RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Anne Arundel County >> Academy Junction >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Academy Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Academy Junction 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 Academy Junction:
    • 39.089554, -76.698302
    • 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 Academy Junction
  • 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 Anne Arundel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anne Arundel County
    • Since Academy Junction is near Howard County and also Prince George's County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Academy Junction

Curious and Interesting Names Near Academy Junction ...

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.

  • Admiral ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Admiral is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Admiral
  • Chase Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Chase Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase Hill
  • Colony Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Colony Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Ridge
  • Hidden Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hidden Village is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Village
  • Kings Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Kings Heights is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Heights
  • Kings Ransom
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Kings Ransom is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Ransom
  • Lions Gate
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Lions Gate is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lions Gate
  • Maple Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Maple Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
  • Mistwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Mistwood is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistwood
  • Piney Orchard
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Piney Orchard is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Orchard
  • Pioneer City
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer City is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer City
  • Redbridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Redbridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbridge
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Seven Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
    • Spring Meadows
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Spring Meadows is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Meadows
    • Stillmeadow
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Stillmeadow is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stillmeadow
    • Stoney Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stoney Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Hill
    • Strawberry Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Strawberry Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Hills

How Far From Academy Junction 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 community such as Academy Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Academy Junction and extending to:

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Academy Junction to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take 6 hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,875 miles [9,454.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,457 miles [7,172.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Academy Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Academy Junction 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 Academy Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0896, Longitude: -76.6983       In this case, the coordinates for Academy Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.677 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.227 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.497 degrees.