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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Portobago, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portobago 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 Portobago:
    • 38.148743, -77.128864
    • 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 Portobago
  • 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 Caroline County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caroline County
    • Since Portobago is near King George County and also Westmoreland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King George County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Westmoreland 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 Portobago

Curious and Interesting Names Near Portobago ...

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.

  • Cash Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Cash Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Corner
  • Daniel Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Daniel Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel Corner
  • Farmers Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Farmers Fork is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Fork
  • Goldmans Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Goldmans Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldmans Corner
  • Haymount
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Haymount is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymount
  • Hicks Mill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hicks Mill is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Mill
  • Iraville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Iraville is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iraville
  • Leesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Leesville is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
  • Lent
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lent is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lent
  • Liberty Fork
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Liberty Fork is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Fork
  • Martins Corner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Martins Corner is located in Caroline County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Corner
  • Mount Pleasant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Oak Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Office Hall
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Office Hall is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Office Hall
    • Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Park is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park
    • Penny Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Penny Corner is located in Caroline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penny Corner
    • Samuels Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Samuels Corner is located in Caroline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samuels Corner
    • Welcome
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Welcome is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Portobago and extending to:

  • Bowling Green, which is the Seat of Caroline County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Portobago to Bowling Green, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 45 miles [72.4 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 51 miles [82.1 km] to the north (N). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,933 miles [9,548.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,635 miles [10,678 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,513 miles [7,263 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Portobago) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Portobago 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 Portobago. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1487, Longitude: -77.1289       In this case, the coordinates for Portobago have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.988 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.436 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.037 degrees.