The Awakening (sculpture)
Maryland
A 72-foot bronze-look giant, buried to the elbows, appears to be clawing his way out of the earth on a man-made beach beside the Potomac. J. Seward Johnson Jr.'s 1980 sculpture spent 28 years at DC's Hains Point before a National Harbor developer bought it for $700,000 in 2007 and moved it across the river to Maryland in 2008 -- so the giant now technically lives in Prince George's County, not DC. Reconciled here from the DC packet, which flagged it as belonging to Maryland.
Why Roamward picked it
Free, always-open, wildly photogenic giant-hand-in-the-sand moment on a specially built beach -- a five-minute stop that delivers an instant, shareable check-in and closes the DC/MD boundary confusion the game map needs to get right.
Sources
Hours, admission, and access change — confirm with the official source before you plan the detour.
On the drive · A stop on Raleigh → Washington · A stop on Washington → Virginia Beach · A stop on Washington → Outer Banks
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