I’m pretty sure I was still half-asleep when I stumbled off the plane and into Denver International Airport early this morning. Maybe I was a bit delusional from getting just 3 hours of screaming-baby-on-fight-interrupted sleep, but I think I was expecting to walk off of the runway and into the heart of the convention — American flags, pontificating pols, protesters and all!

A few campaign manager manual-carrying suits and strange cowboy-dressed visitor’s guides aside, my first impression of Denver was disappointingly drab —  but alas, a short ride on the terminal shuttle later, I walk right into none other than the Rev. Al Sharpton. Actually, I walked past Sharpton, stopped in my groggy stupor to do a double-take then fumbled (unsuccessfully) around in my carry-on bag to find a notebook or voice recorder or some sort of tool for recording our interaction. He stopped to take a photo or two with what seemed to be a group of DNC volunteers before being whisked away. All I managed to snag was this picture via BlackBerry, but I’m sure we’ll have many (hopefully more fruitful) run-ins to note in the days to come!

Crackberry Photograph by Torey Van Oot

Tags: al sharpton, democratic national convention, denver airport, random sightings