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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gibson Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gibson Island 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 Gibson Island:
    • 39.074277, -76.423848
    • 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 Gibson Island
  • 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 Gibson Island is near Queen Anne's County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Queen Anne's County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Gibson Island

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gibson Island ...

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.

  • Admirals Walk
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Admirals Walk is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Admirals Walk
  • Birchwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Birchwood is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birchwood
  • Cherrywood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cherrywood is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Deer Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Creek is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Creek
  • Divinity Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Divinity Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divinity Cove
  • Eagle Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Eagle Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Hill
  • Fernbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fernbrook is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernbrook
  • Green Gables
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Gables is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Gables
  • Greenholly
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenholly is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenholly
  • Herons Watch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Herons Watch is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herons Watch
  • Hickory Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Point is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Point
  • Hidden Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hidden Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Ridge
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Hunters Harbor
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hunters Harbor is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Harbor
    • Lake Shore
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Shore is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
    • Landhaven
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Landhaven is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landhaven
    • Long Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Long Point is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Point
    • Longview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Longview is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
    • Pleasant Plains
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Pleasant Plains is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
    • Podickery Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Podickery Point is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Podickery Point
    • Poplar Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Poplar Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Ridge
    • Raintree
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Raintree is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
    • Riding Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Riding Woods is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riding Woods
    • Skidmore
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Skidmore is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore
    • Tanglewood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Tanglewood is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Tree Tops
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Tree Tops is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tree Tops
    • Twin Harbors
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Twin Harbors is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Harbors
    • Walnut Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Walnut Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Ridge
    • Whispering Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Whispering Woods is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Woods
    • Woods Landing
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Woods Landing is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Landing

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

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

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies just to the south southwest (SSW).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Gibson Island to White House, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,864 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 6,568 miles [10,570.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,445 miles [7,153.5 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gibson Island) 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 Gibson Island 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 Gibson Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0743, Longitude: -76.4238       In this case, the coordinates for Gibson Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.517 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.042 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.388 degrees.