Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blanks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blanks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blanks
- 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 Blanks:
- 36.605974, -78.542222
- 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 Blanks
- 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 Mecklenburg County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg County
- Since Blanks is near Granville County and also Vance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Granville County
- eBird sighting report for Vance 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
Communities Also Named Blanks ...
We found two communities that share the name Blanks.
Within Virginia, the name Blanks is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Louisiana
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blanks ...
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.
- Bluestone
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Buffalo Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Buffalo Springs is located in Mecklenburg County
- Bullock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bullock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
- Bullock is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bullock <4>
- Clarksville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Clarksville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,169 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarksville <4>
- Fields Ferry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fields Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Ferry
- Fields Ferry is located in Mecklenburg County
- Greenfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Mecklenburg County
- Perfect Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perfect Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perfect Point
- Perfect Point is located in Mecklenburg County
- Ponderosa
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Sandy Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Fork
- Sandy Fork is located in Mecklenburg County
- Tungsten
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Blanks 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 Blanks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blanks and extending to:
- Boydton, which is the Seat of Mecklenburg County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blanks to Boydton, 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.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 178 miles [286.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,060 miles [9,752.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,759 miles [10,877.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,638 miles [7,464.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blanks. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Blanks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blanks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6060, Longitude: -78.5422 In this case, the coordinates for Blanks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Blanks could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Blanks 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 308.874 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.214 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.159 degrees. |