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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 Petal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petal 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 Petal:
- 31.346863, -89.259854
- 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 Petal
- 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 Forrest County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Forrest County
- Since Petal is near Lamar County and also Perry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lamar County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Perry 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 Petal
Curious and Interesting Names Near Petal ...
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.
- Carterville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Carterville is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carterville
- Dragon
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dragon is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dragon
- Goodluck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Harvey
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Harvey is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
- Jenkins Ferry
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jenkins Ferry is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Ferry
- Leeville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Leeville is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeville
- Mars Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mars Hill is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Peoples Ferry
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Peoples Ferry is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peoples Ferry
- Shadow Wood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shadow Wood is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Wood
- Sunrise
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sunrise is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise
- Tall Pines
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tall Pines is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Pines
How Far From Petal 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 Petal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Petal and extending to:
- Hattiesburg, which is the Seat of Forrest County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Petal to Jackson, with an average speed<2>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 863 miles [1,388.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,466 miles [12,015.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,343 miles [8,598.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Petal) 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 Petal 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 Petal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3469, Longitude: -89.2599 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.983 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.506 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.685 degrees. |
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