Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vandyke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vandyke and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vandyke
- 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 Vandyke:
- 39.357516, -75.744826
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Vandyke
- 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 New Castle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for New Castle County
- Since Vandyke is near Kent County and also Cecil County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kent County
- eBird sighting report for Cecil 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Vandyke ...
We found four communities that share the name Vandyke.
Within Delaware, the name Vandyke is unique.
Beyond Delaware, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vandyke ...
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.
- Blackbird
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Blackbird Landing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackbird Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackbird Landing
- Blackbird Landing is located in New Castle County
- Cash Corner ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cash Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Corner
- Cash Corner is located in Cecil County (MD)
- Forest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Gander Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gander Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gander Hill
- Gander Hill is located in New Castle County
- Green Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring
- Green Spring is located in New Castle County
- Green Spring Farm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Spring Farm have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring Farm
- Green Spring Farm is located in New Castle County
- Gregg Neck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregg Neck
- Gregg Neck is located in Kent County (MD)
- Meadow Vista
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Vista
- Meadow Vista is located in New Castle County
- Pine Tree Corners
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Tree Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Tree Corners
- Pine Tree Corners is located in New Castle County
- Plantation Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plantation Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Crossing
- Plantation Crossing is located in Kent County
- Pleasant Cove
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Cove
- Pleasant Cove is located in Kent County (MD)
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Point Breeze
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Breeze have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
- Point Breeze is located in New Castle County
- Sassafras
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafras
- Sassafras is located in Kent County (MD)
- Sycamore Farms
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Farms
- Sycamore Farms is located in New Castle County
- Twin Eagle Farms
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Eagle Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Eagle Farms
- Twin Eagle Farms is located in Kent County
- Point Breeze
How Far From Vandyke 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 Vandyke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vandyke and extending to:
- Wilmington, which is the Seat of New Castle County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Vandyke to Wilmington, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Dover, which is the State Capital of Delaware, lies 18 miles [29 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 76 miles [122.3 km] to the west southwest (WSW). 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 5 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,823 miles [9,371.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,404 miles [7,087.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vandyke. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for New Castle County: www.co.new-castle.de.us/
The official website for State of Delaware: https://delaware.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Vandyke could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | 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- Vandyke) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vandyke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3575, Longitude: -75.7448 |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Vandyke to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.096 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.609 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.988 degrees. |