RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> King George County >> Somerset Beach >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Somerset Beach, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Somerset Beach 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 Somerset Beach:
    • 38.341237, -77.183034
    • 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 Somerset Beach
  • 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 King George County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for King George County
    • Since Somerset Beach is near Charles County and also Stafford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stafford 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 Somerset Beach

Curious and Interesting Names Near Somerset Beach ...

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.

  • Allnut
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Allnut is located in King George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allnut
  • Cherryfield ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherryfield is located in Charles County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryfield
  • Chestnut Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Hill is located in King George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
  • Graves Corner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Graves Corner is located in King George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graves Corner
  • Hickory Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Hill is located in Charles County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
  • Hop Yard Landing
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Hop Yard Landing is located in King George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hop Yard Landing
  • King George
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Lambs Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lambs Creek is located in King George County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambs Creek
  • Lyons Den
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lyons Den is located in Stafford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons Den
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Marshall Woods
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Marshall Woods is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall Woods
    • Mount Hope
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Mount Hope is located in Charles County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
    • Office Hall
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Office Hall is located in King George County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Office Hall
    • Potomac Overlook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Potomac Overlook is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac Overlook
    • Thorny Point Farm
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Thorny Point Farm is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorny Point Farm
    • Woodlanding Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Woodlanding Village is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlanding Village

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

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

  • King George, which is the Seat of King George County, lies just to the South.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 56 miles [90.1 km]<2> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could walk a straight line from Somerset Beach to Richmond, with an average speed<3> 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 over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 39 miles [62.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,927 miles [9,538.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,630 miles [10,670 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,508 miles [7,254.9 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- Somerset Beach) 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 Somerset Beach 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 Somerset Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3412, Longitude: -77.1830       In this case, the coordinates for Somerset Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.009 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.489 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.987 degrees.