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Cindy Hunley and Robert Hunley stand by their motorcycle they drove from Michigan, and stopped in Natchez to find Letterboxes at the Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Cindy Hunley shows the clues she uses to find Letter Boxes Friday at Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Robert Hunley accompanies his wife while she searches for Letterboxes at the Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Cindy Hunley talks about the clues she uses to find Letterboxes Friday at the Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Cindy Hunley walks out from behind a bush to put a Letterbox back Friday at the Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Cindy Hunley wraps up a booklet of stamped pieces of paper that other people in search of Letterboxes stamp at Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Cindy Hunley shows the stamp she leaves in a booklet that's kept inside a Letterbox at the Natchez City Cemetery. (Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — Robert and Cindy Hunley searched the Natchez City Cemetery Friday looking for a story — a specific story that was part of a game the retirees play.

When The Dart landed on Cemetery Road Friday, it found the Hunleys playing a game called Letterbox and on this leg they were looking for the Turning Angel monument.

Letterboxing is a public scavenger hunt kind of like Geocaching, except it’s not as complicated, Cindy said.

“Geocaching gives you GPS coordinates, and I’m not that technologically sophisticated,” she said with a laugh. “Letterboxing gives you clues and landmarks to look for.”

After finding the Turning Angel Letterbox, Cindy was able to stamp her personal logbook with the hand-carved angel stamp. The couple was also able to read notes from others who had found the angel and leave their own note.

Cindy said she got into Letterboxing a few years ago through a friend. One reason she enjoys the hobby is because it connects her with locations that she may not otherwise discover, Plus, she said, Letterboxing is fun because the game allows players to get out and find things such as the Turning Angel monument.

A drug store owner commissioned the angel monument after the business caught fire and five people died. An optical illusion caused by the sculpture’s design makes the monument’s angel look as though she is looking over the graves no matter from what angle the viewer is looking.

“I like the stories behind it,” she said. “Some of my favorite ones to find are in cemeteries because of all of the history you can learn.”

The couple is originally from Fostoria, Mich., but has been spending winter in Mississippi. Two of their adult children now live in Mississippi.

“The last two winters down here have actually been pretty cold,” she said, laughing. “We’ve been wintering in Ripley for four years now, so far so good.”

Robert said he’d always been interested in the Civil War, which is one reason he wanted to go South for the winters.

“We went to Shiloh, and I got dressed up in the uniform,” he said.

“A couple actually came up to him and asked to take a picture with him,” Cindy said.

“I guess you just have to look scruffy,” Robert said, rubbing his beard. “We actually found a Letterbox in Shiloh.”

Robert is part of the Christian Motorcycling Association, and that’s one reason they like to hit the road.

“We do benefit rides and outreach,” Cindy said. “We do many things, like help out at soup kitchens.”

That traveling is one reason the retired couple has been able to find Letterboxes in so many states — Mississippi, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana — the states on their path to the South, all of them except Louisiana.

“We’re in the area until (Saturday), and we hope to get back across the bridge to find one,” Cindy said. “We weren’t able to find a Letterbox earlier.”

Before they cross the bridge, though, the couple’s quest was seeking out the second of four Letterboxes located in the cemetery, Afraid of Thunderstorms.

“It’s about a little girl who died of Yellow Fever,” Cindy said. “She would get afraid every time there was a thunderstorm, so her mother would go and sit with her at her grave whenever there was a thunderstorm.”

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