Boston: Nothing Short of Amazing

By Jeralyn, Section Democratic National Convention 2004
Posted on Sun Jul 25, 2004 at 03:35:51 PM EST
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We're here! It's amazing. Beyond amazing. This may be the coolest thing I've done in years. I'm running around like a maniac, so here's a brief recap....starting with the plane ride.

So, a few minutes after I sat down in my seat, Colorado's Governor Owens boarded and sat a few rows behind me. (Yes, coach for both of us today.) What on earth is he dong attending the Democratic Convention? Well...of course I asked him. (Note, I've met him before at television studios where we had sequential hit times, so it's not like I walked up to him cold.)

Gov. Owens' answer was quite interesting: He has been selected to be the media opposition to the Dems Monday night. I asked which channel and he responded "all of them." Then he said that Gov. George Pataki is doing Tuesday night and Rudy Guiliani is doing Wednesday night. Mass Gov. Romney is doing Thursday night. I figure if they're doing all networks the media isn't paying them and they've been sent by the higher ups of the Republican party.

Part II

Across the aisle from me was a beautiful young hispanic teen with her father. We began talking. She's Robyn Tonya Chavez and she's on her way to the convention because--get this--she's singing the National Anthem at Monday night's convention opening. Please, read the article about her, what a great kid. I took her over to meet Gov. Owens and he was as gracious as could be and even gave her his business card. She began singing the National Anthem at conventions in the 4th grade. I'll be writing more about her since we've scheduled a phone call after she's done singing. She wants to be a broadcast journalist when she's older.

We landed and I grabbed a cab to run down to the Westin Copley Plaza to get my press credentials. Easy going, till we hit Copley Square--then it took over a half hour to go four blocks. A $50 cab ride (with tip.) I got up to the press office and the line was over an hour long. Then it turned out that was for regular media. Blogger media was different and I got through with no line --piece of cake. Then I ran to the Convention Center offices on the top floor of the Copley Mall to pick up the bloggers'Press bag. It's filled with goodies but I haven't had time to open it.

Then I grabbed another cab and headed to Cambridge to my hotel. I'm at The Charles tonight--which by fluke I got for a song. So are Bill and Hillary. And a few big movie stars I won't mention out of respect for their privacy.

I dumped my stuff in the room and ran down to the Comcast/MTV/Rock the Vote party. Pretty tame. Didn't