RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Acadia Parish >> Rayne >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rayne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rayne and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Rayne:
    • 30.235108, -92.268804
    • 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 Rayne
  • 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 parish-by-parish basis. We have selected Acadia Parish as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Acadia Parish
    • Since Rayne is near Lafayette Parish and also Vermilion Parish, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lafayette Parish
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Vermilion Parish
  • 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 Rayne

Communities Also Named Rayne ...

We found one communities that are also named Rayne.

Within Louisiana, the name Rayne is unique.

Beyond Louisiana, there is another community also named Rayne in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Pennsylvania
      • Indiana County
      • This Rayne is located in Indiana County and lies 1,036 miles [1,667.3 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rayne that is located in Acadia Parish.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Indiana County community of Rayne.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rayne ...

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.

  • Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Ebenezer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Bayou
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Judd
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Judd is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judd
  • Leroy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lyons Point
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lyons Point is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons Point
  • Maxie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Maxie is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxie
  • Peach Bloom
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Peach Bloom is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bloom
  • Ridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Roberts Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Roberts Cove is located in Acadia Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Cove
  • Vatican
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Vatican is located in Lafayette Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vatican

How Far From Rayne to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Rayne to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Crowley, which is the Seat of Acadia Parish, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Baton Rouge, which is the State Capital of Louisiana, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could walk a straight line from Rayne to Baton Rouge, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,050 miles [1,689.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 60 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,938 miles [11,165.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,651 miles [12,313.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,527 miles [8,894.8 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- Rayne) 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 Rayne 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 Rayne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2351, Longitude: -92.2688    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.698 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.356 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.042 degrees.