystal’s new friends from Summerville are already on board. It’s cool to be a pirate. Dress shops are having run on black dresses and leather. They’re setting a style. In a time of uncertainty and oppression, it’s fun to pretend to be a pirate. 

On Saturday, June 3 the crew will march with their new friends who don’t know they are joining a hip new club with some very senior members. Some of the intellectual stuff sounds interesting. The crew’s already doing Yoga. Many of the modern women find the martial arts training a bit dated but functional. Emerald reluctantly agrees that cutting an overly handy man down in a Charleston bar with a cutlass really isn’t a practical option. They use less lethal defensive moves. Nobody touches a lady in raiding unless they want them to. 

Later in June, the crew will muster their new recruits on the Isle of Palms as Ruby figures out how to manage their new fight with their old ones. Anderson is still about and knows all about the Ladies in Raiding’s modern activities now. The King’s Guard is still stumbling about, disoriented, and getting no help from the British Government, who dismisses them as crazy people. The British Army won’t remit their pay. The men they claim to be disappeared in a storm in 1723. 

Summer’s heating up in Charleston. 


Tuesday, May 23, 2023

The Tale of Queen Ruby, the Ladies in Raiding and the Key to the Sea

Capitian's Log- The Tale of Queen Ruby, the Ladies in Raiding and the Key to the Sea

We maintain a continuing written narrative so you can follow developments in our participatory pirate drama. This page contains links to all the chapters and related events in the order of the story, which may differ slightly from the time when material is release to the public through various media.

The goal of this interactive, participator community pirate drams is to bring fun and a sense of possibility to the effort to improve public transit by increasing ridership on our bus to the beach, which links the CARTA system and Mt. Pleasant with the Isle of Palms. It's just more fun with Pirates. Learn about the Bus to the Beach (Beach Reach Shuttle) which runs weekends and holidays from Memorial weekend to Labor day. 

You are invited to join the drama. You can sign up for the June 17 Pirates Muster. By your participation, you help shape the drama which we set down in writing as it evolves. We can help you build a pirate outfit. We all make this together. By participating and sharing what we're doing, we enrich the story for everyone. 

Chapter One- The Voyage Begins

Queen Ruby and the Ladies in Raiding liberate themselves, maroon Pirate Anderson's cutthroats, commence the famous cruise of the Jeweled Princess and then discover themselves 300 years into their future in 2023. Read the first chapter. 

Chapter two- Crystal Goes A Roving

Chrystal, dark haired and beutiful teenaged member of the crew leaves the safety of the Jeweled Princess to sample teenage life in the 21st. century and becomes a Pirate Influencer on the Internet. It's all fun and games up in Summerville, but she's attracting hostile attention. Read Chapter two. 

Chapter three- A Welcome Home Party for Queen Ruby

Queen Ruby leaves the SC coast on a secret mission which takes her to Silicon Valley and the high tech underground. The Ladies in Raiding try to hid out in Charleston until her return. They plan a pirate party to build up cover noise so they attract less attention in a Charleston full of pretend pirates. Read chapter three


May 24- Pirate Party at Container Bar

Details on your first chance to join the story. Sword fights, costume contests, button making, half price run drinks to those with pirate coins and a Pirate Poetry Contest. Read about the Pirate Party at Container Bar

May 27- Opening of the Ocean

Join us as Queen Ruby opens the Ocean on the Isle of Palms, celebrating the start of summer bus service and commencing the revels by the sea on Memorial Weekend. Read about the Opening of the Ocean. 

May 27- Queen Ruby to Sail through Rain to Open the Ocean. 

Pirate Queen Ruby Cancel? "We’ve sailed a pirate ship through a hurricane three hundred years into the future. A little water will never stop the Ladies in Raiding.” Read the Press Release

Queen Ruby Inducts an Honorary Pirate Queen


Chapter 4- Queen Ruby Does the Reading, Isaac Newton and the Pirates

These ladies don't just dress smart. They are smart. There's a pirate's college afloat and they're bringing Enlightenment era philosophy and science to the challenges of the 21st. Century Find out if they like Kirk or Picard. Read Chapter 4 about the brain trust afloat on the Jeweled  Princess. 


June 3- Queen Ruby and the Ladies in Raiding March in the Pride Parade

Queen Ruby and her Ladies in Raiding will be out in full force for the Charleston Pride Parade. Join them as they march in support of better public transit, equality and social justice. We have props and loaner gear to complete you look if you want to jlin her pirate band. Those identifying as men are welcome to march at members of the King's Guard or Anderson's vile band of cutthroat pirates. After the parade, look for Pop up Piracy around downtown Charleston. Sign up to march as a Pirate or other character n the parade. 


June 10- Party Like A Pirate with A Pink Floyd Popup Potluck at Hampton Park for Piccolo Spoleto Finale

We'll Pitch our red Pirate Popup in Hampton Park to party at the Piccolo. Pink Floyd Finale, June 10 at 5:30 pm. You are invited to participate in their piratical party. Prepare your pirate outfit, apparatus, provisions, and paraphernalia. Primp your person from plume to pantaloons. We possess partage pirate pieces and plastic epees to apportion to your person. We propose to push up our Popup by 5:00 pm. Queen Ruby plans to preside over a pirate potluck at approximately 6 pm. Predict Dancing before the performer’s prosceniums. Pack a folding chair. We’ll possess pottage to pour over rice or provender. Import what you can for the supper and a piratical potluck repast. Provide your personal plate. Details and signup on Eventbrite.


June-Pirate Pop Ups

Keep your eyes open as our Pirate Drama starts to pop up in locations around the lowcountry with little bits of drama which advance the story towards a conclusion we don't really know yet since it depends on what happens with our new recruits and in real life. Our story evolves based on how the public reacts, evens in our own lives and evens in the community and world around us. 


June 17- Join Up, Queen Ruby Calls a Muster of the Ladies in Raiding

Queen Ruby is forced to augment her forces by recruiting women from the modern world to augment the numbers of the Ladies in Raiding, the crew of the Jeweled Princess. Surrounded by modern hazards, she needs the help of women from this modern age to help her ladies survive. She's called a muster of the entire crew and all the new recruits for Saturday, June 17 on the Isle of Palms. Facebook event listing.  To became one of the participants in our drama contact the Queen by email. 

Guided Rides for Veterans, Disabled, New Transit Riders and Young People

We're planning guided rides for people who haven't been on the bus before. We know the first transit ride is a big step for a lot of people. Follow this effort on our Guided Rides Page. 


More Information-

If you need to reach the organizers, contact William Hamilton at (843) 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com


A Welcome Home Pirate Party for Queen Ruby

 A Welcome Home Pirate Party for Queen Ruby

Copyright 2023 by William J. Hamilton, III

Chapter 3

Previous Chapter- Chrystal Goes a Roving

Two weeks ago, Queen Ruby of the Pirates left Charleston to reach the West Coast where she hoped to make contact with the High-Tech underground near San Francisco. For a capable, intelligent woman from the year 1623, the cross-country Amtrak train trip (Ruby lacks the ID needed to fly commercial) has been a wonder. She’s seen technical progress everywhere, but more human suffering and waste than she can accept. Clearly this is a society which doesn’t know how to steer a sustainable course towards human happiness for everyone. She saw this in her time three centuries ago, but given the wealth and power available now, seeing these same problems causing billions to suffer flabbergasts her. 

In California, Ruby fits right in. In the High-Tech underground of former Twitter, Apple and Google employees who are now scraping by on the edge of the internet economy.  She’s a woman without an IP address or email. She shuns high tech devices for the fear they’ll make her detectable to her enemies. 

The tech people love Ruby. She’s cool and different. Ruby says the most amazing things. She’s a quick learner and very strong on what they call “human factors.” Working together, sneaking into the massive complexes of the high-tech companies at night with forged credentials. They’ve subjected the Key to the Sea to all sorts of tests. It’s a remarkable piece of metal for sure, with a weird structure and odd elements in the alloy they can’t identify, but they can’t tell what it does (Ruby won’t tell them) or how to control it. They do understand that Ruby must be from somewhere utterly different from here and the most perceptive know she isn’t from now. Ruby may know how to time travel. 

On Government Radar

If Dred Pirate Anderson and the King’s Guard weren’t problems enough, the Department of Homeland Security is looking for something too. They know there was a massive energy busts off the SC coast a few weeks ago (detected by satellites as a possible nuclear detonation) and some small ships were in the area immediately following that event, clearly appearing on satellite images. However, these ships have zero electronic signatures and they’ve lost track of them. There have been some women turned aside from secured facilities in Charleston due to lack of ID and guards report they sounded and acted “weird.”

Maybe all of this is nothing, or maybe it’s a terrorist threat. Homeland security is busy, so they’ll get back to these reports later.

The ladies in Raiding are getting nervous in Ruby’s long absence. Crystal is still somewhere in Summerville, making noise on the internet but keeping her actual location secret. 

The Ladies in Raiding have have set up a welcome home party for Ruby. They’ve set it up so they can recruit some pretend pirates with contests and games in hopes of flooding Charleston with pretend pirates to throw Pirate Anderson’s Band and the King’s Guard off their trail. The party will be held from Wednesday, May 24 from 7 pm to 10:30 at Container Bar in Downtown Charleston. These lonely ladies from the past will need friends in the present to survive their visit to the future.  They’ve collected costume items and fake swords to turn their new friends into pretend pirates on the spot. 

Meanwhile young Crystal and her new teenage pirate friends from Rollins School of the arts didn’t show when third Thursday was rained out in Summerville last week. Crystal is thinking of taking the bus down to Charleston for the party with her new friends. Hopefully meeting Mom in a context where an actual flogging will be impossible. Mom is “Emerald” on the Jeweled Princess, the ships master at arms and she has punishment devices in her locker modern people would struggle to imagine. 

Far away, Queen Ruby is returning to Charleston by Private Jet, loaned to her by a High Tech Friend who may, or may not own it. He’s smitten with the powerful pirate lady. She’s encouraging his kind attention, but has been evasive. Ruby’s flying at night to reduce the chance she’ll be detected. She’s trying to get back to her Ladies in Raiding to plan her next move. In the Holy City, Pirate Anderson gets word of the Party and may show up. 

Will Crystal make it to the party with her new pretend Teenage Pirate friends. How will Emerald, her Mom react to her two week, unauthorized absence and new internet fame. How does being a teenaged pirate influencer fit into everyone’s plan. Things could get pretty intense when your mom owns a Cat-o-nine tails and thumb screws. 

Ruby is sending coded messages to the Ladies in Raiding at Container Bar. Can they decode them? Will she make it to the welcome home party in time?

What Happens Next

Will the Ladies in Raiding recruit the help they need to hide out in the Holy City or will Dred Pirate Anderson, the King’s Guard or even Homeland Security show up?

Will the Pirate Poetry offered in the contest be any good?

There once was a pirate named Ruby

Who took the bus to the beach for her booty

She lay on the sand

Getting warm and well-tanned

Enjoying rum drinks which were sweet and fruity. 


Come to Container Bar on Wednesday, May 24 to see what happens next. 


Sat. May 27, Queen Ruby Opens the Ocean for Bus to the Beach Season 3

 


Queen Ruby of the Pirates and her Ladies in Raiding invite Everyone to the Opening of the Ocean on Sat. May 27 at the Isle of Palms

Isle of Palms, Mt. Pleasant, SC, USA- To Celebrate the beginning of the Lowcountry's third season of regular public transit bus service to the beach, Queen Ruby of the Pirates and her Ladies in Raiding invite you to participate in the Opening of the Ocean to mark this year's return of Transit to the Atlantic on Saturday, May 27th. in Mount Pleasant and on the front beach, Isle of Palms. 

The celebration will begin when the second CARTA Beach Reach Shuttle bus of the day departs from the Market Center Drive Bus Stop at 10:15 am (on the roundabout near Lowes) and continue to the beach bus stop adjacent to IOP County Park. The procession of Pirates, Kings Guard and other fantastical personalities will begin  upon the arrival of the bis at 10:30 and pause at the Flag Poles on Palm Boulevard for prayers and good wishes for a safe and happy summer at the beach and a recognition of our Veterans for Memorial weekend. From there, with a joyous noise, the Lady Pirates, crew of the Jeweled Princess, will proceed with all the celebrants to the beach itself. There Queen Ruby will cast the great Iron Key to the Sea into the waves for Neptune's safekeeping to Open the Ocean. 

Queen Ruby and her lady pirates will distribute golden pirate coins throughout the day which allow their holders to wn prizes, get discounts and enter the pirate drama which will unfold throughout the summer

The remainder of the day will be devoted to the revels by the sea provided by local merchants, taverns and places of entertainment punctuated by occasional eruptions or Pirate Drama. The celebration ends with the departure of the last CARTA Beach Reach Shuttle. Events planned for the weekend include special activates for veterans at the VWF post on the island  which veterans across the region can now reach on CARTA transit.

This event continues a summer long interactive Pirate Drama sponsored by Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit. Queen Ruby and her Ladies in Raiding have magically been transported three centuries into the future where they continue their struggle for justice and work to return to their own time. The lady pirates struggle against the evil cutthroats of Anderson's pirate ban and flummox the hapless King's Guard who can decide if they want to imprison the Ladies in Raiding or pitch woo to them. Chapters of the story will be released informed by the evolving interactions of the public as more people join and interact with the on the street drama. You can follow the online portion of the drama by going to the Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit Web page at www.bfltransit.com. 

The detailed schedule for the Opening of the Ocean is as follows:

Wed. May 24, 7 to 10:30 pm, Kickoff Party

Kickoff Pirate party at Container Bar with sword fights, costume, contest, button making and pirate poetry at Container Bar on Mt. Pleasant Street in Downtown Charleston (on the #20 bus line)

Saturday, May 27 - Opening of the Ocean

9:15 am - Beach Reach Shuttle (Free) begins running from the CARTA Bus Stop on Market Center Drive on the round-a-bout near Lowes to the Isle of Palms. Use the Transit App or Google Transit to track the bus and plan your trip from anywhere on the CARTA bus system.

10:15 am - Beach Reach Shuttle begins 2nd. Run of the day to the beach. Some of the Pirate Ladies in Raiding will be on board distributing pirate treasure you can redeem for prizes and discounts.

10:30 am - Procession from the bus stop begins upon arrival of the bus, and proceeds to the Flag Poles on Palm Boulevard prayers and good thoughts for a safe and happy summer season. Veterans will be recognized for Memorial Weekend.

10:40 am—Opening of the Ocean Our Happy Assembly will process to the Surf where Queen Ruby of the Pirates, in the company of her friends will cast the great Key to the Sea into the Surf to Open the Ocean and mark the return of Transit to the Atlantic.

11:OO am - Revels by the Sea begin, check with participating businesses for events throughout the holiday weekend.  Join Queen Ruby and the Ladies in Raiding for bits of drama and fun on the Island during the day. Dress your pirate part and release the energy of your pirate heart!

5:30 pm– Last Shuttle Run returns to the Mainland

For more information

contact William J. Hamilton, III, Executive Director of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or (843) 870-5299

 

 

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Queen Ruby’s Pirate Party Wed. May 24


Queen Ruby Handing out Pirate Booty
Queen Ruby’s Pirate PartyWed. May 24, 

  7 to 10:30 pm

Container Bar
2130 Mt Pleasant St, Charleston, SC
29403
On #20, Upper King Bus Route (Fare free)

Reserve your space on board now (Free, Eventbright). 

Container Bar will offer a half price discount or a single run drink to any person presenting one of Queen Ruby's pirate coins at the time they make the order. 

Most recent chapter in our evolving pirate drama. A Welcome Home Party for Queen Ruby. Come to the party prepared. 

Queen Ruby and her crew have magically arrived from year 1623. She’s evading  Pirate Anderson’s Cutthroat band who wants to rob her and the ladies in raiding of their ship and the magical key to the sea. Ruby is holding this party to start a Lowcountry pirate fashion trend in hopes of increasing her chances of keeping under the radar by filling Charleston with play Pirates, among whom she and her ladies can hide. 

Ruby's pirates have survived their first encounter with Anderson in this modern world, but life in the 21st century is becoming complicated. They're riding the bus because you can't rent or buy a car even with a handful of gold doubloons without an ID. A birthdate in the 1600s is bout to raise some questions down at the  DMV Ruby and the other lady pirates don't want to answer. 

Read the full, detailed back story. 

Pirate Party Games

Ruby has devised some party games to help build the Pirate fashion trend int he Lowcountry which will help her and her ladies hide. They may also identify people with sympathies and skills which might be useful in the future. 

Swordfight– Procure a partner. Show your daring do in our swordfight competition. Each team will be presented two foam Nerf swords and have two minutes to fight. Teams will be provided points based on costume (30%), hat (10%), choreography (30%) and drama (30%). 

Pirate Costume– Dress up and let your inner pirate out. 

Pirate Poetry- Present a short piratical poem. Must rhyme, 14 lines maximum. Must contain the words bus, booty and beach. 


Make buttons–
Produce a pirate pin to publicly portend  your propensity to push preconceptions of an ordinary summer overboard

Image, left- Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit marching to the sea at IOP from Mt. Pleasant in July 2015 to protest lack of public transit bus service to the beaches in Charleston, 98 degrees, The march took the same route the bus does now. 

For More Information- To become involved contact William Hamilton at 843-870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com. Contributions to support the effort can be made through act blue. 




 

 

 

Friday, May 12, 2023

Crystal Goes A Roving - Pirate War in Summerville?

Read the full story of Queen Ruby and her Ladies in Raiding- Cruise of the Jeweled Princess 

Learn more about 2023's bus to the beach and our Interactive Pirate Drama to be enacted across the Lowcountry. 

The Jeweled Princess is hidden at anchor in a remote creek near Cape Romaine, N. of Charleston. Queen Ruby has taken off of a secret mission. The ladies in raiding have secured supplies and water, but have carefully avoided drawing attention.


Crystal, the beautiful raven haired teenage daughter of the crew's Master at Arms, Emerald, has disappeared. Also missing are Crystal's personal arms and small purse of gold coins.

Emerald orders a search for her daughter and discovers in historic Charleston lady pirates are just assumed to be working in the tourism industry. A single gold coin purchases CARTA gold bus passes for the entire crew. They camp among the city's homeless population at night, sharing their largess with the hungry and unhoused. Emrald does not understand why a community with so much wealth has so many people sleeping under abandoned houses and in wooded lots. Some of the ladies take up event work for meetings and conventions to develop contacts. The event planners are amazed at the realism of their accents and clothing. “Best pirate actors I've ever seen,” reads one online review. Emerald soon finds Anderson and the Kings Guard. She has the Ladies in Raiding follow them.

Crystal has found her way inland to Summertime, taking the #41 bus from Shem Creek where she landed in a borrowed boat with an amazing, but noisy motor she found near McClellenville. Having rowed hundreds of miles in her time, this outboard motor is the first of many wonders. The antique dealer in Mt. Pleasant was happy to give her hundreds of dollars for just one of her antique coins. Downtown she takes in the sights and meets a theater student from Rollins School of the Arts who has been working on a pirate theater project. Together they take the #3 Express Bus to Summertime where she proceeds to discover the wonders of teenage life in the 21st Century.

Crystal does some Instagram posts with her friends, picks up a smart phone and begins to explore Dorchester County. She couch surfs among the Rollins students and even manages to spend most of a day at Rollins, amazing the theater teacher with her mastery of stage weapon choreography. She slipped out of the school when the administration started asking to speak to her parents. Dad doesn't have a cell phone back in 1723 and Emerald doesn't have one now.

That night Crystal was enjoying some pizza and a crisp, cool salad of fresh vegetables with her new Summertime friends. In Crystal's time, fresh vegetables wilted or rotted rapidly in the heat. On board a long voyage everything was dried, boiled or cooked. Crystal is a big fan of refrigeration. Ice cream too.

But not everything is wonderful, Crystal learns that some of her friends, who struggle with poverty in Summerville have never seen the Atlantic Ocean, only 20 miles away. She promises them, they'll see the sea this summer. She considers taking someone's boat and heading down the Ashley River but figures riding the bus would be less risky. She's also getting nervous about her reunion with the Ladies in Raiding who must be searing for her now. 

As the students and erstwhile pirate girl discussed the joys of putting on over on the Rollins administrators, one of the boys examines Crystal's short cutlass. It's heavy, meant to break bones and sharp. He slices his finger on the blade. “This is real,” he says, gesturing towards the foam swords they're planning to use in the upcoming theatrics.

Of course it's real,” Says Crystal, “I would have no chance against Anderson's pirates or the guard with one of your made in China's.”

One of the other boys says she not really a pirate, but has some sort of mental health problem.

Crystal's hand swings down to her delicate boot and fingers reach a knife. In an instant she brings it up, around and whips it forward so that it pierces the eye of a character in a poster that looks too much like Pirate Anderson for her liking. It passes two inches in front of the boy's nose.

If you see a man who looks like that, warn me and run.

Downtown Pirate Anderson has been renting out his ship for events, giving tours and discovers tourism pays pretty well. However, he wants his former ship and the precious key to the sea back. Anderson has made contact with the local criminal underground.

He soon gets word of a pirate girl with a growing social media following in Summerville. He's never seen Crystal, but recognizes the style of her dress. She has to be one of the ladies in raiding and would make a valuable hostage. Unable to navigate the problems of getting and driving a car, he too gets some CARTA Bus passes and rides the #10 Rivers Ave. Bus and Tri County Link bus all the way to Summerville, where again, everyone just assumes they're working in the tourism industry and don't bathe enough. Anderson can't understand why it takes two hours to get to Summertime on a bus which can clearly be driven 60 miles an hour.

The King's guard has been shadowing Anderson and hiding in modern clothes they've received at the Sunday Community Potluck on Hampstead Square. They also head to Summerville. Lacking a chest of gold, the redcoats beg for the fare in uniform first. Tourists love the selfies.

It is May 18, 2023. Crystal is getting ready to have some fun at Third Thursday in Summerville with her new friends. They're all dressed as pirates. Crystal is trending online. She's setting the fashion.

Her mother, Emerald, has also followed Anderson and the Guard to Summerville, the ladies as usual eliciting information from the hapless guards.

Some people have noticed there certainly seem to be a lot of pirates riding the bus system these days, but the authorities have no idea what is about to happen. Two warring bands of pirates and a detachment of royal guards are about to meet a group of teenagers among the craft booths and food trucks in flowertown. One of those teenagers is ready, but out of her time. The others are out of their depth and Queen Ruby and her magical key are far away.

It is later afternoon when Crystal and her friends arrive at Hutchinson Square. Anderson, the Guard and the Ladies in Raiding will arrive soon.

Be on Hutchinson Square in Summerville on Thursday, May 18 to see what happens next.


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