Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grand Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grand Island and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Grand Island
- 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 Grand Island:
- 28.882550, -81.728950
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Grand Island
- 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lake County
- Since Grand Island is near Marion County and also Orange County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- eBird sighting report for Orange 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Grand Island ...
We found four communities that share the name Grand Island.
Within Florida, the name Grand Island is unique.
Beyond Florida, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Colusa County
- This Grand Island is located in Colusa County and lies 2,382 miles [3,833.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Grand Island that is located in Lake County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Colusa County community of Grand Island.
- Colorado
- Boulder County
- This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Grand Island [Boulder County].
- Nebraska
- Hall County
- This Grand Island is located in Hall County and lies 1,251 miles [2,013.3 km]<1> to the northwest of the Grand Island that is located in Lake County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hall County community of Grand Island.
- New York
- Erie County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the New York community of Grand Island [Erie County].
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grand Island ...
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.
- Big Scrub
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Confer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Dublin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Eldorado
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Harbor Shores
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harbor Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Shores
- Harbor Shores is located in Lake County
- Lane Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Lisbon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Mount Homer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Homer have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Homer
- Mount Homer is located in Lake County
- Orange Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Bend
- Orange Bend is located in Lake County
- Silver Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Lake County
- Sunnyside
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Grand Island to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Grand Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Grand Island and extending to:
- Tavares, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies just to the South.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 187 miles [300.9 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Grand Island to Tallahassee, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 741 miles [1,192.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,543 miles [10,529.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,214 miles [11,609.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,112 miles [8,227 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Grand Island. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lake County: www.lakegovernment.com/
The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Grand Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8825, Longitude: -81.7289 |
| <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 Grand Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Grand Island 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. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Grand Island to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.508 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.984 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.459 degrees. |