The Palmetto tree - South Carolina's State Tree

On January 28, 1861 the General Assembly at the time adopted the current version of South Carolina's flag—which prominently displays a palmetto tree--to symbolized Colonel Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776.

The triumph at Fort Moultrie was largely accredited to the ability of the palmetto tree fort to absorb the force of British cannonballs. The palmetto became a symbol of liberty and safety in South Carolina. The palmetto tree was first included as a decorative element on the South Carolina state seal in 1777 and then added to the state flag in 1861. The flag design has remained in tact since then and has become a symbol of pride for many South Carolinians. June 28th is remembered, each year, as "Carolina Day" and celebrated in Charleston each year, with images of the palmetto tree depicted throughout the city.

What's so great about the palmetto tree? Well, the trunk of palmetto trees are not comprised of wood but a fibrous material that allows the tree to bend in the strong winds common along the South Carolina coastline. They endure salt spray and sandy soils and stand tall and beautiful throughout the year. In the United States, the native range of the palmetto tree is the coastal plain of the lower East Coast from southeast North Carolina southward to Florida and west along the Gulf Coastal plain to Texas.

The main difference between palmettos and palm trees are their size. Palm trees can top 80 feet tall, while the largest palmetto grows only about 30 feet tall. Palm tree trunks grow vertically, while the main stem of most palmetto species generally stay on or just below the ground and grow horizontally.

https://www.cedarlawnandlandscaping.com/blog/palmetto-pride-a-brief-history-of-our-state-tree

The Sunken Pirate City of Port Royal

(amusingplanet.com)

Port Royal was a city situated on the end of an 18-mile long sand spit known as the Palisadoes, at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in south-eastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it rapidly grew to become the most important trading post in the Caribbean Sea due to its strategic position on the trading routes between the New World and Spain. When England officially appointed privateers to raid enemy ships in the Caribbean, as a part of its defence strategy, pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal to legitimize their trade. Soon Port Royal became a notorious hub for pirate activity, gambling, prostitutes, and booze leading it to be branded as "the wickedest city on earth".

Port Royal’s glory days didn’t last long. At the height of its glittering wealth on June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake shook Jamaica. The sea swallowed the town killing 2,000 people and wounding 3,000 others. The local clergy ascribed the destruction of Port Royal as God's punishment on the people for their sinful ways. Today, the area is a shadow of its former self with a population of less than 2,000 and little to no commercial or political importance.

The first Europeans to land on Jamaica were the Spaniards under the leadership of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Spain maintained control over the island for 146 years, until the English invasion of 1655. As a solution to their defence concerns, the then Governor of England invited pirates to Port Royal giving them official “letters of marque” to go after Spanish ships and settlements. The strategy proved to be so successful that Spain was forced to continually defend their property. With ships frequently looted, it struggled to provide its colonies with manufactured goods on a regular basis.

Port Royal meanwhile flourished. Between 1655 and 1692, it grew faster than any town founded by the English in the New World. At its height in 1692, the town had a population of 6,500 and 2,000 buildings densely packed into 51 acres. Its free-spending inhabitants threw away their money in gambling, whoring and drinking, and the town developed a reputation as a den of wickedness and godlessness. 

When Charles Leslie wrote of Port Royal in the 1660s, he included the description: “Wine and women drained their wealth to such a degree that... some of them became reduced to beggary. They have been known to spend 2 or 3,000 pieces of eight in one night; and one gave a strumpet 500 to see her naked. They used to buy a pipe of wine, place it in the street, and oblige everyone that passed to drink.”

Port Royal’s extravagance came to an abrupt end on June 7, 1692 when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck causing two-thirds of the town to fall into the sea. A series of fires and hurricanes followed and the town was never restored to its former glory. Port Royal lived out its days as a British naval station and today remains as a small fishing village. However, the part of the town lying at the bottom of the shallow sea is considered the most important underwater archaeological site in the western hemisphere, yielding many 16th–and-17th-century artefacts. From UNESCO’s website:

Many of the materials found in the underwater city of Port Royal, are perfect expressions of authenticity, found just exactly as they were originally being used or where they were stored. Cast-iron skillets and pots were still in the hearth with charred wood from the fire concreted to their surfaces. Stacks of pewter plates were found as they fell from their storage space under the stairs in what is surmised to be the serving area of one building. The remains of children were found among the broken walls of their home. Also, uncovered were the remains of barrels containing the trash of the day, including the trimmings of a man's beard and hair in a yard area. Many ceramics were found intact or broken where they fell.

Many of the items recovered over the years from the bottom can be seen at the Museums of History and Ethnography at the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/02/the-sunken-pirate-city-of-port-royal.html

Port Royal

(from visitjamaica.com)

One of the oldest and most historic regions of the country, Port Royal has maintained much of its independence as well as its heritage. Once the enclave of pirates and other outlaws, there is still a strong seafaring tradition. Much of the old city, described in the 17th century as the "wickedest city in the west", lies underwater beside the town, the result of an earthquake that in 1692 swallowed about two-thirds of the then-living space. Since then, another earthquake in 1907, numerous hurricanes, fires, and various population-decimating diseases have plagued the town. Despite all, the waters around Port Royal are a virtual archaeological gold mine, filled with pieces of history that tell of everyday life in the earliest days of English occupation. Port Royal is also home to the Archaeological Division of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), which recently completed a sonar survey of the underwater city, revealing a sunken pirate ship in the Kingston Harbour. To date thousands of artefacts have been recovered, and there are plans to develop a local museum to showcase these items once the research on them is complete.

Local Flavour: 

Port Royal is a community of proud people, fiercely defensive of their privacy, yet warm and welcoming to those interested in visiting. The community is especially close-knit because of its layout - everywhere in town is within walking distance, and there are several generations of people all living together. Perhaps the town's best attribute is its comfortable, laid-back temperament - on any given day there are children playing in the streets, young adults gathered in groups hanging out, and older folk sitting on verandas watching the world go by.

Famous For: 

Pirates! In the 17th century, Port Royal was the headquarters of the numerous swashbuckling scoundrels that plundered the high seas. Of the more famous pirates to be associated with Port Royal are Sir Henry Morgan, Calico Jack and Blackbeard Teach.

Don't Miss:

Be sure to stop by the Giddy House at Fort Charles. The building, which was built in 1888 to house the artillery store for the fort, was jolted to its present precarious position during the 1907 earthquake. Visitors are allowed to enter the building, however, walking through the building wreaks havoc on the senses, creating a nauseating effect. Go to Fort Charles and ask for either Molly or Rally. Both are Jamaica National Heritage Trust Tour Guides at Fort Charles and both live in the town nearby. They each know loads about the history of all of Port Royal - not just the history of Fort Charles - and are willing to share not just their knowledge, but also their memories of growing up in Port Royal. Also, ask Molly any questions you have about St Peter's Church. She is also the secretary there.

Ye be talkin' like a pirate today?

September 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day

(from talklikeapirate.com)

https://talklikeapirate.com/

-Questions and Answers-

Why International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Why not? Talking like a pirate is fun. It’s really that simple. It adds a zest, a swagger, to your every day conversation. Do you need another reason? How many chances does daily life give you to swagger?

Where did the idea for Talk Like a Pirate Day come from?

Believe it or not, the holiday was birthed on the racquetball court.

Ol’ Chumbucket and Cap’n Slappy, who at the time were two normal guys named John Baur and Mark Summers, had undertaken an exercise regime to “get back in shape,” (as if) and that included weekly games of racquetball at the local YMCA.

On June 6, 1995, they were playing on Court No. 3 when Mark let out a roar, very like an “Aarrr!” From there he sprang into full pirate talk, and John followed along.

By the time the game was over (you can assume Mark won. John has never won a game of racquetball in his life.) they were speaking solely in the language of freebooters. They decided right there and then that the world needed as holiday where every man, woman and children in the nation would be not just free to talk like a pirate, but encourage to do so.

John came up with the name. At first it was National Talk Like a Pirate Day. It has grown.

If they came up with the idea on June 6, why is the holiday celebrated on Sept. 19?

The two realized quickly that June 6 is the anniversary of World War II’s D-Day, a sacred even in the life of the nation and in guy lore. Rather than besmirch the memory of that day, we needed another for our ersatz holiday. But what?

John asked Mark if he had anything, and without hesitation he replied, “September 19.”

“OK,” John said. “But why.”

“It’s my ex-wife’s birthday,” Mark explained. “The day is stuck in my head and I’m not doing anything with it, so it’ll be easier to remember.”

-The Aftermath-

Following is the e-mail John sent friends in the wake of the first International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Sept. 19, 2002:

We knew we might be in trouble when the Australian DJ announced his next guests were “a couple of blokes from America who’ve come up with the craziest idea I’ve ever heard of.”

We have been amazed, thunderstruck even, by the response to Talk Like a Pirate Day. Our timbers have been thoroughly shivered. Never underestimate the power of Dave Barry, who we shall from now on refer to as “our close personal friend Dave, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.”

Social media sites all over the Internet have been deluged with “Arrs” and “me hearties” and such. I introduced myself at a high school parents’ meeting and a woman looked up and said, “You’re the talk-like-a-pirate guy.” It’s apparently particularly popular on college campuses. I’m told it’s a huge success at the University of Wisconsin, and a Seven Sisters’ school which shall remain nameless is reported to have run women’s panties up a flag pole in honor of the 2002 event – a fitting, dare we say, tribute. Chase’s Calendar of Events, the annual listing every holiday under the sun (and many under the moon, for you Wiccans out there) asked us to submit the event for inclusion in their 2004 listing (2003 has already gone to press.) So that makes it official, as far as we’re concerned.

Mark and I have been jointly interviewed by radio stations in Cleveland and Sydney, AUSTRALIA. That’s the moment this became an international holiday. Mark also took an interview with Purplebeard, the Gay Pirate, host on Rosie 105 in Portland. I was interviewed by an Albany country station and, this morning, by a station in Phoenix. I just got off the phone with Irish National Radio. They had originally scheduled to talk to both Mark and me at 1 a.m. today (Ireland is 8 hours ahead) but the guy called to apologize. His producer wouldn’t let him do the interview today because it would conflict with the frozen foods promotion they’ve been running, in which “listeners hush Huskies to the South Pole.” That’s what he said. Hush. I have no idea what he meant. So we didn’t get Irish drive time, but I was on later in the evening. Then I was interviewed by NPR’s All Things Considered, which aired the segment as the final story in Thursday’s show.

The Aussie wasn’t actually too bad, but it was HIS show and he kept it firmly in hand. I could tell several times that our line had been turned off while he went on and on. A couple of callers accused us of “cultural imperialism,” because they’ve always talked like pirates. Well of course they do. Think about how they’re continent was settled, as a prison colony. That’s what’s so great about Australia. Not that Mark or I actually said that, of course. We got in a few broadsides. It was a draw, I’d say.

Mark said he had a similar control issues with Purplebeard. It was his show, and he wasn’t going to let some clown from Albany shanghai it. I found the two people from Phoenix and the gentleman from Ireland to be quite pleasant, and well prepared.

At a work meeting Tuesday, one of Mark’s co-workers (who I will give an assumed sex to avoid embarrassment) said, “Oh Mark, tell everyone about your special day.” So Mark explained all about Talk Like a Pirate Day. The fella who brought it up then said, “I think that’s so great, to have a talk like a parrot day.” You couldn’t make up stuff like this. What? You’re going to spend the day squawking and saying, “Braaaak. I’m a pretty boy. I’m a pretty boy. Braaaak. Polly want a cracker.” You might as well call it “Make Everyone Within the Sound of My Voice Hate Me Day.”

So anyway, Talk Like a Pirate Day has been a HUGE success, far bigger than anything Mark and I ever imagined. We imagined we’d have our 15 minutes of fame. As my close personal friend Dave said, “This thing may be big. Maybe 20 minutes.” I am looking forward to the day when they put up a plaque at racquetball court No. 3 at the Albany YMCA, where Mark and I first came up with this idea. As I told my daughter Millie’s fifth grade class this morning, this is one of the silliest things I’ve ever done, but it’s been fun, and we’ve just been riding the wave ever since.

There will be a Talk Like a Pirate Day again next year, we’ve got to keep the buzz building. But for today, I think you’ll forgive Mark and me if we just talk like a couple of yahoos from Oregon.

Arrrr!!

Our biggest TLAP surprise

The column written by our close personal friend Dave Barry appeared in newspapers across the country on Sept. 8. That afternoon, John was sitting at home when the phone rang. He picked up. The voice on the end sounded vaguely familiar. She identified herself. It was Rhonda, Mark’s ex-wife. Mark hadn’t seen her in a couple of years, since she had moved to California.

She sounded more bemused than anything. “My mother just came over and asked if Mark knew anyone named John Baur,” she said. “When I said yes, she said, ‘Well, you’re in the paper’.”

She was curious how we had chosen her birthday for the event. When John explained, she seemed to accept that we hadn’t meant anything malicious. It was just a day we could remember, and the sort of detail that made the story odd enough to garner national attention. She didn’t have Mark’s number, but asked John to pass on the message, “I’ve never been prouder to be his EX-wife.”

He took her number, and Mark later called. It was OK.

Mark’s mother in Seattle also called. Mark was out but when he got home he found the following message on his answering machine:

“Your uncle Ernie read the article and thought it was very funny. I don’t know what’s so funny about talking like a pirate, but I love you very much.”

We took a stab and tried to get on one of the late night talk shows, Letterman is our favorite, and Comedy Centrals “The Daily Show,” but frankly we’d settle for anything. But nothing came of it.

Yet.

We had tapped into something big, much bigger than we had ever anticipated. Frankly, by the time the 2002 holiday was over, we couldn’t have been more tired of talking like pirates. But this is another year, and it’s another Talk Like a Pirate Day. Only this Sept. 19, and every Sept. 19 hereafter, we will be ready.

St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure museum

Pirate Scholar, Entrepreneur, and best-selling Author Pat Croce’s  passion project – The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum - features over 800 authentic artifacts celebrating the history of piracy, both factual and fictional, from the 1600’s through present day.

The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum offers an exciting and educational museum experience that transports you and your family back in time over 300 years to Port Royal, Jamaica, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy. The museum spans about 5,000 sq. ft. with a 1,300 sq. ft. courtyard.

After a successful 5-year run in Key West, Pat Croce moved the Pirate & Treasure Museum to another pirate stronghold: St. Augustine, Florida. Pirates such as Sir Francis Drake and Robert Searles who frequented the nation’s oldest city and the Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos, played a major role in the history of pirates and Colonial America.

https://www.thepiratemuseum.com/

The museum has one of only two known existing actual pirate flags.

Everything we know about the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot

(ew.com March 26, 2024)

This is the day you'll always remember as the day you still haven't seen Jack Sparrow in a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There will be a sixth movie in the film franchise inspired by the Disney parks rides, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed.

"We're gonna reboot Pirates," he told ComicBook.com. However, plans for a reboot were in place since at least 2019. Still, Bruckheimer's words may mean that there's wind in those sails.

It's now seven years since Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the franchise's fifth installment. Here's what we know so far about a new Pirates adventure.

Who will star in the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot?

Official announcements haven't been made, but Bruckheimer indicated that Pirates 6 will genuinely be a reboot with a new cast. Speaking to ComicBook.com, he said, "We're gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together [than the next Top Gun] because you don't have to wait for certain actors."

He doesn't come out and say anything definitive, but it does corroborate other evidence that the new film won't bring back — or at least won't star – the franchise's pillars, including Johnny Depp, Geffrey Rush, Keira Knightley, or Orlando Bloom.

That echoes what Depp revealed during the defamation trial between the actor and ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp testified that Disney cut ties with him following Heard's 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post, where she wrote that she had been a victim of domestic abuse but did not mention Depp by name.

Even if Disney and Bruckheimer changed their minds on Depp, the actor said in court that he wouldn't come back, even if he was offered "$300 million and a million alpacas," as Heard's lawyer put it. 

"That is true," Depp responded. "There was a deep and distinct sense of feeling betrayed by the people that I've worked hard for. People that I delivered a character to that they initially despised, but I stuck to my guns with the character, and it seemed to work."

Who is writing the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot?

Craig Mazin, creator of The Last of Us and Chernobyl, earlier revealed he is working with original screenwriter Ted Elliot on a new Pirates movie. They were reportedly brought into the project in 2019 when Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick dropped out, per Deadline. However, the 2023 WGA strike put the process on hold.

“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did!” Mazin told the Los Angeles Times in August 2023. “And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”

Previously, Christina Hodson, who worked on Birds of Prey with Robbie, was attached as a writer for the Robbie version, EW confirmed at the time. That appears to be a thing of the past as well.

During his trial, Depp said that before Heard's op-ed, Disney approached him "to take part in writing in Pirates 6." He later added, "Having added much of myself, much of my own rewriting, the dialogue, the scenes, the jokes, I didn't quite understand how after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship with Disney that… suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent."

At one point, there were plans for Margot Robbie to star in a female-fronted version of Pirates. This wasn't the reboot or a formal spinoff, but a separate story with new characters. 

However, Robbie says that film isn't moving forward. "We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would've been really cool, but I guess they don't want to do it," Robbie told Vanity Fair in 2022.

When will Pirates of the Caribbean 6 be released?

No other details have been revealed as far as a timeline, title, plot, or director.

Asked which would come first between a new Top Gun or Pirates movie, Bruckheimer told ComicBook.com, "It's hard to tell. You don't know, you really don't know...Because with Top Gun you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I can't tell you. But we're gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you don't have to wait for certain actors." All he's revealed is that it's moving along in some early stage of production.

Reps for Disney did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

https://ew.com/pirates-of-the-caribbean-6-reboot-everything-we-know-8620606

Pirates of Nassau museum

Pirates of Nassau is very conveniently located for cruise ship visitors and hotel guests in the heart of Nassau. It is situated one block off of Bay Street, a short swagger away from the Straw Market.

http://www.piratesofnassau.com/location/

The Golden Age of Piracy lasted for thirty years from 1690 to 1720 and Nassau was at its heart. The era of piracy in the Bahamas began in 1696 when the privateer Henry Every brought his ship the Fancy loaded with loot from plundering Indian Empire trade ships into Nassau harbour. Henry Every bribed the Governor of The Bahamas Nicholas Trott with gold, silver and with the Fancy itself which was still loaded with 50 tons of elephant tusks and 100 barrels of gunpowder. This established Nassau as a base where pirates could operate safely, although various governors regularly made a show of suppressing piracy.

The pirates became increasingly powerful and the era of true pirate control occurred when a combined Franco-Spanish fleet attacked Nassau in 1703 and again in 1706. The island was effectively abandoned by many of its settlers and left without any English government presence. Nassau was then taken over by English privateers who became completely lawless pirates over time. The Bahamas were well-suited as a base of operations for pirates as its waters were too shallow for a large man-of-war but deep enough for the fast, shallow draft vessels favoured by pirates. From their snug harbour in Nassau they could employ their hit and run tactics to full effect and they devastated the merchant shipping that plied the trade routes just a short sail away. The pirates essentially established their own “Republic” with its own “governors” and their plundered booty forming the basis of a thriving community that attracted rogues, merchants and wild women from far and wide. It was said that when pirates slept, they did not dream of going to heaven but instead of returning to their favourite port of Nassau on New Providence Island.

By 1713 the War of the Spanish Succession was over but many British privateers were slow to get the news or reluctant to accept it and so slipped into piracy. This led to large numbers of unemployed privateers making their way to New Providence to join the “Republic” and swell its numbers. The “Republic” was dominated by two famous pirates who were bitter rivals – Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings. Hornigold was mentor to pirates such as the infamous Edward Teach, known as “Blackbeard”, along with Sam Bellamy and Stede Bonnet. Jennings was mentor to Charles Vane, “Calico” Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read. Despite their rivalries, the pirates formed themselves into the “Flying Gang” and quickly became infamous for their exploits. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1,000 pirates in Nassau at that time and that they greatly outnumbered the 100 inhabitants of the city. Blackbeard was later voted by the pirates of Nassau to be their “Magistrate” and to be in command of their “Republic” and enforce law and order as he saw fit.

While the pirates had originally avoided attacking British ships, this restraint disappeared over time and, at their height, the pirates could command a small fleet of ships that could take on the frigates of the Royal Navy. The amount of havoc the pirates were causing led to an outcry for their destruction and finally George I appointed Woodes Rogers as Governor of the Bahamas to bring the Republic of Pirates to an end. In 1718 Rogers arrived in Nassau with a fleet of seven ships and carrying a pardon for all those who turned themselves in and refrained from further piracy. Among those who accepted this offer was Benjamin Hornigold and, in a shrewd move, Rogers commissioned Hornigold to hunt down and capture those pirates who refused to surrender and accept the royal pardon. As a former privateer himself, Hornigold was well placed to understand what needed to be done and he pursued his former comrades with zeal. Although pirates such as Charles Vane and Blackbeard evaded capture, Hornigold did take ten pirates prisoner and nine of them were executed on the morning of 12th December 1718. This act re-established British control and ended the Republic of Pirates in The Bahamas but you can now relive the Golden Age of Piracy at Pirates of Nassau and experience what it was like to be a pirate in 1716.