Photo Tour: Reston Town Center & Lake Anne. Warning, lotsa photos. (Purcellville: sales, limo) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

normie · 10-12-2009, 07:54 AM

Photos taken Saturday, October 10, 2009. Rainy day burning off to sun in the late afternoon. Two blocks were closed off for an Oktoberfest; the rest of Town Center had the usual traffic. Photos are not in any particular order, except that I will post the RTC photos first, then the trail to Lake Anne, then photos of Lake Anne.

Pedestrian bridge goes over W&OD bike trail, which is right next to RTC. You can ride all the way to Purcellville or Mt. Vernon.

normie · 10-12-2009, 07:57 AM

The man is sitting on a bench; you can see the benches better in the last photo of this particular set.

normie · 10-12-2009, 08:00 AM

These people are checking out a car show that was part of the Oktoberfest.

The main pavilion served as the Beer Garden. This pavilion has a glass top. They hold concerts and events here during the warm months and it becomes an outdoor ice rink in the winter.

RTC is a place to take a date, so you will see people in all sorts of dress. Some are pretty dressed up, others are in sweats.

It's not unusual to see a limo parked at RTC. You will see Prius' everywhere, they're popular this year. Sometimes the parking lot looks like a Prius sales lot.

normie · 10-12-2009, 08:08 AM

Most of the restaurants are chains, but if you prefer something unique to RTC, there are a few places like that too. This steak and lobster joint is an example of a restaurant that's not a chain.

SteelCityRising · 10-12-2009, 08:12 AM

Very nice, Normie! This week I plan to take a nighttime Reston Town Center tour (if the weather ever improves this week), and your photos will be a great segue into that for certain. I am entertaining relatives right now, and we enjoyed Oktoberfest the other evening. They had the childrens' rides separated from the adult-oriented beer-drinking area, which was a good thing in my opinion.

normie · 10-12-2009, 08:13 AM

Parking garages aren't the prettiest thing but necessary with a place like the Town Center. There are 3-4 garages like this one, as well as a few scattered surface lots. Street parking is also available but hard to find.

Funny to see the Fitness Center surrounded by a sea of resataurants, bakeries, and Williams & Sonoma. Note the people watching the crowd from the upper balconies. They lead into the Hyatt. If you go to the Saturday Night concerts, you might see me up there. IMO the balconies are the best place to hear the concerts. So if you see me, wave!

normie · 10-12-2009, 08:21 AM

I couldn't resist a few shots of the cute kids at the Oktoberfest carnival.

Overhead shot of the carnival also shows New Dominion Parkway and Reston Parkway. The pedestrian tunnel to Lake Anne is just to the right of the building with the pointed roof (aka Macaroni Grill, if you know the area). Tomorrow I'll post photos from that trail, and some shots of Lake Anne, too.

TheDatabaseGuru · 10-12-2009, 05:17 PM

Someone should post pictures of Reston Town center 10 years ago. It looked nothing like this. Do you remember?! The development planning though was done very nicely, concentrated but effective.

normie · 10-13-2009, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I am entertaining relatives right now, and we enjoyed Oktoberfest the other evening. They had the childrens' rides separated from the adult-oriented beer-drinking area, which was a good thing in my opinion.

Have fun with your relatives. Hey, if you were there at the same time, I wonder if you're in one of the shots? I almost included a photo that I was in but it was a shot of people doing the chicken dance, so I decided to spare you guys.

normie · 10-13-2009, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDatabaseGuru

Someone should post pictures of Reston Town center 10 years ago. It looked nothing like this. Do you remember?! The development planning though was done very nicely, concentrated but effective.

Hahahaha, no kidding!! I sure wish I had done the same photo tour back then. Probably the only thing you'd recognize would be the Hyatt, the pavilion and the movie theatre.

Remember the big lot that backed up to Uncle Julio's Rio Grande? They used to have a makeshift bus terminal in the site where the Fidelity Building was built. For years that was my favorite way to get downtown. I couldn't believe how many highrises went up on that lot. What a change!