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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lou, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lou and the surrounding area.
- 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 Lou:
- 31.919041, -88.211127
- 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 Lou
- 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 Choctaw County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Choctaw County
- Since Lou is near Clarke County and also Marengo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Marengo 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 Lou
Communities Also Named Lou ...
We found two communities that are also named Lou.
Within Alabama, the name Lou is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Mississippi County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Lou [Mississippi County].
- Florida
- Hillsborough County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Lou [Hillsborough County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lou ...
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.
- Flatwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Flatwood is located in Choctaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
- Gilbertown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pickens Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pickens Landing is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickens Landing
- Pleasant Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Choctaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Red Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Red Springs is located in Choctaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Springs
- Rock Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Rock Springs is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Sellers Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sellers Landing is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sellers Landing
- Wildcat Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wildcat Landing is located in Choctaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildcat Landing
- Woods Bluff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Woods Bluff is located in Clarke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Bluff
How Far From Lou 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 Lou to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Lou and extending to:
- Butler, which is the Seat of Choctaw County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Lou to Butler, 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.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 116 miles [186.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 791 miles [1,273 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,687 miles [10,761.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,394 miles [11,899.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,271 miles [8,482.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Lou could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lou) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Lou 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 Lou. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9190, Longitude: -88.2111 In this case, the coordinates for Lou have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.405 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.911 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.173 degrees. |
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