Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Syria, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Syria and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Syria
- 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 Syria:
- 38.488106, -78.326845
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Syria
- 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- Since Syria is near Rappahannock County and also Page County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rappahannock County
- eBird sighting report for Page 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Syria ...
We found two communities that share the name Syria.
Within Virginia, the name Syria is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Kansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Syria ...
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.
- Big Meadows
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Meadows
- Big Meadows is located in Madison County
- Duet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Graves Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graves Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graves Mill
- Graves Mill is located in Madison County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Graves Mill <4>
- Hood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
- Hood is located in Madison County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hood <4>
- Ida
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Kinderhook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinderhook
- Kinderhook is located in Greene County
- Nethers
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Oldrag ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Russells Ferry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Russells Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russells Ferry
- Russells Ferry is located in Madison County
- Skyland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Slate Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Mills
- Slate Mills is located in Rappahannock County
- Wolftown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolftown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolftown
- Wolftown is located in Madison County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wolftown <4>
- Zeus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Syria 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 Syria to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Syria and extending to:
- Madison, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Syria to Richmond, with an average speed<5>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 75 miles [120.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,970 miles [9,607.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,676 miles [10,744 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,553 miles [7,327.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Syria. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Syria) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Syria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4881, Longitude: -78.3268 |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Syria 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. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Syria to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.674 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.269 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.409 degrees. |