What a day!
I left Portland at 5:30 a.m. (PT) and landed in New Orleans at 3:15 (ET). OMG is it ever hot and humid here!!!!
i got settled in my hotel, where I dropped the temperature on the room air conditioner and checked messages while I cooled down. Debra, a Sibert colleague texted early in the day inviting me to a dinner with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, celebrating Mary Downing Hahn, author of countless spooky ghost books. I texted back that, it was late, but if there was still room, I was in.
While waiting to hear the verdict, I walked over to the convention center to register and ran into a colleague from Portland. While registering, I got a reply saying there was still room. So, my dinner plans were made. It turns out my friend was in listening to Michelle Obama speak. I got to hear the last 5 minutes while I waited fo her.
It was a wonderful reunion and after I changed out of my sweaty clothes, we took a taxi over to Muriel’s, the restaurant where our event was to be held.
Our meal was upstairs in private rooms. Because Mary Downing Hahn writes ghost stories, this was the perfect restaurant as it is said to have at least one resident ghost. We started with pre-dinner drinks in the seance room, which really is this red.
Already dehydrated, I stuck with water, downing three glasses before we were called in to dinner. And what a dinner! I opted for the blackened redfish and it was delicious!
The group was small, five tables of 7 people. With each course, Mary Downing Hahn changed tables, so we all had an opportunity to talk with her. I didn’t have a chance to talk with my mother’s ghost.
At the end of the meal, the night was not yet over. Debra and I had two more events to attend, both dessert parties at the Sheraton. We decided to walk and as we meandered through the narrow streets, we encountered a man singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”. My mother was a huge Neil Diamond fan (and had the concert t-shirt to prove it) so I saw this as a sign that she was with me on this trip she was so excited to hear about.
I was exhausted, but relieved that MacMillan and Chronicle each had their dessert parties on the same floor. Both events were excellent, but I was happy to get back to my hotel room, which was perfectly chilled.
booksandbassets 