RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Howard County >> Ritz Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ritz Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ritz 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 Ritz Estates:
    • 39.346215, -77.102481
    • 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 Ritz 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Ritz Estates is near Carroll County and also Frederick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick 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 Ritz Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ritz 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.

  • Daisy Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Daisy Meadows is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy Meadows
  • Dales Delight
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dales Delight is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dales Delight
  • Day
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Day is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
  • Flag Marsh Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Flag Marsh Heights is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Marsh Heights
  • Florence
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Florence is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Florence Farms
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Florence Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Farms
  • Hickory Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Hickory Hill is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
  • Jaycox
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jaycox is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaycox
  • Lisbon
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Long Corner
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Long Corner is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Corner
    • Nursery View
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Nursery View is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nursery View
    • Poplar Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Poplar Springs is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
    • River Wood Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • River Wood Hills is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Wood Hills
    • Twin Maples
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Twin Maples is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Maples
    • Watersville
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Watersville is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watersville

How Far From Ritz Estates 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 Ritz 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 Ritz Estates and extending to:

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ritz Estates to Ellicott City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 41 miles [66 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 about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 31 miles [49.9 km] to the south (S). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,881 miles [9,464.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,588 miles [10,602.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,465 miles [7,185.7 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Ritz 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 Ritz 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 Ritz Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3462, Longitude: -77.1025       In this case, the coordinates for Ritz Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.899 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.519 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.568 degrees.