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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 Kona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Kona 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 Kona:
- 37.157601, -82.738769
- 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 Kona
- 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 Letcher County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher County
- Since Kona is near Wise County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Pike 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 Kona
Communities Also Named Kona ...
We found two communities that are also named Kona.
Within Kentucky, the name Kona is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Hawaii
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Hawaii community of Kona.
- North Carolina
- Mitchell County
- This Kona is located in Mitchell County and lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Kona that is located in Letcher County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mitchell County community of Kona.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Kona ...
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.
- Bellcraft
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bellcraft is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft
- Bottom Fork
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
- Craftsville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Craftsville is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville
- Crown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Crown is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
- Haymond
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Haymond is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymond
- Hemphill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hemphill is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
- Hemphill has also been known as:
- Jackhorn
- Jenkins
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lucastown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lucastown is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucastown
- Millstone
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Millstone is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
- Neon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Neon Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Neon Junction is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon Junction
- Polly
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Polly is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polly
- Potters Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Potters Fork is located in Letcher County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Fork
How Far From Kona 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 Kona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Kona and extending to:
- Whitesburg, which is the Seat of Letcher County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 137 miles [220.5 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Kona to Frankfort, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 332 miles [534.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,213 miles [9,998.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 Kona 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Kona) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Kona 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 Kona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1576, Longitude: -82.7388 In this case, the coordinates for Kona have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.343 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.118 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.703 degrees. |
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