Last night Kim, Chris, Laura and I had some excellent dinner together at our house (my first time eating pizza (homemade) in four months, although very low fat, was fantastic!) and then we got the girls hot chocolate at Panera and headed out to look at Christmas lights in Apple Valley and Minneapolis.
Originally Kim sent me the link at the Star Tribune to check out their Google map of holiday lights (see here) but as of right now (and yesterday) it wasn’t working due to a Google API key error. Thinking that this was going to get Chris and I off the hook for this night on the town, I was dismayed to hear that Kim had written down the addresses for the Apple Valley locations; damn!
After a very quick stop at Panera we were on our way with the GPS loaded with the locations and giving us direction to these little gems of cheesy hell tucked away in suburbia.
For a couple of crazy houses, check here:
Apple Valley
(there is a cul-de-sac with numerous houses lit up)
Minneapolis
(near the Chatterbox Pub if you’re looking for a great place for beer, food and games)
Minneapolis
(97.9 FM on your car stereo to get the full experience)
We drove back to our house, Chris and I enjoyed a bunch of beer and then we packed it up at around 12:30. An excellent evening, even though Chris and I weren’t as into it as Kim and Laura, but at least we were given the opportunity to make fun of all the crazy tackiness that this trip had to offer.
See all the pictures from the night out here (mobile).
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December 18th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
According to the Star Tribune article here, you can view lights all over town at these addresses:
Andover
3705 157th Av. NW.: More than 20,000 lights decorate the house, barn and trees at Darlene Lazarz’s place. Giant inflatable bears, snowmen and Santa, plus Santa’s train.
Apple Valley
13452 Flagstaff Av.: The Knudson home has 80 illuminated figures and 100 luminaries controlled by the pulse of Christmas music, most evenings between 5 and 9 p.m.
Bloomington
8308 Wentworth Av. S.: A completely lit house, a manger, three large lit trees, Santa and his sleigh and reindeer are just part of the offerings at Pat Olejnicak’s home.
1616 W. 84th St.: North Pole scene, lights on the house and trees, inflatables, snowman family and Christmas music with synchronized lights make Glenn and Robin Becker’s house a must-see.
9448 & 9446 12th Av. Circle: Nothing like some neighborly competition to make for a glowing cul-de-sac! Joe and Shelly Jaeger, and Bob and Phyllis Genest have large light displays and many lawn ornaments. Food-shelf donations accepted through Dec. 25.
10422 Briar Circle: David Carroll and family plug in their yearly display for your enjoyment, offering thousands of lights, inflatable snowmen, Winnie the Pooh and a polar bear, a nativity scene and more than 40 figurines.
10201 Rich Road: About 20,000 lights lead the way to Margaret Molinari’s display, with skating snowmen, a candy cane tree of lights and thousands of lights forming a tree on the side of the house.
2231 E. Old Shakopee Road: Bob and Mary Zellmer’s house is sporting 20,000 lights, a runway for Santa’s landing, several holiday figures, candy canes and candles and a 70-foot oak covered with lights and a Peace sign.
Brooklyn Center
5312 Penn Av. N.: More than 100 lawn ornaments, almost 28,000 lights, a nativity scene, inflatables — and Santa and his reindeer taking off from John Mattson’s house.
5826 Aldrich Av. N.: North Pole scene with Santa and elves, polar bears and an igloo, along with thousands of red, white and blue lights at the Oine family home.
Coon Rapids
10940 Magnolia St. NW.: Thousands of lights as well as silhouettes and illuminated figures decorate the home of Jerry and Colleen Murphy.
11700 Norway St. NW.: Large light display with the best elements from past years. There are 37 trees decorated, each with three separate colors at Chris Berglund’s house.
Crystal
5627 Regent Av. N.: More than 150 figurines, thousands of lights and Santa visiting on weekend evenings, brought to you by the Weiman family.
Eagan
528 Severn Way: The trees and house sport 20,000 lights, while 85 lighted figures, some inflatable figures and a full manger scene decorate the yard of the Pechacek family.
Edina
5114 Halifax Av. S.: Toy Soldiers, 10,000 lights on trees and mini-lights and icicle-lights on the house of Dave and Sharon Maetzold.
6224 Ewing Av. S.: Two 25-foot trees lit from top to bottom, Santa, sleigh and reindeer, and more than 20,000 lights are offered by Ivan and Julie Silverman, with ample help from Andy, Jackie and David.
Farmington
20419 Clayton Av.: Lighted barn, house and yard, including figurines and wreaths. A neighbor writes that the impressive display of Bruce and Debbie Schuetale, now in its 20th year, “lights up the whole town of
Farmington.”
Fridley
260 Rice Creek Blvd.: A 16-foot star on the roof, homemade yard figures and 25,000 lights welcome you to the home of Dan and Jan O’Neill.
Golden Valley
1735 Toledo Av. N.: A 7-foot-tall “Santa’s Workshop” with elves and a loft. Reindeer, musical Christmas tree, Disney characters, inflatables, nativity scene and more are at Mike and Karen Boehne’s house.
4523 Hampton Rd.: In addition to the lights, 60 inflatables adorn the yard of Juette and Pat Holseth, and more keep coming!
116 Turnpike Rd.: Don Drone and family brings you holiday cheer with their light display, for the 36th year.
Hopkins
324 10th Av. N.: Tim, Sue and Nick Lewis have both front and back yards decorated with more than 20,000 lights, inflatables and blow-mold penguins.
101 Ridgewood Dr.: A gingerbread theme and nearly 20,000 lights festoon Rick, Lynn and Andy Rozell’s house. Santa will be handing out candy canes from 6 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 15.
Inver Grove Heights
6341 Beckman Court: Thousands of twinkling lights, a dancing Santa and Mrs. Claus, skating penguins, the Grinch, inflatables and more at the Osters’ house.
Maple Grove
11680 65th Av. N.: Almost 35,000 lights and 150 lawn ornaments brighten the front and back lawns of Sean and Sue Devine.
6497 Glacier Lane: Santa, Rudolph, eight reindeer and sleigh on the rooftop. Handcrafted wooden figurines, hundreds of plastic figurines, thousands of lights and giant inflatables festoon the home of Tom and Colleen Anderson.
17716 82nd Way N.: A 30-foot evergreen adorned with lighted snowflakes, Santa and his reindeer, snowman, nativity scene, carolers and more greet you at the home of Don and Karen Yeager.
Minneapolis
4836 Nokomis Av. S.: A 16-channel computerized controller will bring the 10,000 lights at John Olson’s place to life for the holiday viewer.
3653 Aldrich Av. S.: A nativity scene, illuminated yard ornaments, twinkling snowflakes and more than 10,000 lights illuminate the way to the Campbells’ house on the corner.
Oakdale
6953 26th St. Court N.: Forty large, painted figures are illuminated by floodlights and 9,000 Christmas lights at the home of the Behling family. A nativity scene, advent wreath and holiday fantasy scene with Santa, Snoopy and Disney characters are also on display.
Plymouth
111 Zachary Lane: Thousands of lights adorn the house and landscape at the home of Craig, Cathy, Nick and Lexie Anderson.
Richfield
7224 3rd Av. S.: A 7-foot tree with a color-changing star on top and thousands of lights. A variety of Christmas carols playing round out the mood at Robert and Rilla Wickett’s display.
Shoreview
303 Snail Lake Rd.: Light display synchronized to music courtesy of the Borowick and Jensen families. Food-shelf donations are being collected, and you can preview at http://www.mnlightshow.com.
492 W. County Road J: Rich and Tina Haavisto have pumped up the holiday spirit with 74 different inflatables to decorate their yard and house.
South St. Paul
239 Dessa Lane: Inflatables include snowmen, Sponge Bob, Grinch and more. Life-size nativity scene, 15,000 lights and 120 figurines. Jerry and Cheryl Fink and family, as well as friends and neighbors, will be dressing as Christmas characters to take donations for local charities, 6 to 9 p.m. weekdays and 6 to 10 p.m. weekends.
St. Anthony Village
3620 Harding St. NE.: An angel with flapping wings, a cannon shooting a ball that explodes into “Merry Christmas,” lights moving to music and an ever-changing roof marquee make for a very busy house and yard at Bill and Duffy Sauer’s address.
Woodbury
3223 Canterbury Court: Santa, Rudolph, eight reindeer and a sleigh are keeping Gary and Diane Baran’s chimney company, while the rest of the house and yard sports more than 50 illuminated figures and 7,500 lights.