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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dixondale, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dixondale 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 Dixondale:
    • 37.432083, -76.461893
    • 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 Dixondale
  • 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 Gloucester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gloucester County
    • Since Dixondale is near Mathews County and also Middlesex County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mathews County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Middlesex 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 Dixondale

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dixondale ...

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.

  • Dixie
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dixie is located in Mathews County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
  • Free Shade Corner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Free Shade Corner is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free Shade Corner
  • Freeport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Freeport is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
  • Gum Fork
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gum Fork is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Fork
  • Hartfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hornets Nest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hornets Nest is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornets Nest
  • Lands End
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lands End is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lands End
  • Money
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Money is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money
  • Ordinary
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Piankatank Shores
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Piankatank Shores is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piankatank Shores
  • Point Lookout
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Point Lookout is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Lookout
  • Quiet Cove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Quiet Cove is located in Gloucester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Cove
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sassafras
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Sassafras is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafras
    • Soles
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Soles is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soles
    • Stampers
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Stampers is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stampers
    • Valley Front ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Valley Front is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Front

How Far From Dixondale to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Dixondale 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<2> community of Dixondale once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Dixondale and extending to:

  • Gloucester, which is the Seat of Gloucester County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Dixondale to Richmond, with an average speed<4> 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 over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 105 miles [169 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,935 miles [9,551.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,632 miles [10,673.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,512 miles [7,261.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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>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 Dixondale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Dixondale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dixondale 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 Dixondale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4321, Longitude: -76.4619       In this case, the coordinates for Dixondale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.642 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.933 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.037 degrees.