Democratic National Convention: Day 1

We arrived in Denver last Tuesday--the convention technically started on Monday and the parties started a few days before that, but Tuesday was Day 1 for us. About mid-way into the flight, I spilled my drink on myself. I'm such a klutz that I am surprised this was the first time I've spilled something during a flight. However, even though I wasn't surprised, I was pretty upset. I mean, it looked like I had peed my pants! Abel had the idea to point those little air things down at myself and--miraculously!--it dried completely by the time we landed.

So you have to keep in mind that for a political junkie, sighting high-profile politicians (especially outside of Washington) is like a regular person sighting celebrities. At baggage claim we saw Mitt Romney walking briskly by. Abel and I get a kick out of Mitt Romney because in a Washington Post article he was described as "the spit-shined guy in the middle of the debate photo: Even from far away, you can tell that he has, inside those wingtips, a pedicure." So true! Anyway, we were both certain it was him, but it seemed odd for two reasons. One: why in the world was he coming into Denver during the Democratic convention? Two: he was pulling his own bag but seemed to have several empty-handed staffers with him. Later, when we saw him on TV at the convention giving the "R" spin we realized it was definitely him. I suspect those "staffers" were actually security.

Our Denver host picked us up and we were off to our first official event--a luncheon at the Botanic Gardens for the Maryland Delegation. It was so fun to see people we know and meet many others. Basically every Maryland Democratic politician was there. And, the Botanic Gardens themselves are gorgeous! If we ever make it back to the Mile High City I'd love to spend more time there.

After dinner with Abel's bosses (and our only real meal of the entire trip!) we headed over to the Performing Arts Center for the African American Legacy Gala. We had VIP tickets and so after the cocktail reception scored second row seats to the Boyz II Men concert. I wasn't really ever a huge Boyz II Men fan but they sang lots of their old and great songs. Amazing how the words just come back to you. The most fun was that they handed out roses during I'll Make Love to You and I totally scored one.


Day 1 Fun Fact: We got to bed around 1:30am Mountain time which is 3:30am Eastern. So, considering the alarm went off at 5:45am to get to the airport that morning, our first day was about 23 hours long.