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By Randy Mink Perhaps the most awesome panorama of Denver comes from atop Twister II, one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the world. 
In the dizzying heights above Elitch Gardens—America’s only downtown theme park—the Mile High City spreads out along horizons punctuated by glass office towers and the gold-plated dome of the Colorado State Capitol, with the snow-dusted Rockies all around.
In two weeks, television viewers across the world will be familiar with such images of Denver, host city for the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention. For political junkies glued to their TV for those four days, the quadrennial affair will be their version of a thrill ride.
According to the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, the political gathering will be the city’s largest event ever, attracting 50,000 people and generating $160 million in economic impact. On opening night alone, there will be more than 100 private parties.
The largest welcome signage in city history will decorate downtown streets for the confab, only the second major party political convention ever held in Denver. (The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president here in 1908, exactly a century ago.)
Top network news anchors will be in town, along with up to 20,000 other journalists from around the globe, to report on the expected nomination of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Comedy Central’s satirical “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart will tape at Denver University’s Newman Center.
 Most of the TV coverage will emanate from the 46-acre Pepsi Center, a concert and sports venue adjacent to Elitch Gardens. Built in 1999, the arena is home to basketball’s Denver Nuggets and hockey’s Colorado Avalanche.
Nearby is Invesco Field at Mile High football stadium, stomping grounds of the Denver Broncos. During the Democrats’ convention, the stadium will host “The Presidential Experience,” a non-partisan civics exhibit open to the public, complete with a replica of the Oval Office.
Happily for convention delegates and tourists, downtown Denver is compact. You can see and do a lot during a two-night stay because major attractions are so close together. Highly walkable, Colorado’s capital contrasts sharply with many Western cities that have no real center.
More than any other development, the 1995 opening of Coors Field, home to the Colorado Rockies, sparked the growth of downtown Denver, especially the 26-block warehouse district known as LoDo, short for “Lower Downtown.”
Blending in with the Victorian-era surroundings, the classic brick ballpark features a centerfield bullpen landscaped Colorado-style with river boulders, a waterfall, and pine and spruce trees. A fountain shoots skyward for Rockies home runs. On a stadium tour, you can see the single row of upper-deck seats painted purple to signify their location at exactly one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. The team plays at home during the Democratic convention, adding to the downtown buzz that week.
LoDo abounds with nightlife, from music clubs to sports bars and brewpubs. By day, art galleries, trendy shops and hot restaurants bring in crowds. Thousands of residents live in the lofts of LoDo, giving the area a 24-hour vibrancy.
LoDo’s Bar & Grill offers great buffalo chicken sandwiches and local brews along with views of Coors Field from its crowded rooftop, which has cooling misters in hot weather. Wazee Supper Club, in a 1910 brick building that housed a plumbing supply business, offers irresistible pizza made from dough rolled in cornmeal.
Another top recommendation is the Denver ChopHouse & Brewery, between Coors Field and Union Station, a converted railyard building that impresses visitors with posters and photos from the golden age of train travel, not to mention its microbrew beers and steaks like the Gorgonzola Filet. Bonuses are the mounds of white cheddar mashed potatoes and skillet of warm jalapeno cornbread with whipped honey butter.
The Denver Performing Arts Complex, just a few blocks from LoDo, is by the city’s convention center and will host some Democratic meetings next month. With 10 theaters offering opera and symphony, ballet and Broadway, it is the world’s largest performing arts center under one roof and, in seating capacity, ranks second only to New York’s Lincoln Center. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, called the Auditorium until 2006, was the site of the 1908 Democratic convention.
Lively 16th Street Mall, the mile-long spine of downtown Denver, is the place to see and be seen. Grab a table at a sidewalk cafe and watch the parade of people. Street performers add to the festivity along this banner-festooned pedestrian promenade lined with trees, benches and flower baskets. Horse carriages and free mall shuttle buses are the only vehicular traffic.
Anchoring the southern end of 16th Street Mall is the hip Denver Pavilions, a two-block complex with nightspots, cinemas and shops like Nike Town and Virgin Records.
 In nearby Civic Center Park in 1908, the mayor built an elaborate fountain for Democratic convention visitors to see. The fountain is being rebuilt for the 2008 event.
Points of interest near Civic Center Park include the Colorado History Museum, Denver Art Museum and State Capitol, whose open-air observation deck affords sweeping views of the Rockies.
Located on the Platte River, the city actually lies on high, rolling plains, not in the mountains. And though considered Western in character, Denver rests in the center of the country, just 346 miles west of the exact center of the continental United States.
No trip to downtown Denver is complete without touring the U.S. Mint, where you can see machines make, sort and bag shiny pennies and other coins. From glass observation galleries, visitors witness the jangling coins pour from stamping machines into wheeled “wagons,” much like casino slot machines gone wild.
East of downtown is City Park, Denver’s largest. Come here for the best views of the Rocky Mountains, a pretty lake with gardens and fountains, and two family-friendly attractions—the Denver Zoo and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
For information, contact the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 393-8559; www.denver.org.
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