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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Goldenrod, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goldenrod 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 Goldenrod:
    • 28.609038, -81.288598
    • 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 Goldenrod
  • 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 Orange County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Since Goldenrod is near Seminole County and also Lake County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Seminole County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake 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 Goldenrod

Communities Also Named Goldenrod ...

We found two communities that are also named Goldenrod.

Within Florida, the name Goldenrod is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kansas
      • Lincoln County
      • This Goldenrod is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,207 miles [1,942.5 km]<1> to the northwest of the Goldenrod that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Goldenrod.
    • Minnesota
      • Becker County
      • This Goldenrod is located in Becker County and lies 1,480 miles [2,381.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Goldenrod that is located in Orange County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Becker County community of Goldenrod.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Goldenrod ...

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.

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

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

  • Orlando, which is the Seat of Orange County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 219 miles [352.4 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Goldenrod to Tallahassee, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 750 miles [1,207 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,535 miles [10,517.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,203 miles [11,592.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,103 miles [8,212.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Goldenrod) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Goldenrod 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 Goldenrod. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6090, Longitude: -81.2886    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.259 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.658 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.378 degrees.