Stop #45: Portage (#456)

Our Black Friday trip continued on to the Steak 'n Shake in Portage.


But not before we had the chance to make the stop that was the whole reason Jen came on this trip:


Yes, I had to bribe Jen to join me on this excursion with a trip to the Bath & Body Works outlet store. But, clearly, we both made out like bandits, so it wasn't the worst bribe in the world.

Once we got to the Steak 'n Shake, we again decided to leave a gift for our server, because it was still technically Black Friday.


And so, Dallas too received some gifts and a Thank-You card for working on what is normally not the most happy day to work.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed some milkshakes (also cheese fries, for me). Strangely, between the three of us, we covered all the bases of the holiday milkshakes that Steak 'n Shake had to offer: White Chocolate for Jen, Eggnog for me, and Peppermint for Liz.


Then we decided we'd make an excellent advertisement for the Steak 'n Shake company, what with our smiling and happy faces over the holiday specialness. Obviously.

And thus ended Stop #45. Thanks, Portage! I never have to go to the Region again!

Stop #44: Michigan City (#236)

On Black Friday (I know, this is a vastly delayed post), I decided to knock out the rest of the Steak n' Shakes in the Region.

Starting with Michigan City.


Jen and I had to work on Black Friday because, well, it was Black Friday and we work in retail. Once our shifts were over, we packed up to head northwards, where we met up with Liz.

Because it was Black Friday, we decided to show our appreciation for our server, whoever she may be, for working on what can be such a hectic shopping day.

Behold, as Jen displays the gift!


The luxurious floral print bag came with the full-size ritual in the Paris Amour fragrance as well as a pocketbac and clip, and floral print nail file. (insert *Ooooohhh!" and "Aaaaaahhh!" here)

We even had a thank you card for our server.


And once seated, we had a chance to write our thanks to Alejandra.


We got pretty excited too, before leaving, when we noticed something that made us think Alejandra would really appreciate the gift.

Of course, we had to be sneaky in getting pictures to prove it. So Liz and I posed while Jen framed.


You see that? That is a pair of ladies getting excited about something in a Bath & Body Works bag. And while you can't see it in the picture, what was especially exciting for us was that the product in the bag was in the Paris Amour fragrance. Jen spied it as they pulled it out of the bag, which happened to not happen when we were taking the picture but does not negate the fact that it was indeed the very fragrance we brought as gift. Score!

Also "Score!" was my meal for the night. Chicken tenders with honey mustard, and fries with honey mustard.


And, most notably, water with lemon.


Which allows me to do spectacular things to ensure I get my fruit quota for the day.

First, you take the lemon.


Then, you add a sugar packet.


Then, enjoy!

This particular lemon was almost as enjoyable as my last lemon, which came from a lemon bouquet I enjoyed with my favorite Jaydeth a few years ago.

Jaydeth, myself, and a lemon bouquet.
Circa 2008.

Mmm. Lemon.

After we finished dinner, we decided to get back on the road, to accomplish yet one more goal for the night, and another Steak n' Shake stop.

And so we settled down to take the requisite group photo.


When Jen pointed out that she thought I should be in the middle. You know, given the sign and all.




Thank ya kindly, Michigan City and Alejandra!

Stop #26: Schererville (#217)

Stop #26 took us to Schererville, Indiana, just an hour or so after we left the Steak 'n' Shake in Valparaiso.


Kathy and I met up with a former student worker of mine, Terri, who is awesome; a couple of other friends, Toni and Aaron, who made a recommendation for me for a DJ for the wedding; and someone you've all been missing:


Brett!

Sadly, he wasn't feeling all that happy when he saw us arrive. He was feeling more like this:


Namely because he thought we were ridiculously late. Which, we were a bit late -- but he was early, and that's not our fault.

Still, it was an exciting time. Kathy and I did arrive.


And it was good to see some kids I haven't seen in a while.


And I got to meet someone new: Toni's husband, Aaron.


And Aaron turned into quite an assett on this stop. Because, when we played the Steak 'n' Shake story game, he was our reader.

And so that all you readers can enjoy the story too:

Once upon a time Marcy sucked at driving and was really late to see some good friends, thus their friendship ended with fiery vengeance.
When Marcy arrived, Corrie, our server, became our referee for our battle.
The battle was eminent.
It was complete with straw wrappers and hyperactive hot peppers.
Suddenly, Edward Norton showed up, wielding a sword and vowing death to those who continued the attack with straws (but not hot peppers).
He was quite partial to hot peppers as a weapon, they are so versatile yet so straightforward.
Unlike ketchup that just ends up everywhere.
But ketchup is good in life and people enjoy it, unlike Marcy.
People also love fries with their ketchup. Suddenly, it's peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly and a baseball bat -- with ketchup laden fries. Do I hear the "Beer Cheer"?
And Jesus said, "Why yes, I believe I WILL have a beer!"
Which he then miraculously turned from Keystone into Guinness.
Then got trashed off of car bombs and Black and tans.
In an attempt to get back on Brett's good graces, she bought him a milkshake, but did it work?
TO BE CONTINUED

It's true. I did buy Brett a milkshake, though not so much to get back in his good graces as to thank him for driving Kathy back to Chicago after our Schererville stop.

Of course, the milkshake benefited me, too: I promptly stole his cherry.


Also, I think it's been proven that hot peppers are not necessarily the most effective weapon, as Kathy's pretty much immune.


Yes, Kathy tends to douse her chilli in this stuff. So much that she usually requires two bottles. She's kind of my hero sometimes.

As for me, I ordered a California Double Steakburger, fries, and a Cherry Coke.

Oh yeah, and a receipt, well-done.


And thus ended Stop #26, with good times had by all, except Brett, who has no soul and therefore will never experience good times.


Just kidding. I miss Brett. Steak 'n' Shake just isn't the same without him. Which can mean only one thing: Brett must come back to Indiana. Even if I have to kidnap him. Har har har ....

Stop #25: Valparaiso (#318)

On July 2, I had to head back to Indiana, so Kathy joined me to hit a couple more Steak 'n' Shakes on the way. Starting with the one in Valparaiso, which is where we attempted to have breakfast.

Unfortunately, though we built in a good amount of cushion time, traffic was terrible as Chicago drove all its residents away for the holiday weekend.

So we had lots of opportunities to get shots of the interesting things we saw on the road back.

Such as, a sign for Krazy Kaplan's fireworks.


As well as a sign for Krazy Kaplan's fireworks.


And then, a sign for Krazy Kaplan's fireworks!


All told, we got pictures of 10 different billboards for Krazy Kaplan's fireworks.


And those are just the ones we got pictures of. It was ridiculous. And did you see the picture of TWO billboards for Krazy Kaplan? Is that necessary? Really? Maybe Kaplan should take all that extra money he's got, since he can afford two billboard where one would be more than sufficient, and attach it to a firework he's going to shoot off for the Fourth.

We also saw other signs of weekend patriotism, though. Beyond just the fireworks billboards.

For example, below, an example of patriotism at its best:


Big, loud, inconvenient, and through my dirty windshield.

Eventually, we did see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also through my dirty windshield. It seems Daisy might be due for a wash.


However, we already knew at this point that the likelihood of us making it to the Valpo Steak 'n' Shake in time for breakfast was slim.

And we felt angry.


Sure enough, we finaly got there -- at 11:15 a.m. Fifteen minutes too late for breakfast.

And I was sad.


I wrote a letter expressing my anger to Chicago.



Kathy tried -- and failed -- to defend her city and throw the blame on my beloved Hoosier state.


The back and forth continued.

Dear Chicago,
I hate that you make your residents want to EVACUATE, causing traffic problems for us Hoosiers just trying to get home.
No Love,
Marcy

P.S. It was INDIANA that thought closing lanes of traffic over the 4th of July holiday was a good idea. The SAME Indiana that is BEGGING for Illinois tourism. We came and YOU FAILED!

P.P.S. Kathy is delusional.

P.P.P.S. INDIANA = FAIL

CHICAGO = MORE FAILIER!

For the record, I was confused by Kathy's comment about the begging for tourism, until she explained that Indiana sites are constantly advertising on Chicago radio, which makes me sad for Indiana. Come on, home state. We don't need tourism dollars from Illinois -- I'm sure it's dirty money anyway. And not just in your standard "make sure you wash your hands after you handle it because you never know which dollar bills have been used to pay strippers" kind of way. I mean in the "maybe laundered, coming from the mafia, was used to finance some sort of crime" kind of dirty money.

Our back and forth was cut short when we got our food. Which was the closest we could get to breakfast: the Fruit 'n Yogurt parfait.


I thought it was tasty.


Unfortunately, we couldn't stick around Valparaiso for terribly long, as we had to meet others elsewhere in the Region for lunch. Others that include someone whose face has been terribly missed around these here parts lately. But you will have to come check out the next post to figure out who exactly that is. Unless you're, you know, at least marginally intelligent and have been reading for a while. ;-)