Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grape Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grape Island and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Grape Island
- 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 Grape Island:
- 39.421464, -81.181779
- 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 Grape Island
- 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 Pleasants County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pleasants County
- Since Grape Island is near Washington County and also Tyler County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Tyler 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grape Island ...
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.
- Archers Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Archers Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archers Fork
- Archers Fork is located in Washington County (OH)
- Beavertown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beavertown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
- Beavertown is located in Washington County (OH)
- Bens Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Cloverdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Pleasants County
- Crisp ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Federal ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Green Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Murphy
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Point Lookout
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Lookout have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Lookout
- Point Lookout is located in Pleasants County
- Raven Rock
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raven Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Rock
- Raven Rock is located in Pleasants County
- Spring Run
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Run have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Run
- Spring Run is located in Pleasants County
- Sugar Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Valley
- Sugar Valley is located in Pleasants County
- Union Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Mills
- Union Mills is located in Pleasants County
How Far From Grape Island 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 Grape Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Grape Island and extending to:
- Saint Marys, which is the Seat of Pleasants County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Grape Island to Charleston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 224 miles [360.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,047 miles [9,731.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,764 miles [10,885.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,639 miles [7,465.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Grape Island. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <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- Grape Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grape Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4215, Longitude: -81.1818 In this case, the coordinates for Grape Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Grape Island to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.359 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.327 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.313 degrees. |