RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Vine Grove, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vine Grove and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Vine Grove:
    • 37.810205, -85.981277
    • 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 Vine Grove
  • 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 Hardin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardin County
    • Since Vine Grove is near Meade County and also Harrison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Meade County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harrison 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 Vine Grove

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vine Grove ...

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.

How Far From Vine Grove 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 Vine Grove to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Vine Grove and extending to:

  • Elizabethtown, which is the Seat of Hardin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vine Grove to Elizabethtown, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 489 miles [787 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 28 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,036 miles [11,323.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,912 miles [7,905.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Vine Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Vine Grove 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 Vine Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8102, Longitude: -85.9813       In this case, the coordinates for Vine Grove have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.344 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.505 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.924 degrees.