RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Tuscaloosa County >> Graceland Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Graceland Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Graceland Acres 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 Graceland Acres:
    • 33.312617, -87.598341
    • 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 Graceland Acres
  • 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Graceland Acres is near Fayette County and also Pickens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens 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 Graceland Acres

Curious and Interesting Names Near Graceland Acres ...

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.

  • Bridgeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bridgeview is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeview
  • Burnt Pine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Burnt Pine is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Pine
  • Chapelwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Chapelwood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapelwood
  • Cherokee Shores
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cherokee Shores is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Shores
  • Chestnut Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Cove Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cove Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Park
  • Edwardian Place
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Edwardian Place is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardian Place
  • Flatwoods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Flatwoods is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
  • Four Winds
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Four Winds is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Winds
  • Harperwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Harperwood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harperwood
  • High Cliff
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • High Cliff is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Cliff
  • Hightown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Hightown is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Highview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Highview is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
    • Lake Cove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Lake Cove is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Cove
    • Smoke Rise
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Smoke Rise is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
    • Vista Granda
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Vista Granda is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista Granda
    • Willow Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Willow Point is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Point

How Far From Graceland Acres to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Graceland Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Graceland Acres and extending to:

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Graceland Acres to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>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 three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 703 miles [1,131.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,305 miles [11,756.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,181 miles [8,338 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Graceland Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Graceland Acres 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 Graceland Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3126, Longitude: -87.5983       In this case, the coordinates for Graceland Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.143 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.799 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.66 degrees.