Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bera, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bera and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bera
- 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 Bera:
- 33.706212, -85.925523
- 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 Bera
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Bera is near Tallapoosa County and also Talladega County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tallapoosa County
- eBird sighting report for Talladega 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 Bera ...
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.
- Blue Eye ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Boozer ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Bush
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chigger Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Clark ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Halls Chapel
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Chapel
- Halls Chapel is located in Calhoun County
- Hillcrest
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Mechanicsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Mechanicsville is located in Calhoun County
- Peaceburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Polkville ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Wayside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Bera 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 Bera 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 Bera once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Bera and extending to:
- Anniston, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Bera to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 610 miles [981.7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,506 miles [10,470.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,213 miles [11,608.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,090 miles [8,191.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Calhoun County: www.calhouncounty.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> | 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 Bera, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bera) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bera. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7062, Longitude: -85.9255 In this case, the coordinates for Bera 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 Bera 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 313.162 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.719 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.905 degrees. |