Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orchid, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orchid and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orchid
- 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 Orchid:
- 27.773139, -80.418032
- 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 Orchid
- 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 Indian River County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Indian River County
- Since Orchid is near Brevard County and also Saint Lucie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brevard County
- eBird sighting report for Saint Lucie 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 Orchid ...
We found three communities that share the name Orchid.
There is one other community in Florida which is also named Orchid.
Beyond Florida, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Florida ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Missouri
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orchid ...
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.
- Barefoot Bay
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barefoot Bay
- Barefoot Bay is located in Brevard County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Barefoot Bay <3>
- Evans Pines
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evans Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Pines
- Evans Pines is located in Brevard County
- Grant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
- Grant is located in Brevard County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grant <3>
- Indian River Shores
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River Shores
- Indian River Shores is located in Indian River County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,346 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Indian River Shores <3>
- Melbourne Shores
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melbourne Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melbourne Shores
- Melbourne Shores is located in Brevard County
- Oslo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south) - Roseland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
- Roseland is located in Indian River County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseland <3>
- Winter Beach
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Beach
- Winter Beach is located in Indian River County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winter Beach <3>
How Far From Orchid 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 town such as Orchid to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orchid and extending to:
- Vero Beach, which is the Seat of Indian River County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Orchid to Vero Beach, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 296 miles [476.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 792 miles [1,274.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,532 miles [10,512.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,192 miles [11,574.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,099 miles [8,206 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orchid. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Indian River County: www.ircgov.com/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Orchid 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 '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- Orchid) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orchid. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.7731, Longitude: -80.4180 In this case, the coordinates for Orchid have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Orchid 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 309.756 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.961 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.294 degrees. |