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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 Southern, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southern 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 Southern:
- 34.474536, -86.527212
- 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 Southern
- 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 Marshall County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- Since Southern is near Madison County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Southern
Curious and Interesting Names Near Southern ...
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.
- Apple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Burrows
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Burrows is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrows
- Cushion
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Cushion is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cushion
- Ferns Quarter ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ferns Quarter is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferns Quarter
- Friendship
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Friendship is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Green Cove Meadows
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Green Cove Meadows is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Cove Meadows
- Hebron
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Hebron is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Hobbs Island
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hobbs Island is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs Island
- Lacey's Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Neighbors Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Neighbors Mill is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neighbors Mill
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Grove is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oleander
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oleander is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
- Redstone Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Redstone Park is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone Park
- Swift Ford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Swift Ford is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Ford
- Union Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Southern to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Southern to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<2> community of Southern once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Southern and extending to:
- Guntersville, which is the Seat of Marshall County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southern to Guntersville, with an average speed<4> 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 four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 145 miles [233.4 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 607 miles [976.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,494 miles [10,451.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,206 miles [11,596.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,082 miles [8,178.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Southern, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Southern) 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 Southern 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 Southern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4745, Longitude: -86.5272 In this case, the coordinates for Southern have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.564 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.291 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.975 degrees. |
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