RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Onslow County >> Tar Landing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tar Landing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tar Landing 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 Tar Landing:
    • 34.777942, -77.493578
    • 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 Tar Landing
  • 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 Onslow County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Onslow County
    • Since Tar Landing is near Duplin County and also Pender County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Duplin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pender 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 Tar Landing

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tar Landing ...

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.

  • Branchwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Branchwood is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchwood
  • Catherine Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Catherine Lake is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine Lake
  • Cedar Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Creek is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
  • Forest Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Forest Grove is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
  • Georgetown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Georgetown is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Greystone
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Greystone is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Half Moon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Half Moon is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Moon
  • Hawkside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hawkside is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkside
  • Houston Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Houston Heights is located in Onslow County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Heights
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Indian Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Indian Springs is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
    • Oak Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Oak Grove is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Paradise Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Paradise Park is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Park
    • Raintree
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Raintree is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Shamrock Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Shamrock Village is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock Village
    • Willow Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Willow Woods is located in Onslow County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods

How Far From Tar Landing 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 Tar Landing to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Jacksonville, which is the Seat of Onslow County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Tar Landing to Raleigh, 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 6 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 285 miles [458.7 km] to the north (N). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,093 miles [9,805.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,780 miles [10,911.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,665 miles [7,507.6 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tar Landing) 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 Tar Landing 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 Tar Landing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7779, Longitude: -77.4936       In this case, the coordinates for Tar Landing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.331 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.32 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.372 degrees.