Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Shoemaker Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shoemaker Springs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Shoemaker Springs
- 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 Shoemaker Springs:
- 34.844531, -87.182793
- 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 Shoemaker Springs
- 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 Limestone County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Limestone County
- Since Shoemaker Springs is near Lauderdale County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Shoemaker Springs ...
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.
- Cairo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Cairo is located in Limestone County
- Cave Spring
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
- Cave Spring is located in Lauderdale County
- Cedar Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Cedar Grove is located in Limestone County
- Confluence
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Confluence have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Elk Shores
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Shores
- Elk Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Hickory Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Hickory Hills is located in Limestone County
- Hurricane ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Moody Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moody Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody Ford
- Moody Ford is located in Lauderdale County
- Oliver
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Pleasant Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Limestone County
- Poplar Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Romine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Shanghai
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
How Far From Shoemaker Springs 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 Shoemaker Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Shoemaker Springs once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Shoemaker Springs and extending to:
- Athens, which is the Seat of Limestone County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Shoemaker Springs to Athens, with an average speed<4> 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 177 miles [284.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 625 miles [1,005.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,219 miles [11,617.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,094 miles [8,198 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Limestone County: www.co.limestone.al.us/
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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Shoemaker Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Shoemaker Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shoemaker Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8445, Longitude: -87.1828 In this case, the coordinates for Shoemaker Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Shoemaker Springs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.983 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.826 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.164 degrees. |