RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Appomattox County >> Chap >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Chap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chap 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 Chap:
    • 37.254810, -78.831735
    • 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 Chap
  • 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 Appomattox County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Appomattox County
    • Since Chap is near Campbell County and also Charlotte County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Campbell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charlotte 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 Chap

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chap ...

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.

  • Evergreen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Flood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Flood is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flood
  • Hat Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Hixburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hixburg is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hixburg
  • Old Pilot ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Old Pilot is located in Appomattox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Pilot
  • Rough Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Shields
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Shields is located in Prince Edward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shields
  • Spout Spring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Spring Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Appomattox, which is the Seat of Appomattox County, lies just to the North.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 79 miles [127.1 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Chap to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 149 miles [239.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,044 miles [9,726.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,747 miles [10,858.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,625 miles [7,443.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Chap) 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 Chap 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 Chap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2548, Longitude: -78.8317       In this case, the coordinates for Chap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.022 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.479 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.054 degrees.