Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Return, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Return and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Return
- 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 Return:
- 34.639821, -82.995427
- 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 Return
- 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 Oconee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Oconee County
- Since Return is near Anderson County and also Stephens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Anderson County
- eBird sighting report for Stephens 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 Return ...
We found one communities that share the name Return.
Within South Carolina, the name Return is unique.
Beyond South Carolina, there is another community also named Return in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Return ...
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.
- Bent Tree
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Bounty Land
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bounty Land have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bounty Land
- Bounty Land is located in Oconee County
- Cross Roads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Roads have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
- Cross Roads is located in Oconee County
- Friendship
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Oconee County
- Grover Square
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grover Square have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover Square
- Grover Square is located in Oconee County
- Hicks Store
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicks Store have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Store
- Hicks Store is located in Oconee County
- Lakeview Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
- Lakeview Heights is located in Oconee County
- Oakway
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Retreat
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Ridgeview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Seven Oaks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
- Seven Oaks is located in Oconee County
- Singing Pines
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Singing Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Singing Pines
- Singing Pines is located in Oconee County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Snug Harbor
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snug Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snug Harbor
- Snug Harbor is located in Oconee County
- Springbrook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
- Springbrook is located in Oconee County
- Thriftwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thriftwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thriftwood
- Thriftwood is located in Oconee County
- Walnut Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Oconee County
- Snug Harbor
How Far From Return 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 Return to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Return and extending to:
- Walhalla, which is the Seat of Oconee County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Return to Walhalla, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 120 miles [193.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 441 miles [709.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 25 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,339 miles [10,201.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,041 miles [11,331.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,919 miles [7,916.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Return. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Oconee County: www.oconeesc.com/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/
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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Return 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> | 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. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Return) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Return. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6398, Longitude: -82.9954 In this case, the coordinates for Return have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Return 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 311.466 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.897 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.514 degrees. |