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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rays Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rays Beach and the surrounding area.
- 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 Rays Beach:
- 36.377377, -76.839956
- 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 Rays Beach
- 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 Gates County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gates County
- Since Rays Beach is near Hertford County and also Bertie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hertford County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bertie 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 Rays Beach
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rays Beach ...
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.
- California
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- California is located in Hertford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
- Carter
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Carter is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter
- Eleanors Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Eleanors Crossroads is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanors Crossroads
- Flat Branch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Flat Branch is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Branch
- Gates
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gatesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Glovers Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Glovers Crossroads is located in Bertie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glovers Crossroads
- Lloyd Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lloyd Crossroads is located in Hertford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lloyd Crossroads
- Mount Gallows
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Gallows is located in Hertford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gallows
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Pettys Shore
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Pettys Shore is located in Hertford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettys Shore
- Pleasant Plains
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Plains is located in Hertford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
- Savages Crossroads
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Savages Crossroads is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savages Crossroads
- Silver Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Silver Springs is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Storys
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Storys is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Storys
- Tarheel
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Tarheel is located in Gates County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarheel
How Far From Rays Beach 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 Rays Beach to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rays Beach and extending to:
- Gatesville, which is the Seat of Gates County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Rays Beach to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 174 miles [280 km] to the north (N). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,996 miles [9,649.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,689 miles [10,764.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,571 miles [7,356.3 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rays Beach) 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 Rays Beach 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 Rays Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3774, Longitude: -76.8400 In this case, the coordinates for Rays Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.91 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.078 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.572 degrees. |
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