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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 West Bay City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Bay City 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 West Bay City:
- 43.598660, -83.903297
- 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 West Bay City
- 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 Bay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bay County
- Since West Bay City is near Saginaw County and also Tuscola County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Saginaw County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscola 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 West Bay City
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Bay City ...
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.
- Beaver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Beaver is located in Bay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
- Crow Island ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Crow Island is located in Saginaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Island
- Fisherville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Frankenlust
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Indiantown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Indiantown is located in Saginaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiantown
- Lawndale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lawndale is located in Saginaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawndale
- Little Killarney Beach
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Melbourne ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Salzburg ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Three Churches Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
How Far From West Bay City to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as West Bay City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in West Bay City and extending to:
- Bay City, which is the Seat of Bay County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from West Bay City to Lansing, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 481 miles [774.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 28 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,963 miles [9,596.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,700 miles [10,782.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,582 miles [7,374 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Bay City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 West Bay City 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 West Bay City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.5987, Longitude: -83.9033 In this case, the coordinates for West Bay City have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.926 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.732 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.155 degrees. |
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