The Scott Butki You Don't Know

News Type: Other — Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:49 PM EDT

ducks, cafe, scott-butki, blue-moon, shepherdstown-wv, town-run

I met Scott in person at the DC Vinemeet earlier this year. He lives only about a half-hour away from me, so today, we met at the Blue Moon Cafe in Shepherdstown, WV, for lunch. Awesome little place - outdoor seating with the Town Run (calling it a babbling brook seems a little overdone, but calling it a stream is not giving it enough credit) running over rocks and right through the middle of the outdoor seating area. The sound of the water alone makes it a great place to sit and chill. The outdoor seating area is all stone and wood, with lots of plants mixed in. Friendly locals and tourists popping in ... great food, great ambiance, and no rushed service.

Another thing I love about this cafe is the animals. One guy, who works down the road restoring old cars, shows up on a daily basis with his dog, Berkely, and his red parrot, Liberty. Berkely lies down under the table; Liberty picks at his food from his plate, sometimes hops onto other tables, and then hops up onto the arbor or one of the trees, and is content to check everything out until it's time to go home. This guy just brought in a new dog, Mercedes, today .. yet I can't remember his name, just those of his pets (oops). Other dogs wander in and out; the only rule seems to be that they have to be socialized to people, cats, and dogs.

Two cats are also regulars; one calico-looking stray (at least I assume so, based on its notched ear and lack of a collar) and one black cat with a collar. They wind around your feet while you're eating, and are gracious enough to let you pet them.

So, I've been going to this place every week or so for lunch when I work at home. I have a wireless aircard so I can work there (as Scott found out to his dismay, their free wifi doesn't work outside). I thought I had seen it all, appreciated everything that could be appreciated there. Dogs, cats, parrots, nice people - what more do you need?

Then ...there was the duck. THE DUCK. While Scott and I were there, a friendly duck started wandering around. One of the other customers told us that the duck followed a few people up when they walked from the Potomac River to the Blue Moon; that makes sense to me, since the river's pretty close. This duck hung around our table for a long time, and quacked softly to Scott. Bonding occurred.

I don't know what the duck's name is. I tried to feed it a crust from my quiche - Scott offered it a potato chip - but what this duck really wanted was Scott's shoes and pants. He/she spent at least a minute pecking Scott's pants and shoes. This duck just loved Scott - and obviously only showed up because he knew Scott was meeting me there for lunch, to help show off the cafe and make me look good for suggesting it. Nobody has seen the duck before. If I don't see it again, I will know for sure that it only came to greet Scott.

So now you know something new about Scott - ducks like him, or at least this one particular duck does.

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