Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Key West, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Key West and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Key West
- 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 Key West:
- 24.556145, -81.791183
- 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 Key West
- 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 Monroe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Key West ...
We found seven communities that share the name Key West.
Within Florida, the name Key West is unique.
Beyond Florida, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Key West ...
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.
- Little Torch Key
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Torch Key
- Little Torch Key is located in Monroe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Torch Key <4>
- Perky
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast) - Pirates Cove
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pirates Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pirates Cove
- Pirates Cove is located in Monroe County
- Ramrod Key
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramrod Key
- Ramrod Key is located in Monroe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ramrod Key <4>
- Stock Island
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stock Island have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stock Island
- Stock Island is located in Monroe County
- Sugar Loaf Key
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Loaf Key
- Sugar Loaf Key is located in Monroe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Loaf Key <4>
- Sugarloaf Shores
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugarloaf Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Shores
- Sugarloaf Shores is located in Monroe County
- Summerland Key
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerland Key
- Summerland Key is located in Monroe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerland Key <4>
How Far From Key West 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 city such as Key West to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Key West and extending to:
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 433 miles [696.8 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Key West to Tallahassee, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 25 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,028 miles [1,654.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,740 miles [10,847 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,387 miles [11,888.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,306 miles [8,539.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Key West: www.keywestcity.com/
The official website for Monroe County: www.co.monroe.fl.us/
The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/
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 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 Key West 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 '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- Key West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Key West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 24.5561, Longitude: -81.7912 |
| <3> | 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 Key West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Key West to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.182 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.016 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.34 degrees. |