Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ball Play, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ball Play and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ball Play
- 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 Ball Play:
- 35.033054, -84.699281
- 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 Ball Play
- 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 Polk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Since Ball Play is near Murray County and also Bradley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Murray County
- eBird sighting report for Bradley 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 Ball Play ...
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.
- Cedar Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Spring
- Cedar Spring is located in Bradley County
- Earnest ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Gap Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gap Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap Spring
- Gap Spring is located in Bradley County
- Gregory
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Parksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parksville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parksville
- Parksville is located in Polk County
- Pumpkin Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Bradley County
- Sugar Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Bradley County
- Temple Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Grove
- Temple Grove is located in Murray County (GA)
- Estimated population in 2019: 4,795 people
- Union
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Union Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Union Grove is located in Bradley County
How Far From Ball Play 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 Ball Play to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ball Play and extending to:
- Benton, which is the Seat of Polk County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ball Play to Benton, 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.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 140 miles [225.3 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 499 miles [803.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,392 miles [10,286.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,101 miles [11,428 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,977 miles [8,009.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ball Play. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ball Play) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ball Play. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0331, Longitude: -84.6993 |
| <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 Ball Play 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 312.487 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.127 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.095 degrees. |