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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Raceway Farms, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Raceway Farms 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 Raceway Farms:
    • 38.727615, -77.180815
    • 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 Raceway Farms
  • 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 Raceway Farms is near Alexandria City and also Prince William County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexandria City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William 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 Raceway Farms

Curious and Interesting Names Near Raceway Farms ...

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.

  • Cactus Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cactus Hill is located in Prince George's County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus Hill
  • Cannon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cannon is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
  • Cedar Crest
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Fair Haven
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fair Haven is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Haven
  • Five Forks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Forks is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
  • Fort Hunt
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Fort Hunt is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hunt
  • Governors Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Governors Grove is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Governors Grove
  • Gum Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Gum Springs is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Harbor View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Harbor View is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Hayfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hayfield is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayfield
  • Hillbrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hillbrook is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillbrook
  • Homewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Homewood is located in Fairfax County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Hunter
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Hunter is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
    • Indian Run Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Indian Run Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Run Park
    • Indian Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Indian Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
    • Kings Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
    • Memorial Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Memorial Heights is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Heights
    • Ridgeview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ridgeview is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Riverside Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Riverside Gardens is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Gardens
    • Riverwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Riverwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Rollingwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Rollingwood is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
    • Rose Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rose Hill is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Silver Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Silver Springs is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Spring Bank
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Bank is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Bank
    • Sunnyview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Sunnyview is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
    • Virginia Hills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Virginia Hills is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Hills
    • Willow Run
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Willow Run is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Run
    • Woodland Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Woodland Park is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
    • Woodlawn
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Woodlawn is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
    • Yacht Haven
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Yacht Haven is located in Fairfax County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yacht Haven

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

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

  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 83 miles [133.6 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Raceway Farms 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 5 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 14 miles [22.5 km] to the north northeast (NNE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,911 miles [9,512.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,615 miles [10,645.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,492 miles [7,229.2 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Raceway Farms) 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 Raceway Farms 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 Raceway Farms. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7276, Longitude: -77.1808       In this case, the coordinates for Raceway Farms have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.985 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.521 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.84 degrees.