Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Boomer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Boomer and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Boomer
- 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 Boomer:
- 36.067353, -81.253699
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Boomer
- 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 Wilkes County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wilkes County
- Since Boomer is near Alexander County and also Caldwell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Alexander County
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Boomer ...
We found four communities that share the name Boomer.
Within North Carolina, the name Boomer is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Boomer ...
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.
- Brown ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Buck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Cricket
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Cricket Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cricket Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cricket Park
- Cricket Park is located in Wilkes County
- East Fruitland ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Fruitland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Fruitland
- East Fruitland is located in Wilkes County
- Elkville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Fox Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Mount Pleasant
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Wilkes County
- Ready Branch
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ready Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ready Branch
- Ready Branch is located in Wilkes County
- Stokes ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Thankful
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Boomer 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 Boomer to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Boomer and extending to:
- Wilkesboro, which is the Seat of Wilkes County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 147 miles [236.6 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Boomer to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 302 miles [486 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,200 miles [9,977.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,904 miles [11,110.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,781 miles [7,694.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Boomer. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Wilkes County: www.wilkescounty.net/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Boomer could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Boomer) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Boomer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0674, Longitude: -81.2537 In this case, the coordinates for Boomer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Boomer to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.46 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.948 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.416 degrees. |