Fun on the trolley Drag queen Sizzy Griddles, center, one of the trolly hosts, with South Cape PRIDE Trolley Event participants Theresa Many, left, and Kristen Cittadino, both from Fort Myers. JANA MACKIN

South Cape partied like South Beach Saturday night with its PRIDE version of La Cage aux Trolleys. There a half dozen drag queens in big hair bouffants and plunging cleavage hosted hundreds of revelers with razor sharp repartee and trivia contests on four trolleys that crawled through the heart of Cape Coral night life so hot it melted gelatin shots.

The South Cape Hospitality and Entertainment Association staged its first-ever South Cape PRIDE Trolley Event to honor PRIDE month and support the LGBTQ+ community. In support, Cape Coral City Hall also has lit its fountain in PRIDE colors and FOP Lodge 33 issued a statement of support. The event also coincided with a somber event, the Pulse nightclub shooting’s fifth anniversary.

For South Cape, the trolleys’ return celebrates a community resurrection from the COVID nightmare that canceled last year’s St. Patrick’s Day Trolley Event. During the hiatus, SCHEA did host some walking pub crawls. However, the trolleys’ popularity is an important draw to encourage tourists and locals to eat, drink and shop downtown, officials said.

“We want people to get on our trolleys and have some fun,” said SCHEA President Shelly Walton.

Founded in 2013, the not-for-profit merchants’ association hosts events to promote the area entertainment district and businesses. Upcoming events include: Ninth annual Red, White & Brew trolley event, June 26; Eighth Annual BaconFest Trolley Event on Aug. 12; and a BBQ Pub Crawl on Sept. 18. They also opened the South Cape Hub welcome center and retail shop last year.

“The trolley events are totally for the community to help out all the bars and restaurants and bring life to the streets,” she said.

What better venue than stunning drag queens giving whistle stop waves from trolley platforms as they usher in a South Cape rebirth after the plague of lock down? Trolley hosts featured 2020 Miss Cape Coral Pride Alyssa Lemay, Sizzy Griddles, Skyler Edge, Gigi Von Parlo, Trixie Towers and Tara Newhole dressed to the nines in skin-tight gowns and sky-high stilettos on trolleys that continuously circled through 10 downtown venues that offered PRIDE-themed drinks and appetizers.

“It’s exciting that this is all happening at the same time,” said Miss Alyssa. “We can finally get back to normalcy and have some fun with friends.”

The combination of trolleys hosted by drag queens was a perfect marriage of frolicking frivolity and gay community support.

“We really do have talented drag queens,” said A J Ford, president of PRIDE Cape Coral, the local LGBTQ+ nonprofit that supports and benefits from this event.

“These queens are really gregarious and personable and outgoing so they are keeping it fun,” he said.

As the steaming Saturday night heated up, trolleys transported partiers from all ilks and ages, wearing rainbows, leathers, crew cuts or Bermuda shorts as they drank and danced to the throbbing good times at various bars arrayed in the tutti frutti drag of PRIDE colors. The trolley stops included BackStreets Sports Bar, Cruisers, Dixie Live, Dixie Roadhouse, Nice Guys Pizza, Rack’em Spirits & Times, Ralph’s Place, Rusty’s Raw Bar & Grill, Sidecar Treats, and Tiki Hut.

“This is all about camaraderie,” said Rock Alans with his wife, Kris.

“We’re all complaining about the price of gas but other than that, we get along,” he said.

Whether you savored the Tiki Hut’s pear breeze and coconut shrimp, parted a sea of big bikers to throw back Ralph’s Jello Shots as you rocked to Bad Latitude, or got bombed on Cruiser’s blue kamikazes and kielbasa while waiting for the event after party, the trolleys ferried a Mardi Gras of merry makers through a night of South Cape fun.

“What happens on the trolleys,” said Kristen Cittadino, “stays on the trolleys.