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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Drayden, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Drayden 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 Drayden:
    • 38.178738, -76.481620
    • 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 Drayden
  • 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 Drayden is near Westmoreland County and also Calvert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Calvert 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 Drayden

Curious and Interesting Names Near Drayden ...

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.

  • Ancient Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Ancient Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks
  • Cedar Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Landing
  • Dukes Retreat
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dukes Retreat is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dukes Retreat
  • Dutchmans Cove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Dutchmans Cove is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchmans Cove
  • Flowers of the Forest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Flowers of the Forest is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers of the Forest
  • Great Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Gum Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gum Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Landing
  • Herring Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Herring Creek is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herring Creek
  • Hunting Neck Woods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hunting Neck Woods is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Neck Woods
  • Lane Beach
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lane Beach is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Beach
  • Laurel Run
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Laurel Run is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Run
  • Leachburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Leachburg is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leachburg
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Piney Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Stoney Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Stoney Run is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Run
    • Tall Timbers
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Upper Jutland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Upper Jutland is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Jutland
    • Valley Lee
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Valley Lee is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Lee

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Drayden and extending to:

  • Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Drayden to Leonardtown, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 55 miles [88.5 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 over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 57 miles [91.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,904 miles [9,501.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,605 miles [10,629.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,483 miles [7,214.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Drayden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Drayden 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 Drayden. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1787, Longitude: -76.4816       In this case, the coordinates for Drayden have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.61 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.01 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.761 degrees.