Reston Town Center is one of the busiest places that I regularly visit. It's not Times Square, but it buzzes a good part of the day.
It is certainly not like the quiet seaside town of Swansboro pictured to the left.
I can remember being stranded in the Reston Hyatt during a snow storm several years ago. I was disappointed to learn that the Town Center stores closed because of the storm. I had hoped to enjoy a snow covered city visit.
You can only get to Reston Town Center by vehicle or by foot. Cruising through Reston to see what is happening is probably more trouble than it is worth.
Coming to Reston by automobile means you have to find a parking space which mostly is located in a garage these days. I have been sorry to see the old paved lots in Reston disappear. They gave Reston an open feeling that many cities lack.
Hopefully I will have a chance to visit this fall and take in all the new growth in Reston. You have to visit the city once in a while to appreciate the slower pace of a place like Swansboro and NC's Southern Outer Banks.
The traffic in Reston, even in the Town Center area, moves very orderly. Traffic in Swansboro is a little unusual. The main street is two way, but with parking on both sides of the street there really isn't room for two cars to pass much less trucks and other vehicles that meet each other.
Cars usually turn into Front Street, stop and see if someone is approaching from the other end, if not they proceed. If a car or another vehicle shows up, someone has to yield and duck up a side street.
It actually works pretty well. All the cute gift shops and local restaurants get their parking, and we get a traffic system which requires a little cooperation.
Then there is Swansboro's other main street, the White Oak River which flows under two bridges right between Swansboro and Cedar Point. Arrival by boat is the only option on the White Oak.
The area of the river near Swansboro has some nice deep water and is a place you can relax just a little with your boat since mostly you don't have to worry about running out of navigable water like you do in much of the Crystal Coast area.
While the waters around Western Carteret County and Swansboro which is in Onslow County appear to stretch forever, they often are only a foot or two deep. That makes them a great breeding ground for fish and shell fish. It also means that boating requires paying attention to tides and channels.
The water around Swansboro is one of those places where you can drift and fish without worrying too much about running aground. It works well as long as the river isn't crowded and you set your drift up so that there is room for other boats in the marked channel to get by you.
I spent a couple of hours both Thursday and Friday drifting through the waters of the White Oak River near Swansboro. It was a pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon. We even caught a few fish.
Somehow the idea of drifting and Reston just don't mix. I often thought that there were a couple of unsaid traffic laws for Northern Virginia.
The first would be if you don't know where you are going, you shouldn't be there. The second is similiar, if you aren't going to wherever you are going post-haste, then you are wasting your time and more importantly my time.
Here on the coast, where you are going and how fast you get there isn't nearly as important as how you can enjoying getting there. Keeping a relaxed state of mind during the journey is high on the list also.
It is possible to go somewhere and be happier with the journey than the destination. Doing that is a big challenge in Reston.
