RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Volusia County >> Ariel >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ariel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ariel 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 Ariel:
    • 28.900544, -80.863664
    • 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 Ariel
  • 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 Volusia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Volusia County
    • Since Ariel is near Brevard County and also Seminole County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brevard County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Seminole 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 Ariel

Communities Also Named Ariel ...

We found four communities that are also named Ariel.

Within Florida, the name Ariel is unique.

Beyond Florida, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Lafourche Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Ariel [Lafourche Parish].
    • Mississippi
      • Amite County
      • This Ariel is located in Amite County and lies 623 miles [1,002.6 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Ariel that is located in Volusia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Amite County community of Ariel.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Wayne County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Ariel [Wayne County].
    • Washington
      • Cowlitz County
      • This Ariel is located in Cowlitz County and lies 2,534 miles [4,078.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Ariel that is located in Volusia County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cowlitz County community of Ariel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ariel ...

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.

  • Edgewater
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Jane Murray Grant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jane Murray Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jane Murray Grant
  • John Bolton Grant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • John Bolton Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Bolton Grant
  • John H McIntosh Grant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • John Low Grant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • John Low Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Low Grant
  • Jose Sanchez Grant
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jose Sanchez Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jose Sanchez Grant
  • Joseph Delespine Grant
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Joseph Gaunt Grant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Joseph Gaunt Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Gaunt Grant
  • Joseph Wales Grant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Joseph Wales Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Wales Grant
  • Lucas Crayon Grant
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lucas Crayon Grant is located in Volusia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas Crayon Grant

How Far From Ariel 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 community such as Ariel to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ariel and extending to:

  • De Land, which is the Seat of Volusia County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ariel to De Land, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 230 miles [370.1 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 724 miles [1,165.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,503 miles [10,465.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,171 miles [11,540.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,070 miles [8,159.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Ariel could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>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- Ariel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Ariel 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 Ariel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.9005, Longitude: -80.8637       In this case, the coordinates for Ariel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.053 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.461 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.176 degrees.