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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 Port Reading, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Port Reading 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 Port Reading:
- 40.565447, -74.261497
- 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 Port Reading
- 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 Middlesex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex County
- Since Port Reading is near Union County and also Richmond County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond 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 Port Reading
Curious and Interesting Names Near Port Reading ...
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.
- Barber
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Barber is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
- Chrome
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Chrome is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chrome
- Clara Barton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Clara Barton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara Barton
- Edgar
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Fords
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fords is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords
- Fresh Kills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Fresh Kills is located in Richmond County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresh Kills
- Greenridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Greenridge is located in Richmond County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
- Harbor Terrace
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Harbor Terrace is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Terrace
- Hopelawn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Plains
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Plains is located in Richmond County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Plains
- Princes Bay
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Princes Bay is located in Richmond County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princes Bay
- Sand Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sand Hills is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hills
- Seaside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Seaside is located in Richmond County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaside
- Valentine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Valentine is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine
How Far From Port Reading 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 Port Reading to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Port Reading and extending to:
- New Brunswick, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Port Reading to New Brunswick, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 35 miles [56.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 187 miles [300.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,710 miles [9,189.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,416 miles [10,325.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,293 miles [6,908.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Port Reading) 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 Port Reading 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 Port Reading. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5654, Longitude: -74.2615 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.11 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.684 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.84 degrees. |
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