RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Limestone County >> Belle Mina >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Belle Mina, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Belle Mina and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Belle Mina:
    • 34.656758, -86.879171
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Belle Mina
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone County
    • Since Belle Mina is near Colbert County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Belle Mina

Curious and Interesting Names Near Belle Mina ...

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
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Cave Springs is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
  • Cedar Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Lake is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
  • Crowtown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Crowtown is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowtown
  • French Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • French Mill is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Mill
  • Harris Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Harris Station is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
  • Hickory Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Indian Trace
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Indian Trace is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trace
  • Jones Crossroads
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jones Crossroads is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
  • Maplewood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Maplewood is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rockhouse Landing
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Rockhouse Landing is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhouse Landing
    • Rolling Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Morgan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Rolling Woods
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Rolling Woods is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Woods
    • Sweetwater
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sweetwater is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
    • Tanner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tanner Crossroads
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tanner Crossroads is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanner Crossroads

How Far From Belle Mina 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 Belle Mina to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Belle Mina and extending to:

  • Athens, which is the Seat of Limestone County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Belle Mina to Athens, with an average speed<3> 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 160 miles [257.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 617 miles [993 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,500 miles [10,460.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,214 miles [11,609.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,089 miles [8,190 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Belle Mina) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Belle Mina to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Belle Mina. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6568, Longitude: -86.8792       In this case, the coordinates for Belle Mina have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.788 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.574 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.079 degrees.