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.