Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Christmas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Christmas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Christmas
- 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 Christmas:
- 38.125417, -82.759057
- 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 Christmas
- 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 Lawrence County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lawrence County
- Since Christmas is near Wayne County and also Elliott County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wayne County
- eBird sighting report for Elliott 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 Christmas ...
We found four communities that share the name Christmas.
Within Kentucky, the name Christmas is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Florida
- Michigan
- Mississippi
Curious and Interesting Names Near Christmas ...
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.
- Cherokee
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cherokee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
- Cherokee is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cherokee
- From Christmas to Cherokee
- Cherokee Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Gap
- Cherokee Gap is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cherokee Gap
- From Christmas to Cherokee Gap
- Deephole
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Dennis ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dennis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
- Dennis is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Dennis
- From Christmas to Dennis
- Ellen
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellen
- Ellen is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ellen
- From Christmas to Ellen
- Elm Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Evergreen
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evergreen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Evergreen is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Evergreen
- From Christmas to Evergreen
- Fallsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallsburg
- Fallsburg is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Fallsburg
- From Christmas to Fallsburg
- Five Forks
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Five Forks
- From Christmas to Five Forks
- Goldie ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goldie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldie
- Goldie is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Goldie
- From Christmas to Goldie
- Green Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Lawrence County
- Hicksville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hicksville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Hicksville is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hicksville
- From Christmas to Hicksville
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Lizzie ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lizzie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizzie
- Lizzie is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Lizzie
- From Christmas to Lizzie
- Potters
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Potters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters
- Potters is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Potters
- From Christmas to Potters
- Prosperity
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Prosperity. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Prosperity is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Prosperity
- From Christmas to Prosperity
- Providence
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Providence is located in Lawrence County
- Smoky Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoky Valley
- Smoky Valley is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Smoky Valley
- From Christmas to Smoky Valley
- Stringtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Stringtown is located in Lawrence County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Stringtown
- From Christmas to Stringtown
- Trinity
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lizzie ‑ Historic
How Far From Christmas 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 Christmas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Christmas once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Christmas and extending to:
- Louisa, which is the Seat of Lawrence County, lies just to the East.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 114 miles [183.5 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Christmas to Frankfort, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 313 miles [503.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,170 miles [9,929.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,885 miles [11,080.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,761 miles [7,662.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Christmas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Christmas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Christmas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1254, Longitude: -82.7591 |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Christmas 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 311.351 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.268 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.421 degrees. |