RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> York County >> Fortunes Rocks >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fortunes Rocks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fortunes Rocks 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 Fortunes Rocks:
    • 43.424253, -70.377827
    • 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 Fortunes Rocks
  • 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 York County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York County
    • Since Fortunes Rocks is near Cumberland County and also Strafford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Strafford 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 Fortunes Rocks

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fortunes Rocks ...

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.

  • Airport Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Airport Village is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Village
  • Ferry Beach
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ferry Beach is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Beach
  • Five Points
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Points is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Goose Rocks Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Goose Rocks Beach is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Rocks Beach
  • Guinea Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Guinea Corner is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guinea Corner
  • Hills Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hills Beach is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Beach
  • Millers Crossing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Millers Crossing is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Crossing
  • Ocean Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Tattle Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tattle Corner is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tattle Corner
  • Tea Kettle Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Tea Kettle Corner is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tea Kettle Corner
  • Town House Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Town House Corners is located in York County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town House Corners

How Far From Fortunes Rocks 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 Fortunes Rocks to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Alfred, which is the Seat of York County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fortunes Rocks to Alfred, 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.
  • Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 68 miles [109.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 466 miles [750 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,434 miles [8,745.2 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 6,145 miles [9,889.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,020 miles [6,469.6 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 '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- Fortunes Rocks) 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 Fortunes Rocks 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 Fortunes Rocks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4243, Longitude: -70.3778       In this case, the coordinates for Fortunes Rocks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 303.395 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.101 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 299.70 degrees.