Iowa Girl on the Go

I’m in New York, traveling with the Cyclone men’s basketball team as they prepare to play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament at Madison Square Garden. I’ve become a super fan of this team this season, so I’m really excited to be here…and to have traveled with them on the airplane. I felt like I was surrounded by greatness the whole time.

In fact — funny story — I was sitting in one of the exit rows and the flight attendant did her normal query about our willingness to help in case of an emergency. We all had to say “I will” but I was thinking, OK, I have DeAndre Kane in the seat in front of me and two other extremely large men next to me and in the row across from me…seriously, what role will I need to play in a crisis? Um, just get the hell out of the way so these big, strong men can save us.

It took pretty much all day to travel here (bus from Ames to Des Moines, long wait in the DM Airport, flight to Newark, and a bus ride into Midtown Manhattan that took slightly longer than the flight). And then I had to stand in a very long line to check in to the hotel…meanwhile, I was checking my watch, thinking, OK, what is the chance that I will I have enough time to see a Broadway show tonight? Turns out I got my room key at 7:50. I left my bags with my boss (thanks, Jeff!) and literally ran down 7th Ave. to catch the 8 o’clock performance of Rocky the Musical at the Winter Garden Theater.

I arrived at the ticket window totally out of breath, begging for just ONE seat for tonight’s show…and luck was with me. I sat fifth row, just one seat off the left aisle — which turned out to be one of the best seats in the theater for the big, climactic fight scene at the end. The show was terrific — the story line (very true to the original movie) stagecraft, acting, and music were all just great — and I left the theater on a huge Broadway high. And then I remembered I hadn’t eaten anything since Des Moines, so I grabbed a slice of Ray’s pizza. Ah, I do love New York.