Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lou, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lou and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lou
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Lou:
- 31.919041, -88.211127
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Lou
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Choctaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
- Since Lou is near Clarke County and also Marengo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- eBird sighting report for Marengo County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Lou ...
We found two communities that share the name Lou.
Within Alabama, the name Lou is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lou ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Flatwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Gilbertown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertown
- Gilbertown is located in Choctaw County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gilbertown <3>
- Pickens Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pickens Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickens Landing
- Pickens Landing is located in Clarke County
- Pleasant Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Choctaw County
- Red Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Springs
- Red Springs is located in Choctaw County
- Rock Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rock Springs is located in Clarke County
- Sellers Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sellers Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sellers Landing
- Sellers Landing is located in Clarke County
- Wildcat Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildcat Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildcat Landing
- Wildcat Landing is located in Choctaw County
- Woods Bluff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Bluff
- Woods Bluff is located in Clarke County
How Far From Lou to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Lou to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Lou and extending to:
- Butler, which is the Seat of Choctaw County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Lou to Butler, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 116 miles [186.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 791 miles [1,273 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,687 miles [10,761.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,394 miles [11,899.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,271 miles [8,482.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lou. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Lou could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lou) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lou. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9190, Longitude: -88.2111 In this case, the coordinates for Lou have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Lou to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.405 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.911 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.173 degrees. |