Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue Grass, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Grass and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue Grass
- 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 Blue Grass:
- 41.510095, -90.765690
- 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 Blue Grass
- 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Scott County
- Since Blue Grass is near Muscatine County and also Rock Island County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Muscatine County
- eBird sighting report for Rock Island 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 Blue Grass ...
We found eight communities that share the name Blue Grass.
Within Iowa, the name Blue Grass is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Vermilion County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Blue Grass [Vermilion County].
- Kentucky
- Fayette County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Blue Grass [Fayette County].
- Madison County
- This Blue Grass is located in Madison County and lies 424 miles [682.4 km]<3> to the southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Blue Grass.
- Minnesota
- Wadena County
- This Blue Grass is located in Wadena County and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<3> to the north northwest of the Blue Grass that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wadena County community of Blue Grass.
- Oklahoma
- Beaver County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Oklahoma community of Blue Grass [Beaver County].
- Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia County
- This Blue Grass is located in Philadelphia County and lies 827 miles [1,330.9 km]<3> to the east of the Blue Grass that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Blue Grass.
- Tennessee
- Knox County
- This Blue Grass is located in Knox County and lies 531 miles [854.6 km]<3> to the southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Knox County community of Blue Grass.
- Virginia
- Highland County
- This Blue Grass is located in Highland County and lies 628 miles [1,010.7 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Blue Grass that is located in Scott County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Highland County community of Blue Grass.
- Illinois
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Grass ...
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.
- Black Hawk
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Hawk have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hawk
- Black Hawk is located in Scott County
- Buffalo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Buffalo is located in Scott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,257 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <5>
- Chapel Hill ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill is located in Scott County
- Jamestown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Little Groves
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Groves have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Groves
- Little Groves is located in Scott County
- New Era
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Pine Mills ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills
- Pine Mills is located in Muscatine County
- Pleasant Prairie
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Prairie
- Pleasant Prairie is located in Muscatine County
- Walnut Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Scott County
How Far From Blue Grass 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 city such as Blue Grass to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue Grass and extending to:
- Davenport, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Blue Grass to Davenport, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 147 miles [236.6 km] to the west (W). 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 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 745 miles [1,199 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 43 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,314 miles [10,161.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,057 miles [11,357.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,945 miles [7,958.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blue Grass: https://bluegrassia.org/
The official website for Scott County: www.scottcountyiowa.com/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Blue Grass, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Blue Grass 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. |
| <3> | 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- Blue Grass) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Grass. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5101, Longitude: -90.7657 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Blue Grass to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.532 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.675 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.228 degrees. |