Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Morning Sun Villas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Morning Sun Villas and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Morning Sun Villas

• 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 Morning Sun Villas:
  • 33.412886, -86.695542
  • 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 Morning Sun Villas

• 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
  • Since Morning Sun Villas is near Jefferson County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount 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 Morning Sun Villas

Curious and Interesting Names Near Morning Sun Villas ...

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.

• Camp Horne
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Camp Horne is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Horne
• Heritage Oaks
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Heritage Oaks is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Oaks
• Hickory Ridge
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hickory Ridge is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
• Hidden Ridge
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hidden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Ridge
• Lake Purdy
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
• Longleaf
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Longleaf is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
• Meadow Ridge
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Meadow Ridge is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Ridge
• Meadowbrook
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
• Riverwood
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Riverwood is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
• Shoal Run
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Shoal Run is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Run
• Sunnymeadows
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Sunnymeadows is located in Shelby County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnymeadows
• Thornhill
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Thornhill is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill

How Far From Morning Sun Villas 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 Morning Sun Villas to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Morning Sun Villas to Columbiana, with an average speed<2> 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 five to six hours.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 75 miles [120.7 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 5 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 657 miles [1,057.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,552 miles [10,544.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,260 miles [11,683.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,137 miles [8,267.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'