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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sweet Water, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sweet Water and the surrounding area.
- 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 Sweet Water:
- 40.053936, -89.693995
- 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 Sweet Water
- 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 Menard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Menard County
- Since Sweet Water is near Sangamon County and also Logan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sangamon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Logan 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 Sweet Water
Communities Also Named Sweet Water ...
We found two communities that are also named Sweet Water.
Within Illinois, the name Sweet Water is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Marengo County
- This Sweet Water is located in Marengo County and lies 558 miles [898 km]<1> to the south of the Sweet Water that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marengo County community of Sweet Water.
- Georgia
- Gwinnett County
- This Sweet Water is located in Gwinnett County and lies 524 miles [843.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Sweet Water that is located in Menard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gwinnett County community of Sweet Water.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sweet Water ...
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.
- Elkhart
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Fancy Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fancy Prairie is located in Menard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Prairie
- Green Acres
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Green Acres is located in Sangamon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Greenview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hill Top
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hill Top is located in Menard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Top
- Hilltop
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Hilltop is located in Menard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Lewisburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lewisburg is located in Menard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
- Luther
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Luther is located in Mason County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
- Mason City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- New Holland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Sweet Water 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 Sweet Water to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sweet Water and extending to:
- Petersburg, which is the Seat of Menard County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Sweet Water to Springfield, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over 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.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 678 miles [1,091.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,347 miles [10,214.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,085 miles [11,402.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,967 miles [7,993.6 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 from Point A (ie- Sweet Water) 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 Sweet Water 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 Sweet Water. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0539, Longitude: -89.6940 In this case, the coordinates for Sweet Water have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.785 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.619 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.067 degrees. |
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