Wednesday, February 10, 2016

A night at the Harlem Globetrotters

A few weeks ago, Ann mentioned that she'd really like to go see the Harlem Globetrotters since she'd never seen them live before. They had two nights that they would be playing within driving distance. Monday night they were in Salt Lake. We decided we'd rather go Tuesday night when they would be playing in Ephraim--a two-hour drive, but a chance to see them in a more intimate venue--the Gymnasium at Snow College. I hadn't actually told her I was buying tickets until about two weeks ago when they came in the mail and she got to see the mail before I did.
We stopped at a Mexican restaurant called Malena's Cafe before the event to eat dinner. I really liked the chicken fajitas, which was the special of the day. Ann had a sweet pork burrito and thought that it was okay, but not as good as Cafe Rio's.
When we arrived at the Gymnasium, there were no ushers other than at the door, and the guy at the door told us that our VIP tickets were for the blue seats. As we approached the blue seats, we saw some folks seated on some orange seats, courtside and we asked if we were allowed to sit there. One woman said that that was where one of the workers at the place told them they could sit. I personally had a hunch that these were the seats the teams would sit on, because there were no other seats near courtside.
During the pregame activities, a few of the people got up off the orange seats and participated in a dance contest to be voted on by the crowd. After the contest, those people never returned to the orange seats. The only people left on the orange seats at this point were the woman who had been told (allegedly) that they could sit there, and one of her kids, and Ann and I. She got up and said that she didn't want to be part of any kind of dance contest, and left, leaving Ann and I as the only ones there.
Soon the teams came in and my fears were realized. The team opposing the Globetrotters was called the All-Stars and we were sitting on their bench. They filled all the seats except for the last three, and we were on the last two. We asked one of the players if we should leave. He told us we were fine to sit there, so we ended up with great seats for the entire night!
It was great fun and typical Globetrotter antics ruled the evening. I suggest if you've never seen them to do so at least once in your life, I had seen them many years previously.
The fun event was over at about 8:30, and we got on the road by 9:00. As we got into Salt Creek Canyon, where there was once an infamous massacre I took the chance that I take when I get it and stopped by the side of the road. I opened the sunroof and we looked up at the stars. Then I got out and looked at them. I cannot believe how much different looking at the stars is when I am away from the city. I got back in and told Ann, "I would move here just for that."
We arrived back home at about 11:00. It was a fun time. I don't know that I'll ever need to go to the Harlem Globetrotters again, and Ann says she doesn't need to, but the experience and the adventure was well worth it. Check out the pics below.
Getting pics with a camera I don't know how to use was a challenge because of the fast movement of the ball.



High flying dunks were part of the show.


Here's our view of the bench and game.


We were practically a part of every team huddle for the All Stars.

A few of the All-Stars looking on.

Ann liked being a part of the All-Stars bench and cheered for them.

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