DENVER - The North Carolina delegation to the Democratic National Convention gathered Sunday night for the first time at an ice cream social -- although there was an open bar as well.

The gathering was in the lobby of the Doubletree Denver Tech Hotel, which is located miles from downtown in an office park off an interstate in suburb of Greenwood Village. The town, by the way, is so manicured and sterile that it makes Cary look like Greenwich Village by comparison, reports Rob Christensen.

The event attracted both newcomers such as Durham County commissioner Ellen Reckhow and 18-year-old Jared Hagemann of Camden as well as political veterans such as Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, former House Speaker Dan Blue of Raleigh and Raleigh attorney Ed Turlington.

Some people had been in Denver for days. Kevin Monroe, the state Obama political director, has been working on security. Gerry Cohen, a top staffer at the state legislature, has been serving on the convention credentials committee.