A plan in the works

I've decided to take my extended-weekend-due-to-holiday-and-campus-power-outage and use it to knock out some of the Steak 'n' Shakes that are a distance from my current home base.

Specifically, I'm going to hit a few Steak 'n' Shakes in the Region.

Which means I've been playing phone tag with some of my friends that do live up there or will be up there for the Fourth, trying to figure out a plan of attack that allows me to knock out at least two, if not three.

This includes my friend Liz. She is awesome. And here is reason #427 why she is awesome:

"Let's get chocolate-wasted."

Dear Grown Ups movie, that is probably the highlight of anything you have contributed to my life, ever.

And, SPOILER ALERT!, you may not have to Catch Caragher™ in the photos for some of these stops. (That's right, Brett. I just trademarked your name in a game. Ha! :-P)

A final note, for anyone who will be up in the Region this weekend and is interested in joining for a stop, get in touch with me. I love company!

Stop #23: Downtown Indianapolis (#?)

Stop 23 happened on the 23rd of June, which is one of my favorite days because it is, after all, my birthday.

Not only was it my birthday, but it was Fiancé's birthday, too.

Sadly, it may be Fiancé's last birthday, as he turned 30, which means he may well not live to see another birthday 'cause he's so damn old.

Of course, that didn't stop him from letting his maturity shine through.


Because it was my birthday, I enjoyed my current favorite, a Guacamole Steakburger. Again.


Fiancé enjoyed a chili. Well, he wanted to enjoy a chili. But actually, our friend Charlie was probably the only one to really enjoy a chili. As Fiancé's came out much earlier than the rest of the food, and he felt he should be polite and not eat until others got their food, nevermind that it was his birthday and all and, you know, the one day he really gets to get away with such behavior.


Charlie, on the other hand, had no qualms with the guilt associated with eating chili before others got their food.

Fiancé may have been the winner, however, as he did end up getting a fresh bowl of chili when the rest of the food actually did come out. So ... huzzah, Fiancé, for being a picky bastard? Even if he wasn't really in this instance, I'd like to point out that he most of the time is.

An added benefit of having a birthday at Steak 'n' Shake was that we got to open a couple of presents/cards there. Including this fantastic card from Sami and Matt, about an old man sharing his wisdom of what will keep you alive longest.


That advice was, namely, "Keep breathing as long as you can!"

Fiancé, please do that. :)

The birthday stop was also fun because we got to play the anagram game again.

And, in playing the anagram game, I got to show Sami my super mad skillz that make it so, when you Google "LAL UYO NCA TEA KENPCAAS," my blog is the first nine of 10 hits you get. She said her company would pay for search returns like that.

You hear that, Steak 'n' Shake? Someone would pay for the awesome skillz I have. Which, in a professional setting, would definitely not be spelled with a "z" on the end.

But back to the original point. Once again, we played the anagram game, and proved that, without a doubt, "LAL UYO NCA TEA KENPCAAS" cannot spell "ALL YOU CAN EAT PANCAKES." In fact, it surely must spell "STOP A NUN A LA CAKE ALE." I'm not sure how one would go about stopping a nun with cake ale, but cake ale sounds possibly tasty, and so I'm sold.

Unfortunately, birthday Steak 'n' Shake was not all joyousness and rainbows and unicorns. It actually wasn't rainbows and unicorns, at all, even though it was mostly joyous.

You see, I decided, since it was my birthday and all, I should try the cookie milkshake attempted on the last stop again. This time I did it right, though: I ordered a cookie dough milkshake and a pair of chocolate chip cookies as soon as I sat down.

Unfortunately, my milkshake came out. But no cookies arrived.

I asked our server, and she said that they had been out of cookies, but that they were making more.

I thought, "Awesome. 'Cause I have no real cooking skills, but I have done chocolate chip cookies before, and they take all of, what, 10 minutes?"

Unfortunately, time passed. And passed. And still no cookies.

Every time our server came by, I asked, with a hopeful look that if I'm lucky resembled the look my mom's dog gets when you go anywhere remotely near her treat container. And every time, she said that they still weren't ready yet, until she finally gave in and said that they weren't ready yet, but when they were, she'd bring me FOUR cookies for being so patient.

Not something I really needed on a day when I'd already had a piece of ice cream cake and was going to have a milkshake, but hey, at least I didn't realize she was probably being sarcastic until after the fact.

I, of course, left my milkshake sit untouched until those cookies came out, so I could give you this glorious photo of my concoction.


Sadly, this photo had to be timed, with Matt holding the cookie up until just as I pushed the button on the camera -- the milkshake was at that point so liquidy that the cookie would not stand upright as it was supposed to.

And what was worse? The cookies came out cold. Liar-liar-pants-on-fire, dear server at the downtown Steak 'n' Shake. Thanks for ruining my birthday!

Slightly kidding. The birthday was not ruined, even if the cookie dough cookie milkshake left me so disappointed that I fear I will never try it again.

("Don't worry," I know you're saying, "you still have 47 Steak 'n' Shakes to go! I'm sure you'll be up for giving it another try at one of them!"

And I'm sure you're right. Sadly, it won't be any time soon.)

Actually, it was, all in all, a pretty good birthday. I would like to thank Sami, Matt, Molly, Jen, Jamie, Charlie, Adam, Megan, and Marc for making my birthday awesome. And for making the quest more awesome, to boot.


Added note, I want to apologize for not being able to provide the store number for this location. I promise I went -- I just did not get a store number because somebody/ies pictured above got my Steak 'n' Shake, and as a result, I did not get a receipt. Thank you guys! :)

They say it's my birthday ...

... and happy birthday to me!


Well, happy birthday to me AND Fiancé. That's right, we share a birthday. And actually, it's not so much a happy birthday to him, at this point ... he's a little over the Steak 'n' Shake Quest (I know -- crazy, right?), so I'm guessing he was marginally less-than-thrilled with the gift of a Steak 'n' Shake gift card.

Nevertheless, we will be going to Steak 'n' Shake tonight to celebrate the birthday. And since he's turning super-old, he's getting a surprise special treat tomorrow night. Basically, he needs to stop complaining about the Steak 'n' Shake or he won't get the stripper hooker escort very nice surprise I have planned for him as an alternative to yet another Steak 'n' Shake dinner.

Also, my sister-in-law is awesome, for knowing me well enough to get me a Steak 'n' Shake gift card for my birthday.

Stop #22: Illinois & Getz, Fort Wayne (#230)

Stop #22 took me to Fort Wayne, on a weekend I was visiting my family.


The Fort Wayne location on Getz and Illinois, specifically. Which is awesome in part because it is protected on the west by none other than Chuck Norris.



Well, a building design to bear the resemblance of Chuck Norris.

"But wait," you say. "Buildings are not designed to bear Chuck Norris's resemblance. Buildings are designed to have Chuck Norris imprint his face upon them. And then they bear his babies. Which turn out to be werewolf babies. Because we've spent one-too-many-days reading Twilight."

Seriously, though, there is a Chuck Norris joke in there somewhere, and I'm simply not clever enough to actually make it work.

Also, I'm not totally sure that that is supposed to be Chuck Norris on the building. But I like to think that it is. Because, really.

After passing Chuck Norris, we made it to the Steak 'n' Shake on Illinois and Getz. "We" being me, my sister, my sister's friend, my sister-in-law, and my nephew.

That's right, my awesome nephew. The one that Steak 'n' Shake should pay to model for them in advertising.

Seriously! Last time, he just looked like the happiest kid ever to get a Steakburger. This time he's actually striking a model pose.

Not Blue Steel.

Not even Magnum.

But the model pose that says, "Hey baby, I know that when I act like I'm not interested in you, it makes you that much more interested in me, so I'm gonna keep sitting here, being not interested in you, 'cause it does make me so cool."


Yeah, that first picture he looked way too happy. This one is sure to get Steak 'n' Shake to want him as a model. I mean, look at that, he's not even interested in Steak 'n' Shake. So now they MUST have him.

Speaking of models, also joining me in this trip were my sister and a friend of hers that I met at her wedding, who apparently actually is a model. I really had no idea until my sister was telling me that she's been modeling wedding dresses lately, and had to make sure that she didn't model the wedding dress that she will actually be wearing in her own upcoming wedding.


I love this picture because she is a model, and she still eats. Even with a wedding coming up. Jamie, you make me feel like it's okay for me to not starve myself between now and my own wedding. Which is good, considering how many Steak 'n' Shakes I still have to go to, and how I don't want to cram them all in when I "let myself go" after the wedding. And which is good, because I think it's a positive message, that eating is okay. Anyone else remember the scene from "Little Miss Sunshine" and how the girl's dad made her feel like crap for wanting her breakfast a la mode on the way to the pageant? Did anyone else feel like pumping their fists in un-Jersey-Shore-like victory fashions after she met Miss California, who not only told Little Miss Sunshine (I forgot her name, sorry, but I know the real girl's name is Abigail Breslin) not only that she did eat ice cream but what her favorite flavor was?

Yeah. I'm all in favor of people who look good for a living, also eating, and letting others know it.

Speaking of ice cream, along with my meal, I had a crafty and creative idea for my milkshake on this stop. Fiancé is always complaining about how the cookie's 'n' cream milkshake used to come with a ginormous chocolate wafer cookie in the top, and they don't anymore.

However, Steak 'n' Shake does sell chocolate chip cookies now.

So I put on my thinking cap ...


Ta-da! Hey, Steak 'n' Shake, I fixed that for you!

And it gets better ...


The cookie, believe it or not, gets even tastier this way!

Only modification to make: Cookies 'n' Cream milkshakes are Oreo-based. My concoction should be Chocolate Chip Cookie-based. Therefore, for full, delicious effect, next time, I need to order the Cookie Dough Milkshake, which is Chocolate Chip Cookie-based, so that the Chocolate Chip Cookie I stick in it isn't competing with Oreos -- despite how tasty both are.

In addition to this shake (which was the highlight of the stop, let-me-tell-you), I tried the Royale Steakburger.


It was ... okay. I don't know that I'd order it again, 'cause I'm not the biggest fan of the egg on my cheeseburger, and on top of that, I can't figure out what it has to do with James Bond, which is all I think about when I see the word "Royale." (Nice marketing, guys-behind-"Casino Royale".)

As you can see, I also had fries, but they warrant an additional picture ...


... mostly because I think we look a bit silly. Between the look on my face, and the look on my sister-in-law's face, the feeling this picture gives me is "Angie, eat the fry! Open wide, here comes the choo-choo train!" Well, that, and its constant companion, "Wah, I don't wanna eat that!"

Oddly, this reaction is not sparked by Rais's presence in the photo, despite the fact that he's the only one pictured who would be making such a fuss, or receiving such encouragement.

And thus ends our journey to Steak 'n' Shake #22. All in all, it was a good time, sandwiched between a humorous time of going to see the movie "Bridesmaids," and a fun time of making bags for Jamie's flowergirls.

Dear Steak 'n' Shake,
Thank you for making a fun sandwich possible.
Luv-n-such,
Marcy


Dear ... weirdos,
No thank you for making "fun sandwich" something that probably carries a dirty double entendre.
No love,
Marcy.

Stop #21: Avon (#264)

The evening of Friday, June 10th, went not spectacularly well, but concluded with an impromptu Steak 'n' Shake trip, which almost makes up for it.


First off, I must say that I've been excited to go to the Avon Steak 'n' Shake for a bit now. I went prior to this quest, once. It was during the Butler Homecoming weekend. I'd had a bit to drink, and was way excited about the Steak 'n' Shake van I found in its parking lot.


Since developing a knitting hobby, I've spent more time driving around the Avon area -- to the JoAnn's, to the Hobby Lobby, to the Michaels, etc. -- and have discovered something.

The Totally Awesome Steak 'n' Shake van is damn-near always in the Avon Steak 'n' Shake parking lot!

And so I have been looking forward to the official quest stop at this Steak 'n' Shake. Because I wanted another picture with The Totally Awesome Steak 'n' Shake van. Which is why I didn't want to go there on just any night.

Unfortunately, we kind of did.

And that tale starts hours before we actually wound up at Steak 'n' Shake. Fiancé and I were out working on our wedding registry (surprisingly, it does not contain Steak 'n' Shake giftcards). It was a nice day out, so we went on his motorcycle.

Unfortunately, as we were about to leave to grab some food, following the work on the registry, the bike would not start.

First, Nathan tried to fix it, while I called for back-up.


Then, via what I consider a comical filmstrip method which I will now force you to endure, I tried to fix it.









That thumbs-up-and-smile is totally fake -- batting at the loose wires, poking at the spirally-springy-thingy, and pulling with all my might on the thing that my boot once-upon-a-time melted to did nothing to fix the bike.

After I failed to fix the bike (which Fiancé really ought to name, considering that the reference "the bike" is gonna get real-old-real-fast), back-up showed up in the form of Emily, tonight's hero,


complete with tools

Pictured: Toolbox
Not pictured: Brett, though how funny and perfectly
appropriate would it have been if I had put him here
for the "Catch Caragher" game?
Seriously, he's not there, but it's funny to think about.
I heart you Brett, and I miss you!

and ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom -- the bike still didn't work.

By this point, I was starving (well, not really, but hungry at least). Emily was craving a milkshake, so we settled on Steak 'n' Shake, since the Avon location was just a bit down the road from where Fiancé's bike was stranded.

It would prove to be a slight mistake.

First, it was ... surprisingly busy when we got there. Which has a tendency to make me sad, since we subsequently can't so easily monopolize our server's time.

We ordered: a guacburger for Nathan, a banana milkshake with chocolate (which I misheard as "vanilla milkshake with vodka") for Emily, and for me:

the world's saddest Frisco melt. (And fries.)

Seriously. When I order a Frisco melt, I expect the Frisco sauce to be so heavy it's dripping all over my fries before I've taken the first bite. I expect the bread to feel like it hasn't just been slathered with melted butter but actually grilled. And I expect the meat on the sandwich to, well, constitute an actual sandwich.

And so this Frisco melt was the world's saddest Frisco melt, because he met none of my expectations. If I were a teacher, and he my student, he'd have to retake this class and learn to be more Frisco-ier.

The trip also turned sad when our server forgot several things, or made them in a sad way. For example, Nathan wanted cheese for his fries, and received a cup that was basically just barely covered across the bottom. Which, if you've ever had Steak 'n' Shake cheese fries, you would know is definitely not enough cheese.

She also completely forgot to bring us our check, which resulted in me having to go back a couple days later so I could get a receipt that had the location number because Nathan paid cash and didn't wait around for a receipt on our actual stop (sadly, upon the drive-thru visit, the Frisco melt was only marginally improved -- plenty of Frisco sauce, but still light on the meat and with a buttered-bread-not-grilled feel).

Thankfully, another server was nearby, and her name was Ashley, and she was awesome and fun to talk to.

One positive aspect of this trip was I discovered something exciting.


Did you see that?


That's right: The crane game has a friend, and his name is Super Sparkly Skittles Vending Machine!

Tell me you're not this excited.


What? You're NOT that excited? Clearly, you lie.

The trip also brightened when Ashley wound up near our table as we were about to leave, rather than our actual server (who was, as I'm sure you remember, busy throwing away our ticket and pumping minimal amounts of cheese, laughing wickedly all the while.) Ashley was happy to take our picture as a group for this blog.

"Say 'Greasy food!'" She feigned excitement as she snapped our picture.

Then, "Can you smile?" to Fiancé. "You look like a child molester." So Fiancé faked a smile. "Say 'Clogged arteries!'" And voila, we look awesome. Except for Fiancé. Who maybe still looks like a child molester.


And so, Avon Steak 'n' Shake, you don't totally suck. You have Ashley, and you have the Super Sparkly Skittles Vending Machine. And you occasionally have The Totally Awesome Steak 'n' Shake van. I may visit you again.

Stop #20: Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis (#30)

June 3 took me to the 20th stop on this quest, a Steak 'n' Shake that I had previously tried to visit but ultimately failed with thanks to the incorrect hours listed on the Steak 'n' Shake website that resulted in our frightening trip to the Steak 'n' Shake on Post and 25th: the one on Pendleton Pike.


And friends, this trip was almost as scary as that one. Although not really due to anything that actually happened IN the Steak 'n' Shake (whereas with the Post Road trip, it was stuff that happened in the Steak 'n' Shake as well as the stuff that may well have gone on in the parking lot outside the Steak 'n' Shake).

For any readers unfamiliar with Indianapolis, the city's "good areas" are never necessarily terribly far from the city's "bad areas." I've heard this time and time again because Butler itself is in an area that's a prime example of that. You know whose house is well within walking distance of the campus? The governor's. You know what else is also within walking distance of the campus? The BP where a friend's boss was once approached and asked "Crack or head?" in a "paper or plastic?" tone of voice.

If our governor were a "Governator," this might be appropriate, as then we would have lofty dreams of him becoming a movie character bad-ass and going nuts on local crime. Sadly, we have no "Governator." We have "My Man Mitch." Whose most notable destructive action was putting an end to Indiana's use of a consistent clock by bringing in Daylight Savings Time. Which I still haven't forgiven him for. And which surely has no impact on the local crime -- I don't think the fact that we fall back every year is going to deter them from, you know, offering people crack or head in gas station parking lots.

But I digress. The point is, there some areas of the city that are nice, and some areas that are not really all that nice.

And as Adam and I drove to the Steak 'n' Shake on Pendleton Pike, even before we got lost, we drove through some that are really, really, really not that nice.

If you wanted to, you could get your money from your paycheck early. Which is in and of itself not necessarily a bad thing.


But you had few options of places to spend it.


I should rephrase that: You had many options of places to spend it, but only a very few types of things you could spend it on.


And, of course, once you had your fill of liquor and discount liquor (which I promise you would have; there were many, many others that we drove past, all within close vicinity, which are not included because the photos taken of them were too blurry for me to use here), you could feel safe and secure, knowing your resting place was covered, too.


Yes. That says "Discount Casket."

But as you can tell, we made it to the Steak 'n' Shake unscathed, and managed to enjoy ourselves there. And it was fun catching up with Adam, who will be going to Europe at the end of the summer but who still currently works at Butler in the IT area and listened sympathetically as I described the problems my work computer (lovingly called "Junky Junior," after a laptop that experienced ... entirely different but still debilitating problems) had been having lately.

For those curious about Junky Junior's health, let me just say that he's seemed fine today, but that doesn't change the fact that he randomly crashed himself yesterday, and suffered a bout of "blue screen of death" the day before. Let us not forget how, maybe two weeks ago, he had an actual virus that prevented me from doing anything online, and just a couple weeks before that, he faced several bouts of "blue screen of death," including one he really just could not recover from. I've actually started keeping a pad of notes on my desk to track every time he does something that vitally problematic. Nevermind that he tends to freeze pretty much every time I try to switch programs (i.e., Excel to Firefox) and routinely crashes the circulation program I use at work (I don't think I've actually closed it once this past week).

But again! I digress. We were at Steak 'n' Shake, merely discussing these topics.

We experienced a bit of sadness when we sought coupons and discovered that more than half had expired.


I did, fortunately, have some that had not yet expired, and we were able to continue our Steak 'n' Shake visit enjoying each other's company and good food. Well, I enjoyed my good food.

Guacamole Steakburger, we meet again!

And Adam enjoyed his good food.

Adam felt as if he were conquering California.
Guess that's what happens when you eat a California Steakburger

Of course, in addition to my Guacamole Steakburger and fries, I had to get a Key Lime milkshake, 'cause that thing is just fantastic.


After my description, Adam was sold. Not that my description was all that great. It primarily consisted of, "Oh, I tried on the last stop, and it was good!" Maybe the fact that I was willing to pass up a chocomazing shake in order to get this was what sold it, actually ....


All in all, our visit was a good one (though one of the servers lied to us about coupons; I'm not sure which, but the result is, the next Steak 'n' Shake trip with Adam? It's my treat.) and we successfully made it back through some of those scary, scary parts of town without dying.

Though if we had, we would have been covered.