RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Faribault County >> Blue Earth >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blue Earth, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Earth and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Earth:
    • 43.637575, -94.099520
    • 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 Blue Earth
  • 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 Faribault County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Faribault County
    • Since Blue Earth is near Kossuth County and also Martin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kossuth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Martin 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 Blue Earth

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Earth ...

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.

  • Amboy
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Dell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Frost
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Frost is located in Faribault County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Frost <1>
  • Granada
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Kiester
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Lakota
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Lakota is located in Kossuth County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakota
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 275 people
  • Minnesota Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Pilot Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pilot Grove is located in Faribault County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
  • Rake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rake is located in Winnebago County (IA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rake
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Willow Creek
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)

How Far From Blue Earth 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 city such as Blue Earth to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Blue Earth and extending to:

  • Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Blue Earth to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 941 miles [1,514.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,319 miles [10,169.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,073 miles [11,382.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,978 miles [8,011.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blue Earth) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Blue Earth 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 Blue Earth. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.6376, Longitude: -94.0995    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.872 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.64 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.431 degrees.