Oct 15, 20224 min read

#77 Mind-Altering Mile-High Experience in Denver

I’m in the Mile High city of Denver, Colorado for a conference, but I snuck here a few days early to adventure. This city has not let me down so far.

Remember my experience two adventures ago where my weekend was full of bad things that happened (like the toilet flushing up in reverse while I was on it), with the exception of seeing Oliver which was so great it cancelled out all the bad things that happened?

Well, my Denver experience so far is completely opposite. Everything good seems to be happening – big things and little things.

It started with getting to the airport easily, hitting all the lights perfectly, being the first to go through TSA checkpoint, getting the most delicious coffee and experiencing happy bumps all along the way. There were some changes to my flights but nothing to write home about.

And, as I was spending some time in the airport getting ready for my first flight, I decided to check into the next leg to see what the seating chart looked like. I already had a window seat, but ya know…maybe there’s something better I could grab.

Wait…why is there a seat available with the “extra legroom” right at the front of the plane? Oh yeah! That sounds comfy.

Well, not only was it comfy, but there was nobody sitting next to me. The guy on the aisle and I did a happy dance when they announced boarding was complete and started chatting.

He was awesome and it was so fun talking to him. He is in oncology pharmaceuticals and is launching a new med that helps with a rare type of cancer that only effects 1 in 1 million but is gnarly. This cancer looks like other kinds of tumors, but when it is cut out, it grows back but bigger. Think glioblastoma but elsewhere in the body. It is a non-malignant tumor, but because docs don’t know to recognize it, it will keep getting cut out and getting bigger and bigger and bigger until it takes over the body. Anyways, you don’t need to hear all about that, but I found it fascinating.

After landing in Denver Airport, I jumped into an Uber where I met a kindred spirit Karen. We just bonded instantly and spend the drive happily chatting about things to do in Denver and Karen’s idea about being a Colorado guide for tourists. We agreed that I would be her accountability buddy to be sure she launches this, so Karen…this is my first accountability check in to see how you are doing. Did you check out Air BnB’s experiences? You will ROCK this!

And my end of the accountability deal is that while I am in Denver, I have to try a Rocky Mountain oyster. I know, I know....I'm very clear exactly what a Rocky Mountain Oyster is. But hey...if my new friend Karen is going to launch an entire company, the least I can do is hold up my end of the accountability deal and keep my promise. Ick.

After checking into my hotel, I decided to check out the #1 Ranked Denver Attraction from Trip Advisor – the International Church of Cannabis.

Oh. Em. Gee. This place was AMAZING!

The hardest thing is trying to describe it to you.

The building itself was an abandoned church taken over as a meeting ground for 420-friendly people to gather. They have turned it into this glorious experience, and it is a mixture of belly-laugh making, nostalgia-inducing, and awe-inspiring trippy event.

The main attraction is their laser show, which occurs 20 minutes past every hour. (Get it?). So when I walked in, the gentleman at the reception area invited me to their “living room” to wait for the next show.

Well….this living room is the place of dreams. It is full of very unusual furniture, art, and things to do.

There are tons of games to play – from free-to-play video games (I still suck at Space Invaders apparently), giant psychedelic Jenga in the outside garden, Lite-Brite and Etch-a-Sketch, a giant wall for dooddling on, and even Skee-Ball.

There have the most random book collection, coloring books, and murals everywhere.

This one is for my college roommate Margaret: they had this sign in the outdoor garden. Do you remember this from Penn? 😊

I wandered around, happily playing games and just taking in the craziness of the place.

Suddenly, we were summoned to climb the stairs to the Sanctuary for the lightshow. When we got there, we were told that we could find anyplace to be that is comfortable – we could lie down on the ground on floor-pillows, take a seat in the random smooshy chairs around, or take over a pew and lie down (after removing our shoes). I took a big flower floor pillow and settled myself on the ground.

The announcer explained that the laser show would start with a 10-minute meditation, and then be followed by a 20-minute rock & roll experience. She reminded everyone that even though the ICC is (obviously) 420-friendly, nobody was allowed to partake in any mild-altering substances while onsite during the show. However, if we were so inclined, we could join as a member and return at member-specific times to use, as she said, “the best thing on the planet”.

I cannot begin to describe this laser show. I will try, but it will not be enough. If you are ever in Denver, RUN to go check this out.

It started with a narrated meditation with the ceiling of the sanctuary being lit up with shooting stars. The speaker brought the audience through a guided meditation with quotes such as “All great thinkers have some degree of madness to them”. True dat.

Then suddenly, the sanctuary sprung to life with an incredible laser show that included images from Alice in Wonderland, Rainbows, fascinating graphics and incredible colors, all to music like “Comfortably Numb”, “People are Strange”, “Beethoven’s 5th Symphony” and this incredible song about Alice in Wonderland that I don’t know the title of but will find and will update you.