Denver, Col. — Just one week before the start of the Democratic National Convention, local news in Denver reported that an area cow named Apple chased off a bear that had climbed into her favorite apple tree.

As a Denver native who now resides in Washington, D.C., the story made me homesick. It somehow embodied all that I love about the Mile High City: proud cow town at the edge of rugged wilderness.

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The Queen City of the Plains was founded at the beginning of the Colorado Gold Rush. It served as a supply town for the mining camps that sprung up throughout the somewhat-inhospitable mountains, but also as a hub for high-plains agriculture. It’s an oil town, an oil-bust town, and the most isolated major city in the United States.

As delegates, journalists, and pundits descend on Denver for the first time since William Jennings Bryan was nominated here 100 years ago, here’s a rough guide of what sights to check out and how to get along with the natives.

When I first moved to D.C., I was shocked at how frequently I was asked, “What do you do?” This is an badly disguised form of, “are you worth talking to?” In Denver, people also ask what you do, but they are trying to figure out if you prefer to fish, camp, or kayak. One proper response is, “I’ve really been getting into climbing more. So far this summer we’ve hit Mount Wilson and Longs (Peak). Awesome scrambles near the summit.”

When I left Denver, it occurred to me that I had several friends — good friends, even — whose occupation was largely unknown to me. Occupational status is just not as important here as shared interests and hobbies are.

Coloradoans are politically engaged and aware, however. They know they’re in a swing state. They know their votes are important. Most presidential election years, the race is over by the time polls close along the Mississippi River. This year, Colorado’s famous independence means campaigns are devoting lots of resources to capturing votes. Denver residents are also well aware of the impact the convention will have on the city. And whether they’re die-hard Obama fans or reliable Republicans, they’ve been preparing. Any business that stands to gain from the projected $160 million in economic impact is doing its best to be accommodating.

On the Thursday prior to the convention, I overheard a salesperson at the Z Gallerie store in Cherry Creek Mall tell a frantic customer that hotels and event planners had nearly cleaned her out of candles and candle holders.

The Tattered Cover Bookstore, one of the best in the country, greets convention goers with a table of “Books recommended to the President Elect” submitted by Bill Moyers. It looks mostly like the bibliophile equivalent of an election chamber — Al Gore’s Assault on Reason, Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, Steven Greenhouse’s The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. A selection of “Denvercrat” T-shirts and Obama paraphernalia, including a children’s tie-dyed Obama ’08 shirt (the zero was actually a peace sign), are placed nearby. So are some Republican T-shirts.

The Tattered Cover is located on Colfax Street, known for both its robust prostitution and its status as the longest commercial street in the country. The street has an amazing history, and both the U.S. Mint and the gold-domed Colorado state capitol sit along it.