RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Saint Mary's County >> Discovery >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Discovery, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Discovery 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 Discovery:
    • 38.276792, -76.468564
    • 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 Discovery
  • 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 Saint Mary's County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Mary's County
    • Since Discovery is near Calvert County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calvert County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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 Discovery

Communities Also Named Discovery ...

We found four communities that are also named Discovery.

There is one other community in Maryland that is also named Discovery.

Beyond Maryland, we know of three communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .

  • Communities Located In Maryland ...
    • Frederick County
      • This Discovery is located in Frederick County and lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Discovery that is located in Saint Mary's County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Frederick County community of Discovery.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alaska
      • This Discovery lies 3,653 miles [5,878.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Discovery that is located in Saint Mary's County.
    • British Columbia
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the British Columbia community of Discovery.
    • Northwest Territories
      • This Discovery lies 2,311 miles [3,719.2 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Discovery that is located in Saint Mary's County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Discovery ...

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.

  • California
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedar Cove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Cove is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Cove
  • Colony Square
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Colony Square is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Square
  • Flowers of the Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Flowers of the Forest is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers of the Forest
  • Forest Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Forest Park is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Friendly Pines
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Friendly Pines is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendly Pines
  • Great Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenview Knolls
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Greenview Knolls is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview Knolls
  • Hermanville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hermanville is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermanville
  • Holly Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Haven is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Haven
  • Hunting Neck Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hunting Neck Woods is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Neck Woods
  • Johnstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Johnstown is located in Calvert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Jonestown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jonestown is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
    • Maple Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Maple Run is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Run
    • River View
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • River View is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
    • Spring Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Spring Valley is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Summerville ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Summerville is located in Calvert County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerville
    • Town Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Town Creek is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
    • Town Creek Farm
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Town Creek Farm is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek Farm

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

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

  • Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Discovery to Leonardtown, with an average speed<4> 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 48 miles [77.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 52 miles [83.7 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,899 miles [9,493.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,479 miles [7,208.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Discovery) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Discovery, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Discovery 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 Discovery. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2768, Longitude: -76.4686       In this case, the coordinates for Discovery have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.596 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.009 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.718 degrees.