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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Academy Lane, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Academy Lane 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 Lane:
    • 39.435661, -76.786364
    • 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 Lane
  • 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 Baltimore County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Since Academy Lane is near Carroll County and also Baltimore City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
  • 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 Lane

Curious and Interesting Names Near Academy Lane ...

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.

  • Belltown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Belltown is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown
  • Cave Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cave Valley is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Valley
  • Cherry Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cherry Valley is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Valley
  • Delight
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Delight is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delight
  • Delight Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Delight Meadows is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delight Meadows
  • Green Spring Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Green Spring Junction is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring Junction
  • Hunters Glen
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • Pleasant Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Sunnybrook Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Sunnybrook Farms is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook Farms
  • Timber Chase
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Timber Chase is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Chase
  • Timber Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Timber Grove is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Grove
  • Tollgate
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Tollgate is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tollgate
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Tree Top Station
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Tree Top Station is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tree Top Station
    • Valley Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Valley Hills is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hills
    • Velvet Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Velvet Hills is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velvet Hills
    • Velvet Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Velvet Ridge is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velvet Ridge
    • Velvet Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Velvet Valley is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velvet Valley

How Far From Academy Lane 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 Academy Lane 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 Lane and extending to:

  • Towson, which is the Seat of Baltimore County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Academy Lane to Towson, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 39 miles [62.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,864 miles [9,437.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,571 miles [10,575 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,447 miles [7,156.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Academy Lane) 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 Lane 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 Lane. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4357, Longitude: -76.7864       In this case, the coordinates for Academy Lane have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.705 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.313 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.398 degrees.