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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 Alphaba, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alphaba 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 Alphaba:
- 34.772966, -89.873861
- 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 Alphaba
- 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 DeSoto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for DeSoto County
- Since Alphaba is near Tate County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tate County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Alphaba
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alphaba ...
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.
- Cockrum
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cockrum is located in DeSoto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cockrum
- Coldwater
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hernando
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Independence
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lewisburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lewisburg is located in DeSoto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
- Love
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Love is located in DeSoto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Love
- Robinson Gin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Robinson Gin is located in DeSoto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Gin
- Rockhill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Rockhill is located in Tate County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhill
- Stonewall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Stonewall is located in DeSoto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
How Far From Alphaba 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 Alphaba to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Alphaba and extending to:
- Hernando, which is the Seat of DeSoto County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 171 miles [275.2 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Alphaba to Jackson, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 763 miles [1,227.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,615 miles [10,645.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,337 miles [11,807.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,213 miles [8,389.5 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 '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- Alphaba) 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 Alphaba 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 Alphaba. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7730, Longitude: -89.8739 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.652 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.745 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.319 degrees. |
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