RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Berrien County >> Watervliet >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Watervliet, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watervliet 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 Watervliet:
    • 42.186657, -86.260677
    • 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 Watervliet
  • 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 Berrien County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berrien County
    • Since Watervliet is near Van Buren County and also Cass County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Buren County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cass 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 Watervliet

Communities Also Named Watervliet ...

We found one communities that are also named Watervliet.

Within Michigan, the name Watervliet is unique.

Beyond Michigan, there is another community also named Watervliet in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Albany County
      • This Watervliet is located in Albany County and lies 640 miles [1,030 km]<1> to the east of the Watervliet that is located in Berrien County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Albany County community of Watervliet.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watervliet ...

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 Watervliet 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 Watervliet to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Watervliet and extending to:

  • Saint Joseph, which is the Seat of Berrien County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Watervliet to Saint Joseph, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 94 miles [151.3 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 most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 534 miles [859.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,117 miles [9,844.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,854 miles [11,030.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,736 miles [7,621.9 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Watervliet) 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 Watervliet 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 Watervliet. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1867, Longitude: -86.2607    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.525 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.338 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.796 degrees.