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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Heritage Commons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Heritage Commons 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 Heritage Commons:
    • 38.352600, -77.455700
    • 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 Heritage Commons
  • 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 Heritage Commons is near Fredericksburg City and also Spotsylvania County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fredericksburg City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Spotsylvania 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 Heritage Commons

Curious and Interesting Names Near Heritage Commons ...

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.

  • Chapel View
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Chapel View is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel View
  • Clearview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Clearview is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview
  • Cranes Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cranes Corner is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranes Corner
  • Cranewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cranewood is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranewood
  • Deacon Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Deacon Woods is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deacon Woods
  • England Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • England Run is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for England Run
  • Fall Run Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Fall Run Park is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall Run Park
  • Heather Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Heather Hills is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Hills
  • Hickory Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hickory Ridge is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Ridge
  • High School Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • High School Heights is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High School Heights
  • Locust Knolls
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Locust Knolls is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Knolls
  • Misty Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Misty Forest is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Misty Forest
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Peacock Station
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Peacock Station is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock Station
    • Ridge Pointe
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Ridge Pointe is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Pointe
    • Spring Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Spring Valley is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodlawn is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

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

  • Stafford, which is the Seat of Stafford County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Heritage Commons 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 over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 43 miles [69.2 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 about three full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,938 miles [9,556.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,642 miles [10,689.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,520 miles [7,274.2 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Heritage Commons) 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 Heritage Commons 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 Heritage Commons. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3526, Longitude: -77.4557       In this case, the coordinates for Heritage Commons have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.168 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.672 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.096 degrees.