Stanley: Every queen deserves her ‘Castle’
By Brian Stanley Life of Brian/bstanley@stmedianetwork.com February 16, 2013 8:52PM
This Valentine's Day, Angela and Mike Lesniewicz tempted their tastebuds with a visit to White Castle. | submitted photo
Updated: March 18, 2013 6:51AM
Card? Check. Flowers? Check. Sliders? Why not.
Curiosity got the better of Herald-News customer service liason Angela Lesniewicz this week. After years of seeing messages about Valentine’s Day dinner reservations on the local White Castle signs, she decided to combine her husband Mike’s love of fast food with the year’s most romantic holiday.
The couple met 24 years ago at a bowling alley in Naperville, which Angela recalled appropriately enough as “a meat market.”
“I lived in Westmont and he lived in Geneva so we drove an hour to see each other every day. I suppose we could’ve met somewhere in the middle so we only had to drive a half-hour but we were teenagers, we didn’t think like that,” she laughed.
After six months of commuting, the couple got an apartment together. Their first Valentine’s Day was marked by a big blizzard that started while Angela was picking up a 4-foot-tall “hot air balloon bouquet.” It took an hour for her to get home squinting through the one spot her windshield wipers could keep clear while a large bouquet took up the rest of the space in the car. Somehow, she was still able to get dinner ready, but Mike was two hours late so the steak and shrimp were as cold as the weather.
But the couple’s affection warmed, they married two years later and are now the proud parents of Alyssa, 18, and Zach, 13.
Angela describes herself as “a total mush” while her husband, although good with gifts and cards is “the most unromantic person (she’s) ever met.”
But his wife said the unromantic guy is also hardworking and she knew all his buddies would be jealous if she made reservations for burgers.
So at 7 p.m. Thursday, the Lesniewiczes made their way to the “Love Castle” at Theodore Street and Route 59. They wore jeans.
“Mike brought flowers home from work with a funny card and I had a funny card for him,” Angela said. “Though I was expecting a mushy card.”
A maitre’d brought them to a table for two and lighted a candle. Angela said it was odd to have a waitress while the double cheeseburgers were plated in their standard cardboard sleeves.
“There was a long line and I was surprised at how many families were there with kids, I expected more couples,” Angela said. “It was corny, but it was fun.”
Mike lucked out when his spouse paid, but Angela had no complaints about his chivalry.
“He’d snuck a bag into my car when he got home and brought it in the restaurant. He’d gotten the mushy card to go with the diamond earrings,” she said.
After filling up on burgers and popcorn shrimp, the Lesniewiczs skipped the dessert tray. And Angela has no plans to try again next year.
“It was a one-time thing, but it made it one of our more memorable Valentine’s Days,” she said. “Something we’ll have to laugh about for years to come.”
