Stop #24: Merrillville, Indiana (#340)

The weekend of the Fourth of July brought great progress in the quest, when I went to not one, not two, but three Steak 'n' Shakes on the list. And four total. Within a 24-hour period.

And no, I did not get sick. Woo-hoo!

The reason I squeezed so many in within that short period was that I decided to visit my friend Kathy, who has been wanting me to see the house she bought in Chicago for ... well, ever since she bought it. Which was not that recently. Which means I'm a terrible friend. But I finally made it!

And, on the way, I stopped at some Steak 'n' Shakes. No reason not to make progress by hitting up some stops in the Region, right?

As for the delay in posting these adventures, there is reason, and it will be revealed as I detail stop #24.


Stop #24 was in Merrilville. It was, in fact, not the first time I'd been to this particular Steak 'n' Shake.

Once upon a time, I went to a concert in Hammond with my friend Splenda.

For the record, her name isn't really Splenda. It's a nickname that sprung out of the familial connection we had in the band service fraternity and sorority in college. And Splenda she remains.

The concert was a good one, featuring my two favorite bands:

Safetysuit ...

... and Seether!

And this was back when Seether still had Troy McLawhorn, which meant I got to swoon not only when Doug sang as Safetysuit took stage, but also when Seether performed. Win!

Meet beautiful beautiful Troy. Circa November 2008.
Photo courtesy my friend Jaydeth Czys-zle who
accompanied me to a Seether concert or two.

At the time, I had a rule that if either of these bands was performing within a four-hour drive of wherever I was (exception being Ohio -- 'cause nothing is worth that), I would go. This rule is no longer in place because sometimes I am broke, and gas is expensive, and concerts are expensive, and my souvenirs from said concerts are expensive.

Anyway. Both Splenda and I had to travel to get to this show -- at the time, Splenda lived in Fort Wayne, and I was still trapped in Indianapolis -- so we decided to stop at the Steak 'n' Shake in Merrillville on the way.

Splenda & me, circa 2009

This time, I went with my friend Liz, another person I know from my years at Butler involved with the band service sorority. She lives in the area, and so was looking forward to joining me on the quest there. And getting a milkshake and cheese fries.


I, on the other hand, realized that, wedding coming up and all, I probably should start eating better, even if I'm at Steak 'n' Shake.

It made me a little sad, 'cause I ended up getting a grilled chicken salad.


Then I got happy, 'cause Liz used a "buy one get one" coupon for the milkshake.


And diet be damned, a coupon is a coupon, and I was craving a vanilla milkshake, made all the more awesome by its freeness.

While we hung out at the Merrillville Steak 'n' Shake, Liz and I decided to create something to send to a friend.


Sent via snailmail. Which is why this post was delayed a bit. That, and wedding planning eats my life sometimes.

After hanging out and chatting for a couple of hours, I realized I had to be on my way. And thus ended Stop #24 in the quest, and began my 24-hour SnS Spree.