In the rear, Kathy, Patty, in red Jacket, and Charles. Front is Melvin and David
Long time family friends the Walkers and the Stephens. Our families have been camping together since our grandparents met.
October 13 through 15, 2026
Charles & Cathy’s Visit to the Mississippi Coast
Charles and Patty have known each other all their lives. Their families camped together often when they were growing up, and Patty and Charles’s younger sister Kathy were best friends — traveling together to Mexico, Costa Rica, and other places along the way.
This visit gave me a chance to hear a great deal of the family history and backstory, which I genuinely enjoyed. It was also good for me personally — I had never met Charles or Kathy before, and getting to know them was a real pleasure.
From here, they headed on to New Orleans to begin a river trip up the Mississippi to Memphis.
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We took a trip on the bay in the Bird Barge with dolphins and around Deer Island to the oyster farms. We visited the Walter Anderson Museum . We had a great dinner at Half Shell Oyster House Restaurant, lunch at Blue Dog Bistro, and breakfast at Buzzies before heading to New Orleans.
“Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”
Athenaeus
Our trip home from Dropping of Charles and Cathy in New Orleans
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“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson