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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Dunbrooke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dunbrooke 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 Dunbrooke:
    • 37.900281, -76.955059
    • 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 Dunbrooke
  • 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 Essex County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Essex County
    • Since Dunbrooke is near King and Queen County and also Richmond County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King and Queen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Richmond 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 Dunbrooke

Curious and Interesting Names Near Dunbrooke ...

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.

  • Battery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Battery is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battery
  • Indian Neck
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Indian Neck is located in King and Queen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Neck
  • Jacks Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jacks Fork is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Fork
  • Jenkins Landing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jenkins Landing is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Landing
  • Kino
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Kino is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kino
  • Longist Forks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Longist Forks is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longist Forks
  • Millers Tavern
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Minor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Minor is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor
  • Pauls Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pauls Crossroads is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Crossroads
  • Pigeon Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Pigeon Hill is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Hill

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

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

  • Tappahannock, which is the Seat of Essex County, lies just to the East Northeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 36 miles [57.9 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could walk a straight line from Dunbrooke to Richmond, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 69 miles [111 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,936 miles [9,553.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,637 miles [10,681.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,515 miles [7,266.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dunbrooke) 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 Dunbrooke 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 Dunbrooke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9003, Longitude: -76.9551       In this case, the coordinates for Dunbrooke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.901 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.299 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.059 degrees.