Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shoals Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shoals Acres and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Shoals Acres

• 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 Shoals Acres:
  • 34.868697, -87.552803
  • 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 Shoals 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 Lauderdale County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
  • Since Shoals Acres is near Colbert County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert 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 Shoals Acres

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shoals 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.

• Atlas ‑ Historic
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Atlas is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
• Emerald Shores
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Emerald Shores is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Shores
• Falconhead
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Falconhead is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falconhead
• Hideaway Hills
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hideaway Hills is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hideaway Hills
• Kingman ‑ Historic
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Kingman is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingman
• Lake Coves
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Lake Coves is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Coves
• Lakeview
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Lakeview is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
• Lakeview Heights
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeview Heights is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
• Lock Six
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lock Six is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lock Six
• Lockland
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Lockland is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockland
• Sky Park
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Sky Park is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Park
• Village Pines
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Village Pines is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Pines
• Woodlawn
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodlawn is located in Lauderdale County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Shoals 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 Shoals 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 Shoals Acres and extending to:

• Florence, which is the Seat of Lauderdale County, lies just to the Southwest.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Shoals Acres to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 643 miles [1,034.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,517 miles [10,488.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,234 miles [11,642 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,109 miles [8,222.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'