RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Carroll County >> Ray-Mar Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ray-Mar Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ray-Mar 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 Ray-Mar Estates:
    • 39.460658, -77.042759
    • 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 Ray-Mar 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Since Ray-Mar Estates is near Frederick County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Ray-Mar Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ray-Mar 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.

  • Airport Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Airport Acres is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Acres
  • Bloom
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Bloom is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
  • Chestnut Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Chestnut Oaks is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Oaks
  • Covers Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Covers Corner is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covers Corner
  • Daniel
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Daniel is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel
  • Fieldcrest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fieldcrest is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldcrest
  • Gist
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Gist is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gist
  • Heather Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Heather Ridge is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Ridge
  • Heritage
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Heritage is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage
  • Huntfield
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Huntfield is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntfield
  • Maple Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Maple Haven is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Haven
  • Mountain Vista
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Mountain Vista is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vista
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • New Horizons
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • New Horizons is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Horizons
    • Presidential Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Presidential Park is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presidential Park
    • Red Fox Meadow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Red Fox Meadow is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Meadow
    • Stone House Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stone House Village is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House Village
    • Sun Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sun Valley is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
    • Sun Valley Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Sun Valley Farms is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley Farms
    • Sunset Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Sunset Hill is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hill
    • Timber Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge

How Far From Ray-Mar Estates 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 Ray-Mar Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Westminster, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 44 miles [70.8 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Ray-Mar Estates to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> 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 most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 38 miles [61.2 km] to the south (S). 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 5,874 miles [9,453.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,581 miles [10,591.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,458 miles [7,174.5 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ray-Mar Estates) 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 Ray-Mar 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 Ray-Mar Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4607, Longitude: -77.0428       In this case, the coordinates for Ray-Mar Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.856 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.488 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.498 degrees.