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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Isle of Wight, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight:
    • 36.907649, -76.707735
    • 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 Isle of Wight
  • 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 Isle of Wight County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Isle of Wight County
    • Since Isle of Wight is near Suffolk City and also Southampton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Southampton 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 Isle of Wight

Curious and Interesting Names Near Isle of Wight ...

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.

  • Chuckatuck
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Chuckatuck is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chuckatuck
  • Comet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Comet is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comet
  • Dwight
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dwight is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
  • Foursquare
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Foursquare is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foursquare
  • Gloversville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Gloversville is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloversville
  • Horseshoe Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Horseshoe Point is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Point
  • Kings Crossing
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kings Crossing is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Crossing
  • Kings Fork
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kings Fork is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Fork
  • Kingsdale
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Kingsdale is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsdale
  • Lone Star Lakes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lone Star Lakes is located in Suffolk City
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star Lakes
  • Longview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Longview is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Magnet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Magnet is located in Isle of Wight County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Moonlight
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Moonlight is located in Isle of Wight County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moonlight
    • Muddy Cross
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Muddy Cross is located in Isle of Wight County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muddy Cross
    • Providence Church
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Providence Church is located in Suffolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Church
    • Sandy Bottom
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Sandy Bottom is located in Suffolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
    • Sycamore Crossroads
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Sycamore Crossroads is located in Isle of Wight County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Crossroads

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 59 miles [95 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could walk a straight line from Isle of Wight 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 about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 138 miles [222.1 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,968 miles [9,604.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,663 miles [10,723.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,544 miles [7,312.9 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- Isle of Wight) 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 Isle of Wight 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 Isle of Wight. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9076, Longitude: -76.7077       In this case, the coordinates for Isle of Wight have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.811 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.045 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.328 degrees.