RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Saint Mary Parish >> Sorrel >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Sorrel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sorrel 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 Sorrel:
    • 29.889094, -91.616781
    • 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 Sorrel
  • 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 parish-by-parish basis. We have selected Saint Mary Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Mary Parish
    • Since Sorrel is near Iberia Parish and also Saint Martin Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iberia Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Martin Parish
  • 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 Sorrel

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sorrel ...

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.

  • Dumesnil
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Dumesnil is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumesnil
  • Farmers
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmers is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers
  • Four Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Gold Mine
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Gold Mine is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Mine
  • Home Place
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Home Place is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Place
  • Lyons
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lyons is located in Iberia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • Masters
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Masters is located in Iberia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masters
  • Matilda
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Matilda is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
  • Richard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Richard is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard

How Far From Sorrel to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sorrel to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Sorrel and extending to:

  • Franklin, which is the Seat of Saint Mary Parish, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sorrel to Franklin, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,638 miles [12,292.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,514 miles [8,873.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Sorrel) 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 Sorrel 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 Sorrel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8891, Longitude: -91.6168       In this case, the coordinates for Sorrel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.253 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.79 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.828 degrees.