RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Bay County >> Laguna Beach >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laguna Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laguna Beach 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 Laguna Beach:
    • 30.243692, -85.919420
    • 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 Laguna Beach
  • 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 Bay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bay County
    • Since Laguna Beach is near Walton County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Laguna Beach

Communities Also Named Laguna Beach ...

We found two communities that are also named Laguna Beach.

Within Florida, the name Laguna Beach is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Orange County
      • This Laguna Beach is located in Orange County and lies 1,874 miles [3,015.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Laguna Beach that is located in Bay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Orange County community of Laguna Beach.
    • Missouri
      • Camden County
      • This Laguna Beach is located in Camden County and lies 666 miles [1,071.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Laguna Beach that is located in Bay County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camden County community of Laguna Beach.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laguna Beach ...

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 Laguna Beach 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 Laguna Beach to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Panama City, which is the Seat of Bay County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Laguna Beach to Panama City, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 98 miles [157.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 781 miles [1,256.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,669 miles [10,732.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,361 miles [11,846.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,244 miles [8,439.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Laguna Beach) 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 Laguna Beach 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 Laguna Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2437, Longitude: -85.9194    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.919 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.96 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.619 degrees.