Daring to Do Duck

Ocean temperature: 74 degrees
Beach read: Jazz Cleopatra, Josephine Baker in Her Time
Best song heard randomly on the radio: Bad Reputation, Freedy Johnston

Thing 3 and I were trying to choose some live music for our evening's entertainment last night, having greatly enjoyed the Cracker show just nights before. It was perhaps a mistake to attempt such a thing during happy hour because we misguidedly decided to choose based on band name, which is probably akin to betting on a race horse based solely on its name and with no regard to the odds.

We narrowed the choices down to three we found amusing: Monkey Booty, The Morons and Rubber Pants. You'll have to cut us some slack, as we were well into a bottle of K Vintner Viognier, a personal favorite (thanks, B) and as close a sensation to "drinking pretty" as I know of offhand. But I digress. After much deliberation, Thing 3 gave the final vote to the Morons and our fate was sealed.

They were playing at Aqua S Deck in Duck, an area I avoid for all the SUVs, shopping meccas and traffic. But we figured we were up to the challenge and for a change headed north to the land of flattops (those vintage Southern Shores houses) and McMansions (the bane of the beaches, imho). Thing 3 liked all the vegetation around the houses, but I just felt like I was in suburbia and the ocean was but a distant memory.

To sum it up, the band consisted of two middle-aged guys and one of them was wearing tennis shoes with velcro closures. I know we shouldn't have even noticed such a minor detail (I blame Thing 3), but it cracked us up nonetheless. We may even have laughed out loud.

In their defense, however, they said that they only had one Buffet song in their repertoire because there were so many middle-aged beach bands whose entire schtick was Buffet, so they left that niche to others. Instead, they played everything from Jack Johnson to Todd Rundgren, basically covering the entire musical period since before there were velcro closure shoes. Really.

Music and velcro aside, though, we were on a good-sized deck facing the Sound and the sunset was magnificent, long-lasting and colorful. We watched a duo para-sailing and they remained in the sky for over half an hour, which seemed to us an extraordinarily long time to be hovering up there, legs dangling and silhouetted against the orange sun. We decided, Thing 3 and I, that we were better suited to less adventurous pursuits, like drinking on a deck while people-watching.

As the sign on the lifeguard station has said the past few days about the strong surf: Know Your Limits! Thing 3 and I are well aware of our limits; luckily we know how to have a whole lot of fun within those parameters. But if you ever see either of us in a pair of velcro-closure shoes, just go ahead and take us out.

It's what we'd want. Really.