RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Columbus County >> Lake Waccamaw >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lake Waccamaw, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake Waccamaw 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 Lake Waccamaw:
    • 34.317105, -78.514406
    • 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 Lake Waccamaw
  • 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 Columbus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbus County
    • Since Lake Waccamaw is near Bladen County and also Brunswick County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bladen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Brunswick 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 Lake Waccamaw

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake Waccamaw ...

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.

  • Big Curve
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Curve is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Curve
  • Bolton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Council
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Council is located in Bladen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council
  • Farmers Union
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Farmers Union is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Union
  • Goose Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Goose Hollow is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Hollow
  • Halls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Halls is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls
  • Hallsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Honey Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Honey Hill is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Hill
  • Redbug
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Ricefield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Ricefield is located in Columbus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricefield

How Far From Lake Waccamaw 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 town such as Lake Waccamaw to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Whiteville, which is the Seat of Columbus County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Lake Waccamaw to Whiteville, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 326 miles [524.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,158 miles [9,910.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,846 miles [11,017.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,731 miles [7,613.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Waccamaw) 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 Lake Waccamaw 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 Lake Waccamaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3171, Longitude: -78.5144       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Waccamaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.906 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.911 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.897 degrees.