RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Stafford County >> Aquia Beach >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Aquia Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Aquia Beach 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 Aquia Beach:
    • 38.423100, -77.359900
    • 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 Aquia Beach
  • 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 Stafford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stafford County
    • Since Aquia Beach is near Charles County and also King George County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King George 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 Aquia Beach

Curious and Interesting Names Near Aquia Beach ...

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.

  • Aqua Villa
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Aqua Villa is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aqua Villa
  • Bells Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bells Run is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Run
  • Bowers
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bowers is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowers
  • Coal Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Coal Landing is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Landing
  • Cobblestone
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cobblestone is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobblestone
  • Greenridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenridge is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
  • Harris
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Harris is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
  • Quail Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Quail Run is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
  • Raspberry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Raspberry is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raspberry
  • Rivendell
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Rivendell is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivendell
  • Sams Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Sams Ridge is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Ridge
  • Stone River
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Stone River is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone River
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Summerwind
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Summerwind is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwind
    • Summerwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Summerwood is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwood
    • Sunshine Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Sunshine Hills is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine Hills
    • Thorny Point Farm
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Thorny Point Farm is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorny Point Farm
    • Twin Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Twin Oaks is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Oaks
    • Widewater Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Widewater Beach is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widewater Beach

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Aquia Beach and extending to:

  • Stafford, which is the Seat of Stafford County, lies just to the West.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Aquia Beach to Richmond, with an average speed<2> 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 37 miles [59.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,931 miles [9,545 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,635 miles [10,678 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,512 miles [7,261.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Aquia Beach) 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 Aquia Beach 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 Aquia Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4231, Longitude: -77.3599       In this case, the coordinates for Aquia Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.108 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.614 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.03 degrees.