I'm volunteering at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. During the weekend training days, no food was provided for volunteers at the Pepsi Center whose concessionaires that fuel Nuggets and Avalanche fans were not yet open for convention business. VIM (Very Important Media) installations had catered food brought in, but otherwise, the choice seemed to be limited to no choice at all: a single corn dog/hot dog/sausage/fries vendor (below) in a parking lot that was doing land-office business. What was it about a fried-food-free convention?
I hung tough till I had 20 minutes to kill before catching my bus home, then hunger got the best of me. I ducked into Sonoda's Sushi & Seafood (1620 Market Street, Denver; 303-595-9500) across from the Market Street Station and grabbed some to-go sushi (below) to hold me till I got home.
Now that the convention is officially open, our little area received box lunches. Stacks of lidded plastic containers (below) each contained a sandwich (roast beef, turkey or ham sandwich or veggie wrap), a little baggie of chips of some kind, a not-very-good cookie and an apple. The latter is amusing, because in addition to such obvious items as firearms, knives and explosives that people are prohibited from bringing into the Pepsi Center, fresh fruit is not allowed either. Forbidden fruit, you might say, yet a delicious appel is part of each little meal package.
Taking pity on visiting media, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau set up two hospitality lounges. In addition to rapidly depleted trays of cookies (below), cheese and crackers, and salsa and dip, plus soft drinks, water and Colorado beer, one also offers free whiffs of oxygen and the other complimentary hand and neck massage and a couple of Wii set-ups for playing virtual sports during slow times in the news cycle.
To read more about my own convention experiences, please go to my Travel Babel blog.
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4 comments:
Do you know the rationale behind forbidding fresh fruit? From your photo it's clear they're letting liquids in, so its not like water content is an issue. -- Andrea Meyer
your braver than I Claire, know way I would get down there with all that going on down there but I bet it will be very interesting!
Andrea - My guess (and it's just a guess) is that the rationale behind not permitting fruit is that security didn't want anyone to throw rotten tomatoes or any other produce at anyone else. Those Delicious apples could bean someone effectively, even if they would be less messy that an mushy tomato.
As for water, you can bring empty bottles into the secured complex (now a sizable perimeter around the Pepsi Center) and refill there, either from indoor water fountains or from mobile three-spigot dispensers that Denver Water has set up in the parking lots.
Jonathan W - I know the congestion and the crowds and the police presence would not be for everyone, but I frankly find it very energizing to see so many people on the streets of downtown Denver. Then again, I cut my urban teeth in New York, so crowded sidewalks and congested traffic feel familiar. I don't like a steady diet of it any more, and I know that by next week, Denver's (relatively) quiet street scene will return.
I was dreading the convention, thinking of all the hassles involved, but it turned out to be pretty fun! I enjoyed all the crowds having a good time.
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