Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Decca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Decca and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Decca
- 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 Decca:
- 38.102914, -78.600849
- 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 Decca
- 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 Albemarle County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Albemarle County
- Since Decca is near Charlottesville City and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Charlottesville City
- eBird sighting report for Greene 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Decca ...
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.
- Barracks
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Broad Axe ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Fairgrove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Free Union
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Free Union have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free Union
- Free Union is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Free Union <2>
- Ivy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy
- Ivy is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ivy <2>
- Ivy Farms
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Ivy Meadows
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivy Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Meadows
- Ivy Meadows is located in Albemarle County
- Ivy Oaks
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Ivy Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Ivy Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Peacock Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peacock Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock Hill
- Peacock Hill is located in Albemarle County
- Skyline Crest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyline Crest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Crest
- Skyline Crest is located in Albemarle County
- Whispering Pines
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
- Whispering Pines is located in Albemarle County
How Far From Decca 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 Decca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Decca once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Decca and extending to:
- Charlottesville, which is the Seat of Albemarle County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<4> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Decca to Richmond, with an average speed<5>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 100 miles [160.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,998 miles [9,652.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,703 miles [10,787.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,580 miles [7,370.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Albemarle County: www.albemarle.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Decca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Decca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Decca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1029, Longitude: -78.6008 In this case, the coordinates for Decca have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Decca to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.854 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.415 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.662 degrees. |