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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Ilda, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ilda 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 Ilda:
    • 38.838168, -77.251372
    • 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 Ilda
  • 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Since Ilda is near Fairfax City and also Falls Church City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Falls Church City
  • 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 Ilda

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ilda ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Camelot is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cedar Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chestnut Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Doveville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Doveville is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doveville
  • Fair Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
  • Green Acres
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Greenway Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenway Hills is located in Fairfax City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Hills
  • Holly Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Holly Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
  • Hunts Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hunts Village is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Village
  • Kings Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
  • Lee Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Lee Forest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Forest
  • Lee Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Lee Meadows is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Meadows
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Little River Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Little River Hills is located in Fairfax City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Hills
    • Maple Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
    • Pine Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Pleasant Ridge is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
    • Red Fox Forest
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Red Fox Forest is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Forest
    • Willow Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Willow Woods is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 90 miles [144.8 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Ilda 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 6 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 12 miles [19.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,909 miles [9,509.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,614 miles [10,644.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,491 miles [7,227.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ilda) 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 Ilda 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 Ilda. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8382, Longitude: -77.2514       In this case, the coordinates for Ilda have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.02 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.578 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.827 degrees.