Pirates in Denver

Headed back to Denver, and stayed downtown on the 16th Street Mall for the first time (I am typically out near the Federal Center in West Denver).  Same city, different view, but not much different.

I was in Denver for a short trip to attend the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Conference; an interesting mix of professionals, including mediators, academics and lawyers trying to change their practice to focus on dispute counseling... that means that you never have any idea what "type" of theory and skill will be discussed or promoted.  Still, the conference typically offers several excellent sessions to balance out the tedium.  This year was no exception.  Temple Grandin was a guest speaker; Dr Grandin is an animal scientist at Colorado State University and known for animal behavior research, cattle processing designs.  It made for an interesting dynamic, an animal scientist talking to a room of lawyers!  There were some skeptics before the talk began; what could she offer a room of attorneys.  She noted the uniques disparity right away.  Her talk was funny, poignant, emotional and her delivery was spot on... telling the room that not everyone thinks alike and we as people need to do more to engage those that do not think in words but in pictures.  (Dr Grandin is autistic, and made quite famous outside of the animal science and ranching worlds from the HBO movie last year.)  That session alone made the trip worth it.

Having gone to Denver more times then I can count over the last 7-8 years, there was not much that was new.  The view was fantastic and having downtown choices for food made dinner easy.  BUT, I have been there and done that tons of times before.



Still, I was in town, and due to work changes, I likely will not be getting back to Denver with that type of regularity, so I wanted to do something while I was there.  Something I could fit into my schedule.   The Denver Science Museum has hosting a special exhibit on Real Pirates.  Banners and pirate statues in the airport and banners downtown made it clear that this was "big."  I purchased my timed ticket, and learned all about the Whydah and its transformation from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship.  Like any great traveling exhibit, it was filled with artifacts that you will not typically see in a collection, it told a great story, and you learned a lot!  (Well, I learned more about pirates than I did from Pirates of the Caribbean.)  For anyone that has seen the traveling Titanic exhibit, this was similar.  A shipwreck is being actively recovered off the coast of Cape Cod, MA.  The artifacts recovered tell a story, and from them, historians can learn more about pirate life.  The show takes you from the start of the captain's journey to the stories after the wreck (the trial of the survivors and the end of the Golden Pirate Age.)  Here you learn of ships, weapons, pirate law and morales.  Honestly, a pirate life spoke so much of equality of the crew, you can understand why so many wanted to join.  


So for friends in the area, I recommend seeing the show before it closes.  For others, look for it in a city near you as it travels.  You will be surprised how eye opening it is!