RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Duval County >> Isle of Palms >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Isle of Palms, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Isle of Palms 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 Isle of Palms:
    • 30.284130, -81.429252
    • 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 Isle of Palms
  • 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 Duval County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Duval County
    • Since Isle of Palms is near Saint Johns County and also Nassau County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Johns County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Nassau 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 Isle of Palms

Communities Also Named Isle of Palms ...

We found one communities that are also named Isle of Palms.

Within Florida, the name Isle of Palms is unique.

Beyond Florida, there is another community also named Isle of Palms in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston County
      • This Isle of Palms is located in Charleston County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Isle of Palms that is located in Duval County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Charleston County community of Isle of Palms.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Isle of Palms ...

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.

  • Donner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Donner is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donner
  • Greenfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Holiday Harbor
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Holiday Harbor is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Harbor
  • Isle of Palms South
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Isle of Palms South is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Palms South
  • J Peavett Grant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • J Peavett Grant is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for J Peavett Grant
  • John McQueen Grant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • John McQueen Grant is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John McQueen Grant
  • John Mestre Grant
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • John Mestre Grant is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Mestre Grant
  • Joseph Peavett Grant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Joseph Peavett Grant is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Peavett Grant
  • Oak Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Oak Landing is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Landing
  • Sandalwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandalwood is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandalwood
  • Wonderwood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Wonderwood is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonderwood

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

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

  • Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Duval County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Isle of Palms to Jacksonville, 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 170 miles [273.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 644 miles [1,036.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,467 miles [10,407.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,144 miles [11,497.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,036 miles [8,104.7 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Isle of Palms) 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 Isle of Palms 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 Isle of Palms. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2841, Longitude: -81.4293       In this case, the coordinates for Isle of Palms have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.426 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.084 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.038 degrees.