The Awakening - CLOSED
Categories: Local Flavor, Arts & Entertainment [Edit]
1100 Ohio Dr SWWashington, DC 20024
- Good for Kids: Yes
14 Reviews for The Awakening
Great sculpture! Too bad it's being moved to the PG county waterfont. You can see where it will go here: http://www.nationalhar...
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
...IS GONE!!!!!
The man finally woke-up and then he left.
**5-stars for being crafty!!!
Seriously, he's not there anymore. The sculpture was actually moved from Hains Point and now resides in Maryland by the Wilson Bridge because the lease ended and it would have been assimilated as part of property grounds if it stayed any longer. The artist sold it to a developer in PG County. Read more here: http://www.washingtonp...
We discovered his disappearance late last night and looped around the road twice to try and find him. It was bewildering! (But we did see two red fox run across the road instead.) When we visited the Jefferson Memorial afterwards the guard filled us in on what happened with The Awakening. Oh well!
People thought this was:
Funny (2)
Cool (2)
Fun place to take visitors. Makes for some pretty great pictures.
You need to go RIGHT NOW before they move it to the shopping mall development in Maryland!
Just be careful on the road, the bikers here think the whole island is theirs and they will not watch out for you!
UPDATE: It is officially gone. Sorry if you missed out seeing The Awakening in its original location, but look for it coming to a strip mall soon!
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Great place to bring kids, they automatically know to climb over it and to pick it's nose. The park is peaceful, yet close to the city. Good for watching planes take off (though not as good as gravelly Point), and a nice stop to make before going to the fish market.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
This is a great sculpture and looks so cool in all kinds of different light. Foggy night. Near sunset (probably near sunrise too, but I'm not in this neighborhood then.)
Excellent for kids and lots of cool photo ops.
Yeah, this thing is awesome. I saw it for the first time last night and I was kind of upset they didn't have any dramatic lighting to make it stand out.
To me, the location of The Awakening was cooler than the sculpture itself. I had no idea that this area existed, with great views all around. At night the airport was lit up as well as the Navy Yard on the other side...everything was so beautiful. This makes me even more upset that they're moving it. No fun.
Beware trekking out here too late though... it's very secluded so a lot of... um... "deals" go down.
Totally worth the walk/bike ride it takes to get out to the tip of Haine's Point.
The best way to enjoy this monument is to play dead in the guy's open mouth until a tourist bus pulls up to investigate. Also entertaining is to hide behind his head and scare small children by making growling noises when they least expect it.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
See The Awakening while you still can, as it's (relatively) soon to be moved by its &*(&^#$&*% owner to a private park (here's Marc Fisher on this travesty:
http://blog.washington... )
The sculpture is amazing and powerful, and it's location at the end of the point is an integral part of the experience-- during the day water serves as its backdrop, while at night the glow of the airport and harbors shine off the water and make the sculpture look almost ethereal. Making the trip during both day and night is totally worth it, and contrary to some of the comments here Hains Point is not at all spooky at night-- there's far too many people hanging out, fishing and playing around on the statue for it to be creepy.
A landmark for decades, which will be sorely missed. Go now, while you still can. You won't be disappointed.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (1)
Definitely unusual. On Haines Point, near the golf course. It's a bit far to walk here from downtown just to get a good gander. But it's worth it once. I run by this sculpture sometimes on my weekend long runs. Also, The Awakening is on the Marine Corps Marathon course, although by the time runners see it, at around Mile 18, they are SO THROUGH sight-seeing, and are just concentrating on finishing the dang race. Note that Haines Point can get very windy.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (2)
This is one of the spookiest places in DC to me. I'm not sure why...but I get the weirdest vibes when walking around these sculptures. No WAY would I go there at night. Spooky but cool. But mostly...spooky.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Cool (1)
At the southern end of the park is a 5-piece sculpture of a 100' man busting out of the ground called, The Awakening. In terms of a photo opp - this one's a keeper! Run by there any given day and you are bound to see tourists (and locals) dangling themselves in his mouth or hanging onto his hand to capture a Kodak moment. I personally have some great photos from this from when friends were visiting from out of town. It isn't exactly a monument, memorial or anything of historical significance (built in 1980), but it sure is fun to pose with the giant! Don't worry, there are plenty of other things in the park to occupy you if this isn't your thing (tennis center, swimming pool, mini golf course, the East Potomac Golf Course, picnic benches and plenty of land for kids and dogs).
People thought this was:
Useful (6)
Cool (4)
The Awakening is one of my favorite things about Washington, D.C. I have some cool pictures of me and a friend sitting on the giant's foot, and then some in which we're pretending that he's eating us. I have only ever come here at night, when no one's around, but I'm sure this guy has tourists crawling all over him during the day. This is the type of thing that will either scare small children, or make them sublimely happy. I came across this guy a couple years ago after reading about him on www.roadsideamerica.com, which is the best Web site (they have a book, too) for "wacky" tourist sights.
People thought this was:
Useful (4)
Cool (3)
This is one of the most unusual sculptures you'll ever see. A one hundred foot man is embedded in the ground trying to free himself.
Our DC friend drove us there on our first day of our trip. ( It would be difficult to get to without a car), I like the fact that is was so different than anything I have ever seen before (See my photos).
It was designed by J. Seward Johnson in 1980 for the International Sculpture Exhibition. It only had a temporary permit but it still lives on despite a recent Peace Garden development proposal in 2001.
Another place I hadn't heard of before.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
Great off-the-wall attraction to take out-of-towners. This large giant sculpture turned jungle gym for kids and tourists offers great photo-ops of getting crushed by the giant foot, getting attacked by the giant hand or getting eaten by the giant face. Take advantage of the two second window of opportunity during peak times when kids aren't crawling around it and tourists aren't posing with it for pics.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
People Who Viewed This Also Viewed...
Related Lists
-
Wait... This is DC???
All the places that make you feel like you are… -
Chocolate City
But on the positive side / You're my piece of the… -
DC's LESSER known places…
Frommers, Fodor's, Digable Planet - they all have…
Hot and New
- Montsouris
18 reviews
Neighborhood: Dupont Circle
- Koh's Bulgogi
4 reviews
Rockville, MD
- Cafe Saint-Ex
72 reviews
Washington, DC
- Rock Creek Cemetery
2 reviews
Neighborhood: Shaw
- Good Stuff Eatery
37 reviews
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill/Southeast
