Oh, the places I’ll go

I got to thinking last night about the places I’ve visited in my 26 years of existance. My sophomore year was the first big trip of my life. I went to New York City with my May Term Fine Arts Class. It was a blast. I saw 7 shows on Broadway in 6 days, including Beauty and the Beast, Ragtime, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and the New York Symphony (I can’t remember the other shows I saw).

We stayed at the Ameritana in Times Square. We walked EVERYWHERE, it was exhausting. But, I was on a contstant high from being in NYC that I never really felt as tired as I probably was.

People that went with me: Rocki and Shandra. I know Kym Powell went, too, but we weren’t really friends at the time.

Things I remember about the trip: It was the first time I tried Cheese Cake and I Loved it! I had never tried it before, well b/c it was called CHEESE cake……who in their right mind would take something sweet like cake and add cheese to it? I was scared to ever try it and finally decided to while in NYC. Good thing I did!

While touring the New York Symphany Hall, there was a screening of NBC’s fall line up, so we got to see Kelsey Grammer, Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher, and someone else, but I can’t remember who. I was psyched that I got to see them up close. Kelsey even spoke with us (all I really remember was thinking “Man, that girl he’s with looks half his age!). When I got my pictures from the trip developed, every pic expect the close up of Kelsey came out fine. What I don’t understand is- if the stupid film developer person really wanted a pic of Mr. Grammer so badly, whey didn’t he/she just print another pic instead of taking mine? Bastard/Skank.

The day we saw Phantom was fabulous! Phantom was my favorite musical, even though I had never seen it. I loved the soundtrack and loved the story. So, on a rainy afternoon, we decided to eat at the Harley Davidson cafe and then catch a cab to see Phantom. We bought tickets earlier in the day- I handed the lady $60 and said “give me the best seat I can get for this money.” She took the money, handed me a ticket and I promptly ran over to the Seating chart of the theater. OH MY GOD! I had front row tickets to see Phantom!
So, after lunch at the Harley Davidson cafe, we tried “hailing” a cab, and a limo pulled up right beside us. It was raining outside and we were getting drenched, but when the limo pulled up, we got really excited about whoever was about to get out. Turns out the driver wanted to give us a ride to “wherever we were going” for $5 a person! HELLO! The five of us piled into the limo and made our way to the Theatre to see Phantom. Needless to say, this was the best possible way I could think of to arrive to see my favorite show.
The funniest part was when we pulled up to the theatre, and all of these people were standing in line (in the rain) to buy tickets and they got so excited to see who was about to walk out of the limo and LONE BEHOLD: Five soaking wet, Kentucky girls! Get out your cameras, people! We take great pictures!
Anyway, we get into the theater and I take my seat up in row BB (AA was technically the “first row” but it wasn’t a full row since it was split by the orchestra pit). I was so excited I remember thinking I probably would have wet my pants had the show not started so soon.
The best part of the whole experience: As I waited anxiously in the front row, I saw the conductor take a phone call (he was standing in position ready to que the orchestra), hang up the phone, then he looked around, saw me, winked, and then started the music!
The lights dimmed and the show began.

One of the most memorable moments of my college experience. I’ll never forget it.

January 26th, 2006 Posted by Jessica | Life, Oh the places I'll go | 2 comments