Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Apia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Apia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Apia
- 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 Apia:
- 33.503477, -81.540107
- 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 Apia
- 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 Aiken County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Aiken County
- Since Apia is near Barnwell County and also Orangeburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Barnwell County
- eBird sighting report for Orangeburg 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 Apia ...
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.
- Balltown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Camp Long
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Deerwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Dry Branch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
- Dry Branch is located in Aiken County
- Foxchase
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Hidden Haven
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hidden Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Haven
- Hidden Haven is located in Aiken County
- Hillview
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest) - Huntcliff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntcliff
- Huntcliff is located in Aiken County
- Hunters Glen
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
- Hunters Glen is located in Aiken County
- New Holland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
- New Holland is located in Aiken County
- Pinecrest
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Quail Hollow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
- Quail Hollow is located in Aiken County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Roseland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Spring Branch ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Branch
- Spring Branch is located in Aiken County
- Stone Gap
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west) - Wood Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wood Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Valley
- Wood Valley is located in Aiken County
- Roseland
How Far From Apia 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 Apia 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 Apia once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Apia and extending to:
- Aiken, which is the Seat of Aiken County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Apia to Aiken, 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.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 448 miles [721 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,327 miles [10,182.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,020 miles [11,297.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,903 miles [7,890.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Aiken County: www.aikencounty.net/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.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 Apia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Apia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Apia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5035, Longitude: -81.5401 In this case, the coordinates for Apia 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 Apia 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 310.601 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.741 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.259 degrees. |