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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 Old Port, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Port 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 Old Port:
- 40.525046, -77.391163
- 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 Old Port
- 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 Juniata County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Juniata County
- Since Old Port is near Perry County and also Mifflin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Perry County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mifflin 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 Old Port
Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Port ...
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.
- Centre
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Centre is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre
- Cuba Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Cuba Mills is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba Mills
- Locust Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Martins Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Martins Crossroads is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Crossroads
- Mexico
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mexico is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
- Mount Pleasant
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Rockville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Rockville is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Seven Pines
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Seven Pines is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Pines
- Spruce Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spruce Hill is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Hill
- Walnut
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Walnut is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
How Far From Old Port 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 Old Port to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Old Port and extending to:
- Mifflintown, which is the Seat of Juniata County, lies just to the North.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Old Port to Harrisburg, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 113 miles [181.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,843 miles [9,403.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,556 miles [10,550.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,431 miles [7,131 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Port) 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 Old Port 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 Old Port. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5250, Longitude: -77.3912 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.989 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.805 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.228 degrees. |
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