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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Willett Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willett 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 Willett Estates:
    • 39.224828, -77.120536
    • 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 Willett 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Willett Estates is near Howard County and also Frederick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Willett Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Willett 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.

  • Bootjack
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bootjack is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootjack
  • Charlene
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Charlene is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlene
  • Claysville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Claysville is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claysville
  • Daisy Woods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Daisy Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy Woods
  • Edinburgh
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edinburgh is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburgh
  • Florence Farms
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Florence Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Farms
  • Hickory Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Hickory Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
  • Holiday Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Holiday Hills is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Hills
  • Rocky Road Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Rocky Road Park is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Road Park
  • Rolling Knolls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rolling Knolls is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Knolls
  • Stewart Town
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stewart Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sunshine
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Sunshine is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
    • Unity
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Unity is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
    • Wildcat Forest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Wildcat Forest is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildcat Forest
    • Wilderness Walk
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Wilderness Walk is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilderness Walk

How Far From Willett 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 Willett 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 Willett Estates and extending to:

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Willett Estates to Rockville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 37 miles [59.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 23 miles [37 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,887 miles [9,474.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,594 miles [10,612 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,470 miles [7,193.8 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- Willett 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 Willett 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 Willett Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2248, Longitude: -77.1205       In this case, the coordinates for Willett Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.918 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.522 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.623 degrees.