RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Prince George's County >> West Laurel Acres >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Laurel Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Laurel 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 West Laurel Acres:
    • 39.108442, -76.901641
    • 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 West Laurel 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 Prince George's County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
    • Since West Laurel Acres is near Montgomery County and also Howard 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 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 West Laurel Acres

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Laurel 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.

  • Castlegate
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Castlegate is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlegate
  • Cherrywood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cherrywood is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Deer Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Deer Park is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Fox Rest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fox Rest is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Rest
  • Green Castle Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Castle Woods is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Castle Woods
  • Gum Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Gum Springs is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • High Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • High Ridge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Ridge
  • Holly House
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly House is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly House
  • Knightsbridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Knightsbridge is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsbridge
  • Lakeview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Laurel Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Laurel Oaks is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Oaks
  • Mistletoe Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mistletoe Springs is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistletoe Springs
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Robinsons Promise
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinsons Promise is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinsons Promise
    • Saddle Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Saddle Creek is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Creek
    • Scotchtown Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Scotchtown Hills is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotchtown Hills
    • Settlers Landing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Settlers Landing is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlers Landing
    • Twin Oaks
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks

How Far From West Laurel Acres 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 West Laurel 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 West Laurel Acres and extending to:

  • Upper Marlboro, which is the Seat of Prince George's County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Laurel Acres to Upper Marlboro, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 23 miles [37 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 16 miles [25.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,883 miles [9,467.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,588 miles [10,602.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,465 miles [7,185.7 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- West Laurel 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 West Laurel 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 West Laurel Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1084, Longitude: -76.9016       In this case, the coordinates for West Laurel Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.796 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.365 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.575 degrees.