RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Manatee County >> Anna Maria >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Anna Maria, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Anna Maria 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 Anna Maria:
    • 27.529158, -82.732269
    • 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 Anna Maria
  • 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 Manatee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Manatee County
    • Since Anna Maria is near Hillsborough County and also Pinellas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hillsborough County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pinellas 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 Anna Maria

Curious and Interesting Names Near Anna Maria ...

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.

  • Cedar Hammock
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Hammock is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hammock
  • Erie
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Erie is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Fort Lonely
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Lonely is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lonely
  • Fullers Earth
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Fullers Earth is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullers Earth
  • Gulfport
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Longbeach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Longbeach is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbeach
  • Longboat Key
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Manatee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Manatee is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee
  • Piney Point
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Piney Point is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Point
  • Sunset Beach
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Sunset Beach is located in Pinellas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Beach
  • Treasure Island
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)

How Far From Anna Maria to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Anna Maria to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bradenton, which is the Seat of Manatee County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Anna Maria to Bradenton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 221 miles [355.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 850 miles [1,367.9 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,651 miles [10,703.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,318 miles [11,777.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,218 miles [8,397.6 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Anna Maria) 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 Anna Maria 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 Anna Maria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.5292, Longitude: -82.7323    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.939 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.295 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.062 degrees.