RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> New Design Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in New Design Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to New Design Acres 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 New Design Acres:
    • 39.307603, -77.460264
    • 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 New Design Acres
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since New Design Acres is near Montgomery County and also Loudoun County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun 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 New Design Acres

Curious and Interesting Names Near New Design Acres ...

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.

  • Country Side
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Country Side is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Side
  • Flint Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Flint Hill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
  • Furnace Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Furnace Ford is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Ford
  • Greenfield Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Greenfield Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Mills
  • Hope Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hope Hill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Hill
  • Hope Valley Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hope Valley Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Valley Hills
  • Lime Kiln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lime Kiln is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Kiln
  • Manor Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Manor Village is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Village
  • Merry Midnight
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Merry Midnight is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Midnight
  • Michaels Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Michaels Mill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaels Mill
  • Park Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Park Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Mills
  • Pleasant View
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pleasant View is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Poplar Thicket
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Poplar Thicket is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Thicket
    • Potomac Overlook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Potomac Overlook is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac Overlook
    • Robin Meadows
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Robin Meadows is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robin Meadows
    • Rock Hall
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Rock Hall is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hall
    • Stone Barn Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Stone Barn Station is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Barn Station

How Far From New Design Acres 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 New Design Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 56 miles [90.1 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from New Design Acres to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 36 miles [57.9 km] to the southeast (SE). 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,898 miles [9,491.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,606 miles [10,631.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,482 miles [7,213.1 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- New Design Acres) 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 New Design Acres 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 New Design Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3076, Longitude: -77.4603       In this case, the coordinates for New Design Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.114 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.758 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.736 degrees.