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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 Swagg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swagg 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 Swagg:
- 33.374558, -85.548011
- 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 Swagg
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Swagg is near Clay County and also Cleburne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cleburne 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 Swagg
Curious and Interesting Names Near Swagg ...
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.
- Cavers Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Cavers Grove is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavers Grove
- Christiana
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Christiana is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christiana
- Dingler
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Dingler is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dingler
- Fuller Crossroad
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Fuller Crossroad is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller Crossroad
- Liberty
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Liberty is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Liberty Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Liberty Grove is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Rockdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rockdale is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Union
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Union is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Wildwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wildwood is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
How Far From Swagg 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 Swagg to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Swagg and extending to:
- Wedowee, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Swagg to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>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 608 miles [978.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,506 miles [10,470.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,210 miles [11,603.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,088 miles [8,188.3 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Swagg) 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 Swagg 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 Swagg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3746, Longitude: -85.5480 In this case, the coordinates for Swagg have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.92 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.393 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.829 degrees. |
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