RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Matagorda County >> Blessing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Blessing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blessing 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 Blessing:
    • 28.871373, -96.218021
    • 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 Blessing
  • 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 Matagorda County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Matagorda County
    • Since Blessing is near Jackson County and also Wharton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wharton 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 Blessing

Communities Also Named Blessing ...

We found three communities that are also named Blessing.

Within Texas, the name Blessing is unique.

Beyond Texas, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Black Hawk County
      • This Blessing is located in Black Hawk County and lies 951 miles [1,530.5 km]<1> to the north of the Blessing that is located in Matagorda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Black Hawk County community of Blessing.
    • Ohio
      • Fayette County
      • This Blessing is located in Fayette County and lies 1,035 miles [1,665.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Blessing that is located in Matagorda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Blessing.
    • Virginia
      • Wythe County
      • This Blessing is located in Wythe County and lies 1,031 miles [1,659.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Blessing that is located in Matagorda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wythe County community of Blessing.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Blessing ...

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.

  • Buckeye
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Buckeye is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
  • Citrus Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Citrus Grove is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Grove
  • Gulf Hill
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Gulf Hill is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Hill
  • Louise
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Pheasant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pheasant is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant
  • Plainview
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Plainview is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
  • Red Bluff
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Red Bluff is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
  • Tin Top
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Tin Top is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tin Top
  • Weedhaven
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Weedhaven is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedhaven

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blessing and extending to:

  • Bay City, which is the Seat of Matagorda County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blessing to Bay City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 132 miles [212.4 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,295 miles [2,084.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 74 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,167 miles [11,534.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,887 miles [12,692.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,763 miles [9,274.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Blessing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Blessing 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 Blessing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8714, Longitude: -96.2180       In this case, the coordinates for Blessing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.998 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.879 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.787 degrees.