Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melborne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melborne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melborne
- 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 Melborne:
- 33.572893, -88.202810
- 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 Melborne
- 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 Lamar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lamar County
- Since Melborne is near Lowndes County and also Pickens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lowndes County
- eBird sighting report for Pickens 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 Melborne ...
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.
- Border Springs ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Border Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border Springs
- Border Springs is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Cedar View
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar View
- Cedar View is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Ethelsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ethelsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethelsville
- Ethelsville is located in Pickens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
- Fernbank
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Flint Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flint Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
- Flint Hill is located in Lowndes County (MS)
- Forest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Kingville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Liberty
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Pinecrest
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Star
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Woodlawn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Melborne to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Melborne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Melborne and extending to:
- Vernon, which is the Seat of Lamar County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Melborne to Vernon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 721 miles [1,160.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,607 miles [10,632.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,320 miles [11,780.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,195 miles [8,360.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Melborne. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 'straight-line' (or 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- Melborne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melborne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5729, Longitude: -88.2028 In this case, the coordinates for Melborne 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 Melborne 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 314.529 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.281 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.853 degrees. |