RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Horry County >> Polecat Bay >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Polecat Bay, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Polecat Bay 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 Polecat Bay:
    • 33.945169, -79.077538
    • 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 Polecat Bay
  • 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 Horry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Horry County
    • Since Polecat Bay is near Marion County and also Georgetown County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marion County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Georgetown 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 Polecat Bay

Curious and Interesting Names Near Polecat Bay ...

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.

  • Allen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Allen is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
  • Booth
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Booth is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booth
  • Cool Spring
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cool Spring is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Spring
  • Homewood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Homewood is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Horry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Horry is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horry
  • Joy ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Joy is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
  • Knotty Branch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Knotty Branch is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knotty Branch
  • Lewisville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lewisville is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisville
  • Maple Crossroads
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Maple Crossroads is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Crossroads
  • Mary
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mary is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary
  • Ned Swamp
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ned Swamp is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ned Swamp
  • Pleasant Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Poplar Forks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Poplar Forks is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Forks
  • Poplar Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Poplar Hill is located in Horry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Hill

How Far From Polecat Bay to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Polecat Bay to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Polecat Bay once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Polecat Bay and extending to:

  • Conway, which is the Seat of Horry County, lies just to the South.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 112 miles [180.2 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Polecat Bay to Columbia, 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 360 miles [579.4 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,199 miles [9,976.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,887 miles [11,083.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,772 miles [7,679.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Polecat Bay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Polecat Bay) 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 Polecat Bay 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 Polecat Bay. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9452, Longitude: -79.0775       In this case, the coordinates for Polecat Bay have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.222 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.219 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.22 degrees.