RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Morgan County >> Rhodes Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rhodes Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rhodes Ferry 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 Rhodes Ferry:
    • 34.614814, -86.975008
    • 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 Rhodes Ferry
  • 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Since Rhodes Ferry is near Limestone County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Limestone County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Rhodes Ferry

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rhodes Ferry ...

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.

  • Basham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Basham is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basham
  • Burningtree Mountain
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
  • Cedar Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Lake is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lake
  • Crowtown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crowtown is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowtown
  • Flint City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Flint City is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
  • Harris Station
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Harris Station is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
  • Hickory Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Hills is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
  • Jones Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jones Crossroads is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
  • Riverview ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverview is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Rolling Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Morgan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Sweetwater
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Sweetwater is located in Limestone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
  • Trinity
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)

How Far From Rhodes Ferry 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 Rhodes Ferry to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Decatur, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Rhodes Ferry to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 623 miles [1,002.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,220 miles [11,619.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,095 miles [8,199.6 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rhodes Ferry) 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 Rhodes Ferry 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 Rhodes Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6148, Longitude: -86.9750       In this case, the coordinates for Rhodes Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.844 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.633 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.128 degrees.