RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Galveston County >> Melody Wood >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Melody Wood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melody Wood 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 Melody Wood:
    • 29.546700, -95.217400
    • 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 Melody Wood
  • 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 Galveston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Galveston County
    • Since Melody Wood is near Brazoria County and also Harris County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brazoria County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harris 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 Melody Wood

Curious and Interesting Names Near Melody Wood ...

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.

  • Dixie Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Dixie Hollow is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie Hollow
  • Enchanted Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Enchanted Woods is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Woods
  • Forest Green
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Green is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Green
  • Friendswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Friendswood Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Friendswood Gardens is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendswood Gardens
  • Highland Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Highland Meadows is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Meadows
  • Imperial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Imperial Gardens is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial Gardens
  • Longwood Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Longwood Park is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood Park
  • Mustang Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Mustang Meadows is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustang Meadows
  • Orchard
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Orchard is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard
  • Pineshadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Pineshadows is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineshadows
  • Quaker Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Quaker Landing is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Landing
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Quaker Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Quaker Village is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Village
    • Regal Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Regal Oaks is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal Oaks
    • Riverwalk
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Riverwalk is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwalk
    • Rustic Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Rustic Oaks is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustic Oaks
    • Shadycrest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Shadycrest is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadycrest
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • Sunpark
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunpark is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunpark
    • Sunset Meadows
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sunset Meadows is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Meadows
    • Wilderness Trails
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Wilderness Trails is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilderness Trails

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Melody Wood and extending to:

  • Galveston, which is the Seat of Galveston County, lies 30 miles [48.3 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Melody Wood to Galveston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 159 miles [255.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,218 miles [1,960.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,092 miles [11,413.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,812 miles [12,572.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,687 miles [9,152.3 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Melody Wood) 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 Melody Wood 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 Melody Wood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.5467, Longitude: -95.2174       In this case, the coordinates for Melody Wood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.46 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.332 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.315 degrees.