RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Hancock County >> Cranberry Isles >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cranberry Isles, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cranberry Isles 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 Cranberry Isles:
    • 44.254255, -68.246903
    • 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 Cranberry Isles
  • 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 Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock County
    • Since Cranberry Isles is near Knox County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Cranberry Isles

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cranberry Isles ...

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.

How Far From Cranberry Isles 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 Cranberry Isles to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Cranberry Isles and extending to:

  • Ellsworth, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Cranberry Isles to Ellsworth, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 75 miles [120.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 585 miles [941.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 34 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,314 miles [8,552.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,024 miles [9,694.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,900 miles [6,276.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cranberry Isles) 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 Cranberry Isles 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 Cranberry Isles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2543, Longitude: -68.2469    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 301.948 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 297.625 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 298.235 degrees.