|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orchid, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orchid 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 Orchid:
- 37.829032, -77.895273
- 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 Orchid
- 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 Louisa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Louisa County
- Since Orchid is near Goochland County and also Hanover County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Goochland County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hanover 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 Orchid
Communities Also Named Orchid ...
We found three communities that are also named Orchid.
Within Virginia, the name Orchid is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Brevard County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Orchid [Brevard County].
- Indian River County
- This Orchid is located in Indian River County and lies 709 miles [1,141 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Orchid that is located in Louisa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Indian River County community of Orchid.
- Missouri
- DeKalb County
- This Orchid is located in DeKalb County and lies 904 miles [1,454.8 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Orchid that is located in Louisa County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the DeKalb County community of Orchid.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orchid ...
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.
- Apple Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Apple Grove is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Deep Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Deep Woods is located in Goochland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Woods
- Deerwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Deerwood is located in Goochland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
- Gays ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gays is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays
- Gum Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Holly Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Holly Grove is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Grove
- Running Still
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Running Still is located in Goochland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Still
- Sandy Hook
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sandy Hook is located in Goochland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hook
- Willowbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Willowbrook is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook
How Far From Orchid to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Orchid to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orchid and extending to:
- Louisa, which is the Seat of Louisa County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Orchid to Louisa, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 32 miles [51.5 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 87 miles [140 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,560 miles [7,338.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Orchid could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Orchid) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Orchid 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 Orchid. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8290, Longitude: -77.8953 In this case, the coordinates for Orchid have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.452 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.915 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.469 degrees. |
|
|