RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Jefferson County >> Fitzgerald Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fitzgerald Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fitzgerald Estates 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 Fitzgerald Estates:
    • 33.702324, -86.676656
    • 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 Fitzgerald Estates
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Fitzgerald Estates is near Blount County and also Saint Clair County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair 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 Fitzgerald Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fitzgerald Estates ...

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.

  • Arrowhead
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Arrowhead is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
  • Center Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Chalkville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chalkville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalkville
  • Clay
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Clay is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
    • Estimated population in 2015: 9,655 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clay <1>
  • Columbus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbus is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus
  • Eagle Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Eagle Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Ridge
  • Echo Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Echo Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
  • Larkwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Larkwood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkwood
  • Majestic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Majestic is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majestic
  • Sueann
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Sueann is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sueann
  • Sun Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Sun Valley is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
  • Sunnyside
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Sunnyside is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Village Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs

How Far From Fitzgerald Estates 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 Fitzgerald Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fitzgerald Estates to Birmingham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 94 miles [151.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 644 miles [1,036.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,537 miles [10,520.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,247 miles [11,662.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,123 miles [8,244.7 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' (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- Fitzgerald Estates) 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 Fitzgerald Estates 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 Fitzgerald Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7023, Longitude: -86.6767       In this case, the coordinates for Fitzgerald Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.612 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.238 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.207 degrees.