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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Benfield, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Benfield 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 Benfield:
    • 39.088721, -76.622188
    • 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 Benfield
  • 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 Benfield is near Prince George's County and also Baltimore City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's 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 Benfield

Curious and Interesting Names Near Benfield ...

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.

  • Captains Cove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Captains Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captains Cove
  • Chartwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Chartwood is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartwood
  • Fair Winds
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Fair Winds is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Winds
  • Foxhollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Foxhollow is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhollow
  • Frost
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Frost is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
  • Glen Hollow
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Glen Hollow is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hollow
  • Greentree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Greentree is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greentree
  • Harpers Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Harpers Mill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Mill
  • Hillendale
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hillendale is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillendale
  • Holly Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Point is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Point
  • Mallet Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mallet Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallet Hill
  • Millrace
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Millrace is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millrace
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Quail Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Quail Run is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Rivendell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Rivendell is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivendell
    • Stewarts Purchase
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Stewarts Purchase is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewarts Purchase
    • Sunrise Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunrise Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Beach
    • Tall Timbers
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Tall Timbers is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Timbers
    • Village Square
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Village Square is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Square
    • Windy Knolls
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Windy Knolls is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Knolls

How Far From Benfield 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 Benfield to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Benfield to Annapolis, 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 10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 25 miles [40.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,872 miles [9,450.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,577 miles [10,584.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,454 miles [7,168 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Benfield) 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 Benfield 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 Benfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0887, Longitude: -76.6222       In this case, the coordinates for Benfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.632 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.176 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.465 degrees.