Hike 3: Potomac Park and Hains Point

Hains Point is actually part of East Potomac Park.  It's not the most pedestrian accessible area - definitely do NOT walk down 14th Street, which according to the map, is the most direct way to go, but there's no crosswalks to get over/under the bridge.  But after some maneuvering around the Municipal Fish Market and the Washington Marina, I made it to Ohio Drive, which does a loop around the park down to Hains Point.

The pedestrian path was actually flooded, which amused me to no end, but there was hardly any automobile traffic so I just walked along the curb.  There were lots of fishers, bikers and, surprisingly, rollerbladers!  It's a very picturesque walk, but it got boring fairly quickly.  There's a golf course in the middle of the loop and that's pretty much your scenery the whole way around.

The book said there was a giant aluminum statue thing called The Awakening on Hains Point, but I couldn't find it.  I did find a couple monuments I'd never seen before on my meandering way back to the Smithsonian Metro.  If you follow the signposts on Ohio Drive leaving the park, you'll pass by the George Mason monument, which is quite pretty, although this is only the picture of his statue behind a ring of purple flowers.

Then cross a little bridge over the Tidal Basin to the FDR Memorial.  I've seen this one a bunch of times and it's my favorite - lots of interesting stuff (quotes, bronze sculptures) to look at, waterfalls, great layout.  It's quite symbolic, actually.  The water features are different in each of the four sections of the monument and they all get successively more broken and upset to reflect the state of the world at each time period in his presidency.

And right around the Tidal Basin is the new MLK, Jr Memorial!  I'd never seen it before and I was really mad that my camera ran out of battery so I couldn't take more pics, but it's quite powerful.

P.S.  I looked up The Awakening on the Internet and it's been moved to National Harbor!  I guess I'll have to go there sometime.  It would have made Hains Point a lot more interesting!