Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rooks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rooks and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Rooks

• 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 Rooks:
  • 34.496556, -78.143884
  • 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 Rooks

• 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 Pender County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Pender County
  • Since Rooks is near Bladen County and also Sampson 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 Sampson 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 Rooks

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rooks ...

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.

• Highsmith
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Highsmith is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highsmith
• Ivanhoe
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ivanhoe is located in Sampson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
• Long Bluff Landing
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Long Bluff Landing is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Bluff Landing
• Long Creek
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Creek is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Creek
• Long View
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Long View is located in Bladen County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
• Piney Wood
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Piney Wood is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Wood
• Reb Kee
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Reb Kee is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reb Kee
• Red Star Camp
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Red Star Camp is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star Camp
• Sparkleberry Landing
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Sparkleberry Landing is located in Bladen County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparkleberry Landing
• Still Bluff
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Still Bluff is located in Pender County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Bluff

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

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

• Burgaw, which is the Seat of Pender County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rooks to Burgaw, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
• Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 93 miles [149.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 310 miles [498.9 km] to the north (N). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,134 miles [9,871.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,822 miles [10,978.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,707 miles [7,575.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'