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Portia the Cat Letterbox LbNA #24621

Owner:Belmont Bunch
Plant date:Aug 14, 2006
Location:
City:Nebo
County:Burke
State:North Carolina
Boxes:1
Found by: LittleHoot
Last found:Jun 13, 2015
Status:FFFFFF
Last edited:Aug 14, 2006
This letterbox is placed in memory of our dear cat, Portia. My family obtained Portia as a tiny kitten during my first year in college. My brother, who was reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" at the time, named her after Brutus's wife. We always adopted kittens in pairs and got her brother, Brutus, at the same time. Portia was the runt of the litter and had to be fed with a baby doll bottle. She was so tiny she could fit in the palm of my hand. These two cats were pure bread, Blue Point Saimese cats.

Portia grew and became a sweet, loud, beautiful, cross-eyed, cat. She had the typical, very obnoxious Siamese meow. While my 3 children were learning animal sounds as pre-schoolers I had to teach them the difference between regular, sweet cat meows and the wild wail that belonged to our cat, Portia. She did her share of waking us up at night. One of my favorite Portia stories is the drive my husband and I made while moving from Chicago to Charlotte, NC. Portia meowed non-stop for 8 hours. As she tired and her meow got weaker, we would start laughing. She would meow louder at the insult. We were so glad when that trip was over!

We had 3 babies and Portia put up with their attempts at discovery and attention as they chased her around and pulled and prodded her. The petting became gentler and there was lots of love on both sides. She was fiercely loyal to me and always wanted my attention. We were all greatly saddened when we lost her after she turned 19 years old. The kids still talk of her. This letterbox is planted in honor of this wonderful cat.

While researching our camping trip this summer at Lake James State Park near Nebo, NC, we found that there were no letterboxes at this very cool park. We decided to add some more adventure to one of our favorite spots. Since the planting, we've heard that park officials are not friendly towards letterboxing, so be discreet about your reason for visiting the park. The letterbox is planted on the trail from the Campsites to the Swimming Beach. We made this hike several times during our stay.

Enter the park. Find the camp site parking lot. Walk down the trail toward the camp sites, veer to the left and find Campsite 15. This was our camp site during our latest visit. Go past Campsite 16, 17 and the boat dock. Proceed over the bridge toward the "Day Use Area, Phone and Sandy Cliff Overlook." Climb up the stairs and enjoy the hike around the cove. When you get near the water again, you'll see a forked tree to your right. Continue past the tree about 15 paces and look up the hill to your left. The letterbox is in the stump of the fallen tree there. Please re-hide well and e-mail the condition. Happy Hiking!