Bus Be Best Way to Beach

We celebrate the return of our Bus to the Beach Memorial weekend. Last year, in part to our Pirates on the Bus project, ridership increased by 90%. There are still empty seats on nearly every run.

Schedule and route map - can be viewed on the CARTA website.

Right- Bus Pirate Day at the beach, June 2023

Isle of Pirates Day 2024 will be Saturday, July 13. Read the details and sign up on Facebook. 

Service Begins with a Boom- The Beach Reach Shuttle began running Memorial Weekend and carried twice as many passengers as it did on the same weekend a year ago. All available parking on the Isle of Palms was evidently occupied for most of the weekend. Many people drove out to the beach, searched for parking, failed to find any and ended up driving back to the mainland an hour or more later, never having seen the beach. Some found our bus and some, with disappointed children, gave up and returned home. If you have to search for parking the bus will always be faster. Your kids won't be bored in the car. They'll be having the adventure of a trip on the bus. 

#40 Mount Pleasant Bus connects the Beach  Reach Shuttle to the rest of the CARTA system, leaving the Mary Street Transit Center downtown once an hour where it connects to eight other bus routes running to other parts of downtown, North Charleston, West Ashley and James Island. Find a link to maps of this route on the Ride Carta fixed routes page. 

Pirates vs. Barbie/Kenergy- Our pirates will return to the beach this summer, probably on July 4, but this year they'll have rivals, the crowd from Barbieland, ready to beach under the leadership of Ken and the living doll herself. Doing something like this on a major holiday is always a space shot. If you would like to help, let us know. It's pink vs. black, so choose  your clothing to show your sympathies. The pirate crew seems pretty committed, so we'll need the Barbies and the Bros to come of the bench and out to the beach. We'll be burying treasure on the beach, doing some pirate games with the public. Ken and his friends will "beach." Pirates will challenge the Island's rum supply again while the folks from Barbie Land have specialty cocktails of their own. The bartenders of IOP have never failed us yet and the bus assures a safe trip home for everyone. 

We may also have another bus to the  beach party at Container Bar on the #20 Route downtown. Last year's Pirate Party at Container Bar was a blast with sword fights, drama and  an exceptional effort from the food truck and the bar, 

Free Fair, Free Parking, Free Beach- Free parking is available near the stop in Mt. Pleasant Town Center on Market Center drive. However you can also take the #40 Mt. Pleasant bus from the Mary Street Transit Center in downtown Charleston for regular fare. The schedules for the beach reach shuttle and #40 are synchronized so you shouldn't have a wait at Mt. Pleasant Town Center. 

Electronic Wayfinding- The Beach Reach Shuttle is represented on the Transit App which will allow you to track it's location and get ETAs in real time. You can also use the Transit App and Google Maps / Transit to plan your transit trip to the beach from anywhere in the Lowcountry which has transit service, however since the shuttle only works on Summer weekends and holidays these services will report no service to IOP unless you have set the time and date for your trip when the service is running. Here is a Google Maps trip plan for Memorial Day from downtown Charleston to the beach.   You should download the transit app now if you don't already have it on your phone. 

left - Pitching our banner at the entrance to folly beach on Memorial weekend, 2018

Your Tax Dollars at Work- The shuttle is free thanks to contributions from the Tourism Tax funds of the City of Isle of Palms and Town of Mt. Pleasant. We've encouraged the support of IOP by awarding them the Key to the Sea, which resides in a wooden case at IOP City Hall. It's companion key was tossed into the waves last year to open the ocean and celebrate the restart of service on a cold, wet memorial day. 

You Have a Place at the Beach- The shuttle lets you off at the Charleston County Park on the front beach IOP. Since you don't have to pay for parking, use of the park is also free. That includes indoor, flush toilets in their air conditioned building, outdoor showers and changing rooms. 

IOP has City Bathrooms and Showers- In the middle of the commercial strip, the City of the Isle of Palms maintains it's own free shower and toilet facility. It's closer to many locations if you decide to beach west of the pier. 

Veteran Visits- If you are a veteran or active duty military, the VFW Post on the Coast will welcome you to their extraordinary beachfront location. Located next to the Windjammer, up a small walkway you'll find veterans enjoying a wonderful beachfront deck with a bonus view of the adjacent Windjammer stage where there is often music. The Post has toilets, a bar and sometimes food. There are events there throughout the summer. The VFW has been a strong supporter of the Beach Reach Shuttle since their members don't have to look for parking. 

IOP Front Beach Businesses- IOP has a wonderful, small beachfront business district with places to eat and shop. Let them know that you came on the bus since it's their tourism taxes helping pay for it. Here is a list of IOP restaurants. The ones near the bus stop are in the center of the island. 

Image right- A Bus Driver drink concocted by Coconut Joes on IOP as part of our July 2015 March to the Sea to help return Transit to the Atlantic. Has gold rum, red cherry and green lime (they ran out of limes that day) for the colors of the Best Friend train. 

Wonderful Wait- On your way home, the waiting area outside the park where the bus stops is shaded and has plentiful benches. With the sea breeze, it's probably the most comfortable bus stop in the Lowcountry on a hot summer day. 

Stopover on your way home. The #40 bus runs later than the Beach Shuttle so you can stop over on your way home at Mount Pleasant Town Centre. There's a Lowes, a movie theater, over 13 restaurants and many other shops and businesses. If you shower and change at the beach, you'll be OK to enjoy some time there. 

Not finished until we get to Folly. We still want a bus out to Folly Beach, where parking is now over $20 in their downtown area. Folly is a much tougher place to reach, but we were able to push the Folly Road bus further out to Sol Legare road at the Harris Teeter where it's an easy bike ride out to folly or a challenging walk, side walked all the way. Almost  there. We were also able to get frequency of service on the Folly Road bus increased. Bus ride to end of the Folly Road Bus line on Google Maps

The late Mary Smith appearing as Sylphide, our Transit Fairy

Nothing is Easy and even a Free Bus Isn't Free- It took seven long, hard years of grassroots advocacy aimed at both the East Cooper area and Folly Beach to get this shuttle running and we've put a lot of work into getting people to ride. All you need to do to make that effort worthwhile is to ride the shuttle and bring your friends. Several members of the team which fought to get the bus back out to the beach did not live to ride it. Julia Hamilton and Mary Smith (Our transit fairy) included. The struggle for better transit in the Lowcountry has been a long, hard one but we have progress to be proud of. There are hundreds of new shelters standing or planned for our exisiting bus lines. Service has been increase on the Northbridge and Dorchester Road routes. Ridership, though still below what it was before the pandemic is building. The LCRT, though reduced in scope, slowly advances towards construction and CARTA has stuck to it's guns in the controversy over the fairgrounds. There is a massive, now funded project to build affordable housing and walkable communties along and near Rivers Ave. Every inch of this progress was fought for and six of our core advocates have already taken their last ride. 

We hope when you crest across the dunes at IOP and you feel the cool, fresh breeze of the ocean that you will remember our departed friends. You can do that by scratching our symbol, taken from the Best Friend of Charleston into the sand, awaiting the return of the ocean to wipe it away. If you are there on a lucky day, you might be able to dig up some of our pirate treasure. 

Support our Work, More Information - To support the work of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit you can contribute on Act Blue. For information or assistance contact William Hamilton at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or 843-870-5299.

Queen Ruby of the Pirates and her Ladies in Raiding, the Cruise of the Jeweled Princess

Flag of Queen Ruby of the Pirates

© 2023 by William J. Hamilton, III

Ride the Bus, Join the Drama

This summer Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit invites you not merely to take the bus to the beach, but to use transit to access a summer island filled with adventure, drama, swordplay and romance. 

This is the first written chapter  in our pirate drama. We maintain a complete chronology with links to all the chapters and events 

When you encounter Queen Ruby of the Pirates or one of her Ladies in Raiding, you may be given a golden pirate coin which will allow you to win discounts, earn prizes or even participate in the dramatic contest between Queen Ruby, his majesty's royal militia, the fiendish Pirate Anderson or the venal operatives of the British West India company. 

Here's our story up to now. Join the next chapter on Memorial weekend when we open the ocean at 10:30 am on the front beach of the Isle of Palms and join the drama which will bring  excitement as well as better transit to the Lowcountry up to its conclusion of Labor Day Weekend.

After you have read the backstory below, read the latest chapter, the conclusion of which will unfold in Summerville on May 18. Read Crystal Goes A Roving, Pirate War in Summerville?

A Hard Life Come to a Dead End

Ruby was the beloved daughter of a famous Admiral of His Majesty’s Royal Navy. Middle age found her married to a rum ruined former ship’s captain and now tavern owner in the impoverished town of Port St. Phillip. Trapped in circumstance, peril and adventure yet awaited the handsome woman who believed her life was to be spent tending bar, scrubbing run sodden tavern floors and sloping pigs.

Peril from the Sea, Anderson's Pirates Raid Port Phillip

Peril came in the form of Anderson’s pirate band, who raided the town and carried off everything of any worth. St. Phillip was poor on a good day. The King’s taxes and the ruinous terms of trade with the monopoly of the British West India Company made life expensive and hard. With rations low and a pirate crew on the verge of munity, Anderson came to take everything Ruby and her neighbors had. The King and his fleet were, as usual, far away guarding the profits of the West India company.

Ruby’s husband was a sot, but when the door of his tavern was breached by the thirsty pirates he rose on his feet to defend his wife, whom he still loved, the only true treasure he possessed. The Captain's final battle was brave and short. He ended in a pool of his own blood on the dank, beer soaked floor. Ruby, unready, was taken prisoner as were the other ladies of the town. It took five strong men to drag Ruby to their ship.

On board Ruby and her sisters contemplated the horrors that awaited them in one form of slavery or another. They were hardship toughened women from age 12 to 80, subject to the various uses men might devise for them unless they freed themselves.

Ruby knew the uses of rum on sailors and proposed a party, a welcome surprise to  the pirates. The revels began, but the pirates quickly fell into a drunken sleep while attempting to prove to the smiling women which of them might hold the most rum.

When they awoke with headaches the following morning, they were startled to find irons on their feet, shackled to chains run around the beams of the ship. Above them they could hear the sound of feet on the deck, hear the rasp of rigging running through the blocks and the high pitched voice of Ruby, directing the trimming of the main course. What had been their ship was under way. They were now prisoners locked in irons. Ruby and the women were in command of what was now the ladies’ ship.

Ruby had heard many stories of the sea, none more legendary and improbable than the tale of the key to the sea. Said to have been forged by Vikings, the large iron key to the sea was alleged to give the Captain who held it command over wind and wave. It was said the key was the power which allowed the Vikings to find Greenland and the new world. The key could put the wind behind your sails and turn it against your opponent. It could calm the storm for your vessel’s crossing but raise the gale against a ship in pursuit.

In the hands of the righteous, the key was the most powerful magic on the sea. However, in the possession of a murderous thief and kidnapper like Anderson it had been of no use, a relic that had cost him much and had yielded him nothing.

When Ruby and the ladies battered down the door to the captain’s cabin they found the key among his many treasures. Ruby knew what it had to be. She passed over the precious gems, gold and silver in the treasure chest to grasp its handle. She told the other women; “with this we shall be powerful and free.”

A Decision is Made, A Voyage Begins

At dawn Ruby donned Andersons worn pirate costume and fitted his oversized bicorn hat to her smaller head. She directed the women to work the anchor up with the windlass, lowered the sails and let the ship fall down into the wind. As what would be known as the Jeweled Princess of the Seas began to make headway and the rudder began to cut, Sapphire, who had taken up the work of the helmslady asked Ruby if they should return to the ruins of Port Phillip.

Ruby reached into the pirate jacket’s oversized pocket and touched the key to the sea with her fingers, feeling the waves tremble beneath the ship at her touch. She looked at the women before her rapidly become an effective crew. Ruby considered what their lives back in the power of others might be. More hardship, burials sure to be forgotten and the certain return of other pirates. They could expect forced, unfair dealings with the rapacious agents of the West India Company or the occasional press gangs of the erstwhile Royall Navy taking the men. That course did not promise freedom or happiness for them or the many others who suffered.

Ruby looked at Sapphire (all the ladies had taken to naming themselves after precious gems) whose hands rested on the huge wooden wheel of the ship. Assisting her was beautiful, raven haired Crystal, a young girl with her entire life ahead.

Ruby turned her face into the wind, feeling the air. The sea breeze opening with the morning’s warming heat brought the worn plume of Ruby’s hat up and into the sun. It was a fair wind for travels North to a convenient island where Anderson and his pirates could be marooned. Beyond that could be found the wealthy parts of the Caribbean, a sea of arrogant captains, greedy company agents, slavers and more pirates than a women should have to contend with.

Not the ordinary workplace of a lady for sure, but work which needed doing.

Ruby looked at Sapphire and Crystal, and beyond them to the blue sea and islands out to the horizon.

“I think not,” famously said Queen Ruby, adjusting her hat. “Easy over three points to starboard.” She touched the key in her pocket and the ocean beneath the keel yielded to the ship, the wind backed to her desired direction and the Jeweled Princess began its first voyage.

300 Years Later in Carolina

Pirate Queen Ruby and her Ladies in Raiding have been sailing for years. Crystal is now a young women and can hold down the poop deck in a storm with the confidence of any man. However, as Ruby possesses the key, no storm every overthrows the Jeweled Princess.

For the struggling people of these colonies, Ruby’s ship and its crew are a welcome sight. They bring help when needed. The women defend against pirates and recover some of the wealth the West India Company takes from these people tossed by hurricanes and often starved by poor, island soils. 

On the hot, still days after a hurricane, when everything is in ruins, it is the Jeweled Princess that often shows up first with assistance. If the crates of crackers heaved into the lighters bear the mark of the West India company, no one seems to mind.

Except of course, for the West India company, who profits for King and investors by buying everything the islands produce at prices of it’s choosing and selling everything needed there at a premium, standing on its royal grant of monopoly. The King gets his share of all. The Royal Navy’s first job it to be sure of that.  The sugar cane grown gets sold to the company for a pittance and the run later purchased costs dear. It does not profit the West India company to see it’s run and crackers donated to the poor for free, even after a Hurricane.

During one storm, when Ruby used the key of the sea to end a mighty Hurricane. The massive energy of the storm was concentrated and there was an exposion. She and her ladies find themselves in a strange world, 400 years in their future. A world of wonders, but also troubles. They have kept their distance up to now, attempting to observe this world of marvels from a safe distance, but their casks have run dry. 

Ruby and her ladies have been forced to land at the Isle of Palms after scouting the Lowcountry to obtain that most precious treasure, water, to fill the casks of the Jeweled Princess. They will distribute some largess, get help hauling the water out to their ship and be quickly off over the waves leaving the pirates, royal navy and company agents in their wake, who have somehow also reached the future with her. 

The casks are full. The Jeweled Princess is ready to make sail, but Crystal, now the flower of young womanhood, cannot be found. Ruby must remain ashore with the other ladies in raiding to search for her sister. As the island fills with summer visitors, the Ladies in Raiding are not unnoticed. Reports have reached the King guards. The West  India Company has offered rewards: 20 pounds for a lady in raiding, 100 for Ruby and a thousand for the Key to the sea.

Crystal is rumored to be in Summerville, reveling in the opportunities this new century presents to an experienced 16th Century Pirate Maiden. Our next chapter unfolds in Summerville on May 18. Read Crystal Goes A Roving, Pirate War in Summerville?

Ride the Bus, Join the Story

The Royal Navy, as always, is far away protecting the king’s profits, but Anderson and his pirates are close. They escaped their lonely island years ago and stole a new ship. They are bearing down on Ruby, the Isle of Palms and the King’s small guard, a friend to none of them. It is the beginning of summer. While visitors revel and sport traveling from the mainland on the free bus service, Ruby and her ladies must act to save all.

On May 27, 2023, starting at 10:30 am on the Isle of Palms, take the free CARTA Beach Shuttle from the mainland and join the story.  

More Information

For more information, see our main page on the 2023 bus to the beach or contact William Hamilton at (843) 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com

 

Bus to the Beach 2023- Ruby and the Pirates

Bus to the Beach at IOP stop

Beach service will run on weekends and holidays between Memorial weekend and Labor day. Trips may be planned using Google Transit or the Transit App on your smartphone. Parking on the mainland can be found along Market Center Drive in Mt. Pleasant Town Centre. The service is scheduled to connect directly to the regular CARTA 40 bus route running from downtown Charleston. Mainland parking and the shuttle are both free. 

Official Map & Schedule

Official CARTA Map and schedule for the Bus to the Beach 2023

Load the transit app on your phone so you can track the bus. 

You can reach the Beach Reach Shuttle and Isle of Palms from other places on the CARTA system using regular CARTA bus lines. Trips are faster with fewer and shorter layovers at connections on Saturday, but the shuttle itself is scheduled for an immediate connection with the Mt. Pleasant #40 and Hungryneck N. 17 #42 at the mainland stop of Market Center Drive, on the round-a-bout between Lowes and Mt. Pleasant Town Center. Here is the trip from downtown Charleston, Mary Street Transit Center on the 40 for Saturday Morning and from CARTA Superstop in N. Charleston. Make sure to collect your transfer. 

We appreciate the CARTA board's commitment to making this service work. We also thank the City of Isle of Palms and Town of Mt. Pleasant for paying the cost of this transit service. We're happy to commit to fully supporting the effort. We're not sending them a plaque, however. We're sending Pirates. 

Thar be Bus Pirates ere

Beach Reach Shuttle Service will start on Memorial weekend. Best Friends celebrated on a rather rainy beach when Pirate Queen Ruby opened the ocean by throwing the Key to the Sea into the Waves. She also inducted "Queen Cookie" as an honorary Lady in Raiding right on the damp, grey beach. Pirates can beach in the rain. Our summer long participator pirate drama is woven into the effort to increase ridership on the Bus to the Beach, but headed to other, fantastic places as well. Read the story. Choose a side. Play your pirate part and enjoy the beach in a new way where you obsess our Pirating instead of Parking. 

June 17- IOP = Isle of Pirates- Muster of the Ladies in Raiding-

Queen Ruby has called a muster of all her ladies in Raiding for Saturday, June 17th. on the Isle of Palms.  Our pirate camp will be located on the beach in front of the VFW and Windjammer. The pirates plan to load up the 11:15 run of the bus to the beach.  New recruits are welcome.  See the Facebook Event listing. 

June- Pirate Pop Ups. 

Look for our Lady Pirates and their foes to appear around the Lowcountry in June. 

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

June to August- Flee the Sea Daytrips

While we love to go to the beach on the weekends, the people who live out there find themselves tied up in congestion. They beach during the week. We're planning some flee the Sea daytrips for them. The first is tentatively set for June 18 with a guided trip to Mt. Pleasant Town Center and assistance planning trips beyond that point on the CARTA system. Sign up for the June 18 Trip on Eventbright. Participants will have the opportunity to do lunch at Town Center with restaurants prepared to assist them in decompressing. They can take in a move, hit the Barnes and Noble book store or take in a moved at the Palmetto Grande. Later in the Summer we might push inland for a quiet Sunday downtown or if you really need to escape Tourism, North Charleston. 

Veterans Voyages to the Sea, Summerville to the Sea and Rivers to the Ocean North Charleston

We're working with community groups of all kinds to get new people on transit, starting with the Beach Reach Shuttle. We're meeting people across the Lowcountry who haven't been to the beach in years. Many also no longer go downtown. Queen Ruby and her Pirates plan to lead them out of the doldrums of Autocentric Alienation Ashore Syndrome back to the sunny sand and the transit accessible city with too many cars in historic Charleston. When they ask you where you parked, tell them "North Charleston."

The Legend of Queen Ruby and her Ladies in Raiding 

Pirates in the Pride Parade

Read the legend of Queen Ruby of the Pirates, her Ladies in Raiding and the voyage of the Jeweled Princess. The drama of their struggle to remain free and powerful as they contend with the King's guard and the vicious gang of Pirate Anderson will unfold across the Lowcountry this summer, challenging the disappointing narrative of current events with a story of beautiful pirates coming to the aid of the oppressed, battles upon land and sea and romance as the members of the King's guard, so far from his majesty and so close to the beautiful Pirate ladies, try to remember whose side they are supposed to be on. How have these women escaped their time four hundred years ago to cruise the waters of Carolina. Why are they here. What will become of them?

If you encounter the Queen Ruby or her ladies in raiding, they'll be handing out pirate booty. These coins may earn you discounts at local businesses, purchase entry into contests or allow you to enjoy special entertainments. Return here for a list of participating businesses. Be sure to keep your pirate coins secret from the King's soldiers who may attempt to confiscate them or have you slapped into irons for dealing with pirates. However you need not fear the redcoats, they're proving fairly ineffective at stopping the lady pirates who continue to compromise the lonely soldiers so far from home's sense of royal duty. 

Queen Ruby and her ladies in Raiding were wives, mothers and daughters laboring away in the run down port town of St. Phillip when they were taken prinsoner by Pirates to be sold as human booty. Learn how they turned the tables on their captors, found the magical power of the key to the sea and became legends of the sea in the legend of Queen Ruby or the Pirates and her ladies in raiding. 

If you are a business who would like to participate in redeeming that pirate coin and winning new customers by offering discounts, drawings or contests, please contact William Hamilton at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com to get a visit from one of the Ladies in Raiding to set you up. 

Expect royal tavern parleys for the Pirate's surrender, romance, drama of all kinds and a streetscape somewhere between the Pirates of Penzance, Jack Sparrow and Peter Pan with the occasional appearance of mermaids and mermen as well. It's going to be a memorable summer on the bus and at the Isle of Palms.   

Guided Group Trips- After the first weekend, we'll be leading group rides from locations around the area to the beach. The Waylin Heart Team from North Charleston has already begun planning a neighborhood trip, a three bus hop from their neighborhood between Dorchester Road and Rivers Ave. in North Charleston, near Burns Elementary School. 

We're working a special weekend of events to help the disabled reach and enjoy the beach. We need lots of strong partners for that effort. 

If you feel the desire to join Queen Ruby's ladies in Raiding or the loyal redcoats dispatched by his Majesty King George to suppress their piratical depredations please contact us at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or (843) 870-5299. 

You can return to this page for updates and more information. 

Park Pleasantly, Play Downtown, Summer 2023

If you're planning to bus to the beach and want good bus connections to downtown Charleston and the free DASH bus system serving the Tourist District, as well as the Brewery Trolly and the free #20 Upper King bus. The hotels around Mt. Pleasant Town Centre are your best bet. You can also find good Transit connections with more frequent service to the city in the Hotels in the Ravenel gateway District, near the East end of the Ravenel Cooper River Bridges, where both the #40 and #41 run to Charleston offering a bus into and out of the city approximately every 45 minutes on average. Every 30 minutes some hours. See our Park Pleasantly, Play Downtown page for details on saving money and enhancing your Charleston vacation by staying in Mt. Pleasant.

Transit to the Atlantic - A six year effort

The CARTA board voted unanimously to run the IOP / Mt. Pleasant Beach Shuttle bus again for Summer, 2023 at its February meeting. A major effort to increase ridership is planned. 

Best friends of Lowcountry Transit began advocating for returning bus service to the beaches in Charleston in 2014. The six your effort included the July 2015 March to the Sea and the 2018 Folly Freedom Campaign. 

Bus service returned to the beach with a brief trial program in August of 2020 with full summer weekend service starting Memorial Weekend, 2021. The service was reapproved for a second full year and deployed with an improved route in 2022.  The CARTA board unanimously voted to run the service again in 2023 and board members indicated a strong interest in increasing ridership and further improvements to service including a possible connection to Sullivan's Island and parts of Ben Sawyer Blvd, connecting with the #41 route.

It is important to note, however, that extensions of the route depend on the impact of Car induced traffic congestion on roads near the beach which can be severe since so many people prefet frustrating car trips to the beach to search for limited parking over the convenience of transit. For the route to function, it must be able to reliably keep a schedule so it can connect to the #40 bus route to and from Charleston and the rest of the CARTA system. 

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