Driving Tour of Spicer

I've lived in Minnesota for fifteen-odd months now. Alissa joined me six months ago! And since we're a bit out of the way of normal family driving patterns (and many of you may never come see it for yourselves, *cough cough) we thought we'd share a wee driving tour of Spicer, which, in case you've heard rumor, is, in fact, nicer.

Turning first to a bird's eye view, one can observe that Spicer, located in the middle of Kandiyohi (kan-dee-YO-hi) County is truly in the "Land o' Lakes." "Kandiyohi" is the Dakota (Sioux) word for "buffalo fish," and Spicer rests on the southwestern shore of the 12-mile-round Green Lake (or "Mdeto" in Dakota, meaning "green water"). On the northeastern shore lies Hope Presbyterian Church, three miles north of town. Twelve miles to the southwest of Spicer, you will find the bubbling bird-town of Willmar (Turkey, anyone?), home to such amenities as Wal-Mart, Target, and Taco John's (a sad replacement for Taco Bell, but I haven't found one within 50 miles of Spicer!).

In the next aerial, you will find Spicer, up-close and personal. As you can surely see, this town of 1,200 is composed of two neighborhoods: one in the upper-left corner of the screen and the other in the south-central part. Others live around the circumference of Green Lake. Our home is the fourth one from the bottom in the south-central neighborhood. Directly behind us is a row of senior housing, our bank, and our grocery store, "Jahnke's."

Now, for the drive in and through Spicer! Beginning at Hope Presbyterian Church (northeastern corner of the lake), which is my place of work and our very frequent stop:The road south into Spicer follows Green Lake, frozen by this time of year and already beginning to be populated by fish-houses. (In January there will be easily fifty or sixty fish-houses and cars and trucks out on the ice.)

Further down the road you will come into Spicer itself. Pictured second is the town's lakeside park, and third, the main street.

Now, just in case you've been getting the wrong idea, Spicer does, in fact, have illuminated traffic signals. Two of them, to be precise. They came a few years back with the widening of the state highway, and are, in my opinion, totally superfluous. In thebelow photo you will see the boldly named Green Lake Mall (two minute walk from our place), home to our grocer, a liquor store, a pharmacist, a medical practice, and a soon to be opened "Snap Fitness."

The turn onto our street, Lakeview Drive.

Lakeview Drive as you approach our place. On the left is a bit of woods that backs onto a pond.

And finally, we're home again. We've been richly blessed to be able to stay in this house owned by a member of Hope Church.

So, now that you've seen a little bit of Spicer, grab your booties and beanies and come skating with us!