Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue
- 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:
- 38.925059, -85.004674
- 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
- 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 Ohio County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Ohio County
- Since Blue is near Switzerland County and also Dearborn County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Switzerland County
- eBird sighting report for Dearborn 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 ...
We found five communities that share the name Blue.
Within Indiana, the name Blue is unique.
Beyond Indiana, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue ...
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.
- Aaron
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Aurora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Aurora is located in Dearborn County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,698 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <4>
- Buffalo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Cold Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
- Cold Springs is located in Dearborn County
- Cross Plains
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Plains
- Cross Plains is located in Ripley County
- Farmers Retreat
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmers Retreat have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Retreat
- Farmers Retreat is located in Dearborn County
- Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Florence is located in Switzerland County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florence <4>
- Friendship
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Ripley County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendship <4>
- Markland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Patriot
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Patriot have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patriot
- Patriot is located in Switzerland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Patriot <4>
- Pleasant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant
- Pleasant is located in Switzerland County
- Rabbit Hash
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Hash
- Rabbit Hash is located in Boone County (KY)
- Former name for Rabbit Hash:
- Carlton
- Rising Sun
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rising Sun have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
- Rising Sun is located in Ohio County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,131 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rising Sun <4>
- Texas
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast) - Utah
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Patriot
How Far From Blue 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 Blue to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue and extending to:
- Rising Sun, which is the Seat of Ohio County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Blue to Indianapolis, with an average speed<5>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 427 miles [687.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,223 miles [10,014.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,947 miles [11,180.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,823 miles [7,761.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blue. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9251, Longitude: -85.0047 In this case, the coordinates for Blue have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Blue 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Blue 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 312.742 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.974 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.178 degrees. |