Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Brans Chapel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brans Chapel and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Brans Chapel
- 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 Brans Chapel:
- 34.087318, -86.089697
- 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 Brans Chapel
- 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 Etowah County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Etowah County
- Since Brans Chapel is near Marshall County and also DeKalb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Brans Chapel ...
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.
- Cave Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
- Cave Springs is located in Etowah County
- Crudup
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Egypt
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
- Egypt is located in Etowah County
- Happy Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hill
- Happy Hill is located in Etowah County
- Happy Hollow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Happy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hollow
- Happy Hollow is located in Etowah County
- Littleton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Maryville
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Noble Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noble Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Hill
- Noble Hill is located in Etowah County
- Pleasant Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Etowah County
- Rockledge
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Scenic Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scenic Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scenic Heights
- Scenic Heights is located in Etowah County
- Shady Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Etowah County
How Far From Brans Chapel to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Brans Chapel to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Brans Chapel and extending to:
- Gadsden, which is the Seat of Etowah County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Brans Chapel to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 601 miles [967.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,495 miles [10,452.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,204 miles [11,593.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,080 miles [8,175.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Brans Chapel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Etowah County: www.etowahcounty.org/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brans Chapel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brans Chapel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0873, Longitude: -86.0897 In this case, the coordinates for Brans Chapel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Brans Chapel to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.28 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.909 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.885 degrees. |