RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Connecticut >> Fairfield County >> Darien >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Darien, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Darien 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 Darien:
    • 41.051208, -73.479287
    • 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 Darien
  • 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 Fairfield County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfield County
    • Since Darien is near Suffolk County and also Westchester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westchester 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 Darien

Communities Also Named Darien ...

We found two communities that are also named Darien.

Within Connecticut, the name Darien is unique.

Beyond Connecticut, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Genesee County
      • This Darien is located in Genesee County and lies 282 miles [453.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Darien that is located in Fairfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Genesee County community of Darien.
    • Wisconsin
      • Walworth County
      • This Darien is located in Walworth County and lies 790 miles [1,271.4 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Darien that is located in Fairfield County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Walworth County community of Darien.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Darien ...

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.

  • Belltown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Belltown is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown
  • Dolphin Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dolphin Cove is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin Cove
  • Greenwich
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Harborview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Harborview is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harborview
  • Hunting Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hunting Ridge is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Ridge
  • Mianus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Mianus is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mianus
  • Riverbank
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverbank is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverbank
  • Round Beach
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Round Beach is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Beach
  • Silvermine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Silvermine is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silvermine
  • Turn of River
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Turn of River is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turn of River

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Darien and extending to:

  • Hartford, which is the State Capital of Connecticut, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Darien to Hartford, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 239 miles [384.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,658 miles [9,105.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,364 miles [10,241.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,240 miles [6,823.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Darien) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Darien 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 Darien. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.0512, Longitude: -73.4793       In this case, the coordinates for Darien have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.593 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.177 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 302.281 degrees.