One Last Climb Before Giant's Big Move

The relocation "is a bummer," Hoke said. "Without it, this part of Hains Point will not be a draw. It's sad we're going to lose it."

Ken Kealy of Alexandria took his 7-year-old twins, Richmond and Trenton, to see the giant. "I used to ride my bicycle here," said Kealy, 50. "I was explaining to the boys that a car hit the head twice."

"The Awakening," he said, was a landmark he had always looked for when he was flying to and from nearby Reagan National Airport. He said he told his sons about a time the area flooded. "The water was so high, the only thing you could see was the kneecap."

"It looks like a real person who has been in the ground since 800 B.C.," Trenton said.

"I just wanted them to see it once before it moved," Kealy said, as the boys climbed in and out of the giant's mouth.

John Crouch, 40, of Arlington County said he decided to take his two sons, Jack, 4, and Griffin, 2, for their first visit after learning about the relocation. He recounted his boyhood times there.

"I came here with a school group once or twice. They were science field trips. I saw it with my fifth- and sixth-grade classes," Crouch said. "I have a lot of affection for it."

"I feel bad I didn't take them down until now," he added.

Jessyca Stansbury-McCargo came from Columbia with her photo club to shoot the sculpture.

"I really like it rising from the dust -- a new beginning, a new birth," she said.

Staff writer Anita Huslin contributed to this report.