Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sarasota, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sarasota and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sarasota
- 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 Sarasota:
- 27.338877, -82.538661
- 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 Sarasota
- 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 Sarasota County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Sarasota County
- Since Sarasota is near Manatee County and also Hillsborough County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Manatee County
- eBird sighting report for Hillsborough 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 Sarasota ...
We found one communities that share the name Sarasota.
There is one other community in Florida which is also named Sarasota.
Beyond Florida.
- Communities Located In Florida ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sarasota ...
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.
- Bee Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Cedar Hammock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hammock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hammock
- Cedar Hammock is located in Manatee County
- Fordville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Fruitville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
- Fruitville is located in Sarasota County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fruitville <3>
- Longboat Key
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longboat Key
- Longboat Key is located in Manatee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,303 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longboat Key <3>
- Pinecraft
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecraft
- Pinecraft is located in Sarasota County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pinecraft <3>
- Siesta Key
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siesta Key
- Siesta Key is located in Sarasota County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Siesta Key <3>
- Sunnyland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Sunrise
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Sarasota 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 city such as Sarasota to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Sarasota and extending to:
- Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 238 miles [383 km]<4> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Sarasota to Tallahassee, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 858 miles [1,380.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,650 miles [10,702.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,316 miles [11,774 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,218 miles [8,397.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Sarasota: www.sarasotagov.com/
The official website for Sarasota County: www.co.sarasota.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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Sarasota 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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- Sarasota) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sarasota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.3389, Longitude: -82.5387 |
| <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 Sarasota 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 310.821 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.133 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.038 degrees. |