Old civic phallic symbols now dwarfed by skyscrapers
Denver, Daniels & Fisher Tower (inspired in 1910 by St. Mark's bell tower in Venice, now a cabaret venue)
Foshay Tower (inspired in 1929 by the Washington Monument, now a W hotel), Minneapolis
Big things made by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen
"The Big Sweep," (2006), broom and dustpan outside the Denver Art Museum
"Spoonbridge and Cherry," (1988), Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Acoustic singer-songwriters
The former Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., a.k.a. John Denver, who passed through Denver
Twin cities. The former Robert A. Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan, shown here on a 1963 album cover
19th-century masonry
Larimer Square, Denver
James J. Hill mansion, St. Paul
Emblematic spunky gals
Denver. This is Margaret "Molly" Tobin Brown, a.k.a., the unsinkable Molly Brown, who survived the sinking of the Titanic
Twin Cities. Mary Tyler Moore (whose TV show survived 168 episodes from 1970-77, shown here with Ted Knight, who played Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show")
Water craft
Kayaking, Denver
Canoeing, Twin Cities
Grand old hotels
Brown Palace Hotel, Denver
St. Paul Hotel, St. Paul
Weird-looking buildings
Denver Art Museum's Hamilton Building
The Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis
Hard-drinking author who died an early death
Jack Kerouac, Denver
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Twin Cities
Dive restaurants
El Chapultepec, Denver
Hard Times Cafe, Minneapolis
Presidential contenders
Denver. William Jennings Bryan. (Bryan, right, shown here with Clarence Darrow at the Scopes trial in 1925.)