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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Helen Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helen Estates 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 Helen Estates:
    • 38.389848, -76.718020
    • 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 Helen Estates
  • 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 Helen Estates is near Charles County and also Calvert County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles 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 Helen Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Helen Estates ...

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.

  • Big Oak
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Big Oak is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Oak
  • Birch Hanger
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Birch Hanger is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birch Hanger
  • Bull Run
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bull Run is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull Run
  • Burning Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Burning Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Oaks
  • Burnt Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnt Mill is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Mill
  • Cellar Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cellar Hill is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cellar Hill
  • Coffee Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Coffee Hill is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Hill
  • Gravelly Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Gravelly Hills is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Hills
  • Helen
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Helen is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
  • Holly Oaks
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Holly Oaks is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Oaks
  • Horse Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Horse Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Landing
  • Huntersville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Huntersville is located in Saint Mary's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntersville
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Hurry
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hurry is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurry
    • Loveville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Loveville is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveville
    • Mechanicsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Queen Tree Landing
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Queen Tree Landing is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen Tree Landing
    • Redgate
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Redgate is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redgate
    • Shady Dale
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Shady Dale is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Dale
    • Summerseat
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Summerseat is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerseat
    • Summerseat Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Summerseat Village is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerseat Village
    • Widow Woods
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Widow Woods is located in Saint Mary's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widow Woods

How Far From Helen Estates to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Helen Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Leonardtown, which is the Seat of Saint Mary's County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 42 miles [67.6 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Helen Estates to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 39 miles [62.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 over two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,607 miles [10,632.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,485 miles [7,217.9 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Helen Estates) 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 Helen Estates 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 Helen Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3898, Longitude: -76.7180       In this case, the coordinates for Helen Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.734 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.184 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.777 degrees.