RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Kane County >> The Meadows of Virgil >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in The Meadows of Virgil, we use the following websites to find information relevant to The Meadows of Virgil and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for The Meadows of Virgil
  • 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 The Meadows of Virgil:
    • 41.951694, -88.524526
    • 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 The Meadows of Virgil
  • 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 Kane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kane County
    • Since The Meadows of Virgil is near DeKalb County and also McHenry County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for McHenry 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 The Meadows of Virgil

Curious and Interesting Names Near The Meadows of Virgil ...

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.

  • Burning Tree
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Burning Tree is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Tree
  • Deer Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Deer Run is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Run
  • Empire Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Empire Hills is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire Hills
  • Fair Oaks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Far View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Far View is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Far View
  • Foxfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Foxfield is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxfield
  • Hedgerow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hedgerow is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgerow
  • High Point
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • High Point is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Indian Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Indian Creek is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Kings Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Kings Mill is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Mill
  • Maple Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Mary Meadows
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mary Meadows is located in Kane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Meadows
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Native Prairie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Native Prairie is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Native Prairie
    • Plato Corners
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Plato Corners is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plato Corners
    • Silent Meadow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Silent Meadow is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silent Meadow
    • Still Meadows
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Still Meadows is located in Kane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still Meadows

How Far From The Meadows of Virgil 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 The Meadows of Virgil to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in The Meadows of Virgil and extending to:

  • Geneva, which is the Seat of Kane County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from The Meadows of Virgil to Geneva, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 160 miles [257.5 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 639 miles [1,028.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,211 miles [9,995.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,952 miles [11,188.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,837 miles [7,784.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Meadows of Virgil) 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 The Meadows of Virgil 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 The Meadows of Virgil. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9517, Longitude: -88.5245       In this case, the coordinates for The Meadows of Virgil have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.029 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.019 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.989 degrees.