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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Willis Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willis Acres and the surrounding area.
- 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 Willis Acres:
- 39.502601, -77.434430
- 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 Willis 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 Willis Acres is near Washington County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll 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 Willis Acres
Curious and Interesting Names Near Willis 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.
- Arrowhead
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Arrowhead is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
- Charlesville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Charlesville is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesville
- Cherry Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cherry Hill is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill
- Christophers Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Christophers Crossing is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christophers Crossing
- Clover Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Clover Hill is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
- Cloverdale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Cloverdale is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Cloverview is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverview
- Deer Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Deer Ridge is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Ridge
- Fountain Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fountain Rock is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Rock
- Green Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Green Village is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Village
- Harmony Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Harmony Grove is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
- Harmony Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Harmony Hill is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Hill
- Continue List (9 more) ...
- Heatherview
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Heatherview is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heatherview
- Howards Retreat
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Howards Retreat is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Retreat
- Indian Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
- Lewistown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Lewistown is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown
- Lost Eden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lost Eden is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Eden
- Retreat Grove ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Retreat Grove is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retreat Grove
- Rocky Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Rocky Springs is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
- Winpenny Tell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Winpenny Tell is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winpenny Tell
- Yellow Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Yellow Springs is located in Frederick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Springs
How Far From Willis 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 Willis 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 Willis Acres and extending to:
- Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies just to the South.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 62 miles [99.8 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Willis 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 about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 46 miles [74 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,888 miles [9,475.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,597 miles [10,616.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,473 miles [7,198.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Willis 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 Willis 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 Willis Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5026, Longitude: -77.4344 In this case, the coordinates for Willis Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.087 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.756 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.649 degrees. |
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