RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Hillsborough County >> Fletchers Pond >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fletchers Pond, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fletchers Pond 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 Fletchers Pond:
    • 28.097700, -82.238800
    • 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 Fletchers Pond
  • 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 Hillsborough County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hillsborough County
    • Since Fletchers Pond is near Pasco County and also Polk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pasco County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Polk 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 Fletchers Pond

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fletchers Pond ...

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.

  • Badgers Lair
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Badgers Lair is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Badgers Lair
  • Cedar Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Cedar Oaks is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Oaks
  • Family Ranch
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Family Ranch is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Family Ranch
  • Flint Lake
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Flint Lake is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Lake
  • Flowers
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Flowers is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers
  • Four Pine Estates
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Four Pine Estates is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Pine Estates
  • Lazy Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Lazy Oaks is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lazy Oaks
  • Martin Ranch
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Martin Ranch is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Ranch
  • Marys Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Marys Woods is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marys Woods
  • Michaelangelo
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Michaelangelo is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaelangelo
  • Pine Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pine Ridge is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
  • Pinker
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pinker is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinker
  • Pondside Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pondside Gardens is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pondside Gardens
  • Serenity Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Serenity Oaks is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serenity Oaks

How Far From Fletchers Pond 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 Fletchers Pond to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Fletchers Pond and extending to:

  • Tampa, which is the Seat of Hillsborough County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fletchers Pond to Tampa, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 203 miles [326.7 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 803 miles [1,292.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,602 miles [10,624.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,271 miles [11,701.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,170 miles [8,320.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fletchers Pond) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Fletchers Pond 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 Fletchers Pond. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.0977, Longitude: -82.2388       In this case, the coordinates for Fletchers Pond have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.724 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.125 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.79 degrees.