Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue Gem, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Gem and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue Gem
- 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 Gem:
- 35.996750, -84.453617
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Blue Gem
- 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 Morgan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- Since Blue Gem is near Roane County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Roane County
- eBird sighting report for Anderson 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Gem ...
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.
- Blair
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Coal Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Hill
- Coal Hill is located in Morgan County
- Crookedfork ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crookedfork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crookedfork
- Crookedfork is located in Morgan County
- Ethel ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Gallagher Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gallagher Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagher Ferry
- Gallagher Ferry is located in Roane County
- Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Jonesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
- Jonesville is located in Roane County
- Lake Shore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
- Lake Shore is located in Roane County
- Little Emory
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Emory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Emory
- Little Emory is located in Roane County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Orchard View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard View
- Orchard View is located in Roane County
- Sugar Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Roane County
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Walnut Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Walnut Hill is located in Roane County
- Wheat ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Whetstone ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Orchard View
How Far From Blue Gem to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Blue Gem to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Blue Gem once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Blue Gem and extending to:
- Wartburg, which is the Seat of Morgan County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Blue Gem to Wartburg, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 453 miles [729 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,337 miles [10,198.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,049 miles [11,344.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,925 miles [7,926 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Blue Gem, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Blue Gem) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Gem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9967, Longitude: -84.4536 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Gem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Gem to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.366 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.124 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.746 degrees. |