RoadsideThoughts
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Home >> State of California >> Monterey County >> Carmel-by-the-Sea >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Carmel-by-the-Sea, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Carmel-by-the-Sea 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea:
    • 36.555059, -121.921862
    • 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea
  • 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 Monterey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monterey County
    • Since Carmel-by-the-Sea is near Santa Cruz County and also San Benito County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Cruz County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Benito 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea

Curious and Interesting Names Near Carmel-by-the-Sea ...

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.

How Far From Carmel-by-the-Sea 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 city such as Carmel-by-the-Sea to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Salinas, which is the Seat of Monterey County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Carmel-by-the-Sea to Salinas, 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.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 141 miles [226.9 km] to the north (N). 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 2,431 miles [3,912.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 139 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,485 miles [12,045.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,252 miles [13,280.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,295 miles [10,130.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Carmel-by-the-Sea) 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5551, Longitude: -121.9219    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.648 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.426 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.852 degrees.