Wed, 06/13/2007 - 12:45pm

Having just walked down the procession at commencement, my family and I celebrated with dinner at China Chef in Wheaton and afterwards, walked through the botanical gardens at Brookside Nature Center. While some of the family members wanted to go home after a tour through the garden, my sister and I wanted to go down Southwest DC to Hains Point. Along with us on the mini trip were our cousins and nephew.

Hains Point, presently known as East Potomac Park, is located south of the Jefferson Memorial and the 14th Street Bridge and between the Washington Channel and the Potomac East River. The direct address is 1100 Ohio Street, SW. The park contains a golf course, a tennis and recreation center, a playground, and offers scenic views of the city. The park is named after Peter Conover Hains, Major General of the United States Army during World War I.

The last time I visited Hains Point was in late 1991 and the memory of my visit is very dim, if nonexistent. Seeing the park from the car window, there were people riding their bicycles on the paths, getting a view of the nation’s capital from the railings, and fishing from the opaque waters. To me, it’s amazing to know how much fish there really is in the water. I say this because a man fishing pulled out a catfish and displayed it on the sidewalk.

The most fascinating fixture at Hains Point is the statue of Poseidon buried under the ground with the exception of his head, hands, feet and knees exposed. The statue was created by J. Seward Johnson, Jr., heir to the Johnson pharmaceutical company. This statue has been a fixture at the park for twenty-seven years. It looks as if it is going to raise from the ground; which it will be this year. Poseidon will be moving to Prince George’s County to become a fixture at the new development of National Harbor. Good thing I saw it before it moved out of the park!

There is a reason for him to be in that position. This part of Hains Point excites children as well as adults. Poseidon is their jungle gym as they delightfully climb up Poseidon’s calf like a mountain and slide down from the knee as if it were a slide. They play hide-and-seek around Poseidon’s knee. His hand below the ground is like a chair where they can take a picture and socialize.

The beautiful sunset draws my attention because its light spreads horizontally burying itself into the earth and lighting the murky waters. Next to the sunset, stands the Jefferson Memorial.

I think of how good it is to be back home because there is more to DC that I yet to see; and Hains Point is the just the beginning.

About the author
Calandria Somuah is a long-time resident of the Washington, DC area and a recent graduate of Morgan State University. She is an aspiring journalist and writer who can be reached at c_somuah@yahoo.com.

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