Irene Tron

At 5:00 this morning, my faithful atomic clock with an indoor and outdoor thermometer told me it was 37 degrees outside in Valparaiso, Indiana. Since it was about 45 degrees when I went to bed, that's a believable number. But we must have had a blizzard or a very cold front go through in the last 30 minutes. I just glanced at the outdoor thermometer again and now it's reading minus 1 degree! I suddenly have an urge for some hot cocoa. You'd better bundle those kids up for school.

Yes, it is still reading Fahrenheit not Centigrade degrees. I checked.

Minus 1 degree! A temperature drop of 38 degrees in 30 minutes! How is that possible? Oh, maybe my faithful atomic clock with thermometers has decided to not work today. You just can't get good help these days!

I found a gem while exploring Valparaiso, Indiana last week tucked away past the Butterfly Meadow located on Campbell off of Bullseye Lake Road. If you drive past the playground in the parking lot you will come to Valparaiso's Service Memorial dedicated to servicemen, firemen, and policemen who have lost their lives in the line of duty - The Forgotten Heroes.

It's a beautiful and peaceful place to visit and watch the flow of water in the fountain. Looking through the names on the memorials I realized that even though I do not recognize any of their names, my life is better because of their service to this community and this country. I am thankful to them for their service.

Have you thanked fire, police, or military personnel recently for laying their lives on the line each and every day? I sure haven't and I think I will change that.

If a good steak is what you are looking for in Valparaiso, Indiana, then Kelsey's Steak House is the place to go. As you can read on their link, Kelsey's has been making great steak in Indiana since 1987. Located at 2300 Morthland Drive off of I30, all you have to look for is Howie out in front and you can't miss it. Here's Howie:

About 5 years ago, Kelsey's was making plans on moving to their present location since they were outgrowing the restaurant. This was about the time we were planning our move to Valparaiso, Indiana. Looking online at the Valparaiso newspaper, one of the front page stories was whether or not the city was going to allow Howie to move along with the restaurant. As you can see, Howie is quite large. Fortunately, Howie was eventually allowed to move to his new and current home. He is quite happy as you can see.

For those of you in Portage, Indiana, there is also a Kelsey's Steakhouse at the corner of Swanson Road and Route 6.

I know this is going to be hard for many of you to believe and sit down now if you have to but.........Not Everyone Has Heard of Valparaiso, Indiana! See I told you it was going to be hard for you to believe. Even worse, I had no idea that Valparaiso, Indiana even existed until my husband was hired to do some contract flying for a company whose airplanes were based in Valparaiso, Indiana. Yes, I know, I must have lived a sheltered life. So where in the world is Valparaiso, Indiana?

According to Wikipedia, Valparaiso, Indiana is the southeasternmost (is that even really a word?) suburb of Chicago metropolitan area. It actually took me forever to figure out the correct way to pronounce it so let's just call it Valpo. Valpo is the 2nd largest city in Porter County and also the county seat of Indiana.

After moving to Valpo, whenever I'd travel outside of Indiana I'd often be asked where I was from. Realizing that not many would be familiar with Valparaiso, Indiana, I'd try to simplify things and would respond, "Oh, I'm from Indiana." Wrong answer! Why? Everyone then assumed that I was from Indianapolis. I'd find myself wondering, "Did I say I was from Indianapolis?"

Can you imagine the confusion that created when they'd ask me something about Indianapolis? "I don't know because I've never been to Indianapolis." Well, now I have been to Indianapolis.

I can also say that now I am clear and tell people that I live in Valparaiso, Indiana. Am I glad to be here? Absolutely! And if you are interested in knowing what is so great about living in Valparaiso, Indiana here's a link to my Localism posts about Valparaiso. I can only tell you about my own great experiences in Valpo, home of Orville Redenbacher. Yes, the same Orville Redenbacher of Orville Redenbacher Popcorn fame.

The South Shore train in Northwest Indiana is used by many not only to commute to work but also for fun adventures into Chicago and other parts of the world. One of the adventures in downtown Chicago leads to a Chocoholic's Dream: Ghirardelli and Hershey!

How can you go wrong with Ghirardelli and Hershey located right across the street from each other? The tough decision is which one to go into first. Let me try to help you with that one by telling you a little about each one.

First, Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop at 830 N Michigan Ave #1, offers an old fashioned ice cream shop. Even if you prepare yourself ahead of time and tell yourself that you are not going to give in to the ice cream temptation, it won't work. Don't bother. Instead, skip lunch and enjoy a large hot fudge and caramel sundae. I know because I tried! Of course, you will also find an endless selection of Ghiirardelli chocolates to stock up on for later. Just think, you can use them in gift baskets if you can resist eating them.

Directly across the street is Hershey's Chicago at 822 N. Michigan Ave. Besides the large variety of Hershey candies, the store also has a bakery with an assortment of cookies, brownies, and all kinds of goodies made with chocolate, of course. Now you see why I warned you about skipping lunch! You will definitely be on chocolate overload after visiting both places.

Here's just one more reason I enjoy living in Northwest Indiana and Valparaiso. I get the quaintness of a small city but can hop on the train and get my fill of chocolate in Chicago in about an hour. How good is that? No time for boredom or chocolate withdrawals!