The Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) in New Orleans, 2016. You could tell it would be a magical time right off the bat, what with all the Midsummer-Night’s-Dream-type fairies populating the lobby of the Sheridan Hotel, which hosted the conference.

Of course we had an interesting blending of Shakespeare and New Orleans where one fairy transformed herself partly into a table offering everybody King Cake. Here I am stuffing my academic face. I, unfortunately, did not get the baby. Ah, well!

This is a shot from our hotel room window. The desk clerk was nice enough to promise us with a room with a view of the river – and she did, indeed, deliver!

The evening’s reception was a kick, to say the least. The other  Dr. Yang and I chowed down on the yummy local cuisine. Ever deliberate, I always have to think long and hard before I decide to just go ahead and pig out on everything!

Master Will, seems to approve. This wonderful head was from one of the float crews from a Mardi Gras past.   He certainly must have gotten a kick out of the 400th year of his death being celebrated by the New Orleans-style funeral band from Xavier University.

Here is the delightful Catherine Loomis, from UNO, one of the perpetrators of this equally delightful convention, as an Elizabethan part of the funeral cortege.

Also on hand was Shakespeare’s flame-haired widow! And of course all of us Shakespeareans got on board, twirling our grief-laden handkerchiefs as we got down to swinging funeral procession.

You can even see a couple of shots here or me with my friend Roslyn Foy as part of the parade.

As always, I have a hat – a black velvet, cap!

I was fortunate enough to meet Roz in grad school  at the University of Connecticut.  She later introduced me to her close friend, Catherine Loomis,  a wonderful scholar and generous person whom I also feel lucky to know. Roz, herself, is a foremost scholar in the early twentieth-century modernist writer Mary Butts.  My friend and co-editor, Kathy Healey, and I were lucky enough to have her contribute an article to our forthcoming collection, Gothic Landscapes (shameless commerce moment).  Roz and her husband Ed have been friends with my husband and I for years.  In both couples, we have two English scholars and two physicists – matches made in heaven.  A true Renaissance balance.

The next day, before getting down to the business of sessions, Yang and I ventured out for beignets with three good friends: Philippa Sheppard, Kelly Newman O’Connor and John O’Connor. One great thing about these conferences is that you meet wonderful people and get to catch up with them every year in exciting locations, with great food. We were too late to hazard the long line at Café du Monde (we needed to get to some academic sessions!) – but we found a great restaurant across the street!

We also enjoyed walking past the Church of St. Louis and Andrew Jackson Park.

I loved seeing the lines of mule drawn carriages. And I saw a real first – an Appaloosa mule! Well, I guess if mom or dad is a horse, that horse could be an Appaloosa.

And, yes, we actually did get to some sessions. In fact the seminar on Early Modern Women and travel gave me some ideas for a paper on All’s Well, but I didn’t think a picture of people sitting around a conference room would elicit too much interest from, you, my loyal readers! That said, here are a trio of interesting shots Yang took when he meandered around town while I was being intellectually enlightened.

A view of the Big Muddy from the River Walk.

The monument to immigrants, with a trio of young gals modeling it.

The mighty Yang himself along the River Walk.  And we do have more pictures from our meanders together.  I guess that could be Part II?