Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vestal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vestal and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vestal
- 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 Vestal:
- 36.652892, -81.848455
- 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 Vestal
- 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- Since Vestal is near Johnson County and also Sullivan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- eBird sighting report for Sullivan 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 Vestal ...
We found four communities that share the name Vestal.
Within Virginia, the name Vestal is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- New York
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vestal ...
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.
- Cedar Bluff
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Bluff is located in Washington County
- Damascus
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Damascus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Damascus is located in Washington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 775 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Damascus <4>
- Drowning Ford
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drowning Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Ford
- Drowning Ford is located in Washington County
- Eureka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Friendship
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Washington County
- Greenfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Washington County
- Laurel Bloomery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel Bloomery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bloomery
- Laurel Bloomery is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurel Bloomery <4>
- Masada
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Meadowview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowview have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview
- Meadowview is located in Washington County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meadowview <4>
- Mock Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Parks Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parks Mill
- Parks Mill is located in Washington County
- Roetown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Continue List (4 more) ...
- Shingletown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
- Shingletown is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Sugar Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Twin Oaks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Vails Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vails Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vails Mill
- Vails Mill is located in Washington County
- Shingletown
How Far From Vestal 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 Vestal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vestal and extending to:
- Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 250 miles [402.3 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Vestal to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 304 miles [489.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,199 miles [9,976.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,906 miles [11,114.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,783 miles [7,697.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vestal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Washington County: www.washcova.com/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Vestal 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vestal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vestal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6529, Longitude: -81.8485 In this case, the coordinates for Vestal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Vestal 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 310.81 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.434 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.482 degrees. |