The Denver city-county building, aglow with its famed holiday lights. -- Photos by Dan Leeth

At an out-of-town business dinner, I shared a table with New York- and Toronto-based associates. Between salad and salmon, we discussed home towns. Denver is probably a pleasant place to live, my companions conceded. But there's little there for a tourist. The good stuff, they claimed, is all in the mountains.

Choking on my Chardonnay, I begged to differ.

Denver is hardly a cow town. We may not have the arts, entertainment, cuisine and crime of a major cultural capital, but the Mile High City is certainly more than a traffic jam separating runways from ski runs.

SNOWCAPPED PEAKS

There's plenty to do around Denver, I told them.

The adventure begins with the 37-km drive into town from the Denver International Airport terminal, whose fiberglass tent roof looks like snowcapped peaks with silicone implants.

When Mile High motoring, watch for potholes, avoid construction cone-zones and never drive after swilling the city's celebrated suds, I warned.

Our area ferments more of the frothy beverage than anywhere else in the country. Even the city's mayor owns a brew pub where patrons can honour His Honour with a pint of porter.

"Eighty different beers are brewed on an average day around Denver," brags Rich Grant of the Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Our Coors plant is the largest single brewery in the world."

Since one should not drink on an empty stomach, especially at altitude, I recommend indulging in some of our namesake edibles such as a Denver omelette.

Better yet, try some Rocky Mountain oysters, a landlocked delicacy derived from the private parts of castrated calves.

At restaurants like The Fort, women often order them as appetizers while men sit nervously cross-legged.

"When we hosted President Clinton and the leaders of the world, the White House chef decided not to serve them to the dignitaries," says Fort co-owner Holly Arnold Kinney. "The accompanying journalists joked about how the world leaders didn't have the 'right stuff' to eat them."

Many of Denver's fine eateries can be found downtown along the 16th Street Mall, a car-free boulevard open only to pedestrians and shuttle buses. Near one end stands the Denver city-county building, famous for its spectacular Christmas colours.

A vendor's cart on the 16th Street Mall.

At the northern end of the 16th Street Mall lies LoDo (Lower Downtown).

Not long ago, this area contained little more than deserted warehouses and derelict pigeons. Now, it teems with pubs, restaurants, shops, galleries, limos and lofts.

BUMS-TO-BOOM

The bums-to-boom turnaround came with the construction of Coors Field, summer home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team.

While you can buy a Bud at Coors Field, vendors will not sell you a Coke at the Pepsi Center, the city's 19,000-seat arena. The "Can" is the home of hockey's Colorado Avalanche and basketball's Denver Nuggets.

Colorado Avalanche fans outside the Pepsi Center.

Across the freeway stands Invesco Field at Mile High, home turf of the Denver Broncos football team.

It may sound like Denver should be wallowing in spectator sloth, but statistically, the city boasts the lowest percentage of overweight adults in the country.

That's because we are an active bunch. Denver provides over 200 urban parks where bikers peddle paved parkways and joggers huff urban trails. Golfers love it here because in the rarefied air, even shanks travel 10% farther.

"The hard part for people is knowing exactly how far the ball's going," says Castle Pines pro Sue Sanders. "They get up here and just launch it.''

Most Denver attractions and activities can be enjoyed regardless of season. Sunshine generally follows snowfall, and the white stuff disappears so quickly that Denver does't even plow residential streets. For most of the winter, skies are clear and daytime temperatures cool but pleasant.

As we rose to leave, I suggested my new friends venture to the Mile High City and discover for themselves how much there is to do.

"Just be sure and call first," I warned them. "Otherwise, I'll probably be up in the mountains."