RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Lenoir County >> Loftins Crossroads >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Loftins Crossroads, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Loftins Crossroads 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 Loftins Crossroads:
    • 35.199886, -77.560884
    • 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 Loftins Crossroads
  • 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 Lenoir County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lenoir County
    • Since Loftins Crossroads is near Jones County and also Craven County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jones County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Craven 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 Loftins Crossroads

Curious and Interesting Names Near Loftins Crossroads ...

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.

  • Booker T Washington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Booker T Washington is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booker T Washington
  • Elm Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Elm Grove is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
  • George Washington Carver
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Georgetown is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Grove Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Grove Park is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Harveytown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Harveytown is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
  • Howard Hights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Howard Hights is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard Hights
  • Liberty Hill Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Liberty Hill Park is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill Park
  • Mary Beth Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Mary Beth Park is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Beth Park
  • Meadow Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadow Brook is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
  • Parrott Fork
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Parrott Fork is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrott Fork
  • Rolling Pines
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Rolling Pines is located in Lenoir County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Pines
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...

How Far From Loftins Crossroads 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 Loftins Crossroads to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Loftins Crossroads and extending to:

  • Kinston, which is the Seat of Lenoir County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Loftins Crossroads to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 256 miles [412 km] to the north (N). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,078 miles [9,781.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,767 miles [10,890.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,651 miles [7,485.1 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Loftins Crossroads) 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 Loftins Crossroads 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 Loftins Crossroads. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1999, Longitude: -77.5609    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.357 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.413 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.256 degrees.