Caroline County Economic Development

The facility is super clean! Our preschooler desperately need to go and the parking lot was empty so we decided to give it a try. They had a huge fossil of a whale and some other historical facts from the area. My son is obsessed with whales so this was great for him. A woman at the front desk came out to give our family a quick tour. I have traveled 95 so many times and never knew the place was there. I definitely will be stopping off here more often on my travels.

We have visited the Caroline County Welcome Center on multiple occasions to use the WiFi (one of the advertised amenities) pick up maps, and get information about historical sites. We have shopped at the gift shop in the Center, etc.nnMy children and I are accustomed to a warm greeting by staff who are generally eager to help. Today, however, I walked in just behind my boys and was confronted with unexpected hostility. A woman called “Kathy Beard/Baird(?)” used a condescending gesture of an upward palm and wiggling fingers while peering over her glasses in an attempt to beckon me into a back room. I explained I was not going to go into the room with her as this would mean leaving my children unattended in the main area. So she stepped close to where I was standing.nnThis Kathy woman said that when my boys had come in ahead of me, she asked them not to run. I nodded agreeing it was a reasonable request as running is almost never permitted indoors. (BTW this was a preemptive request and not based on any actual running.) She said they were polite and receptive to her request, yet it was clear by her body language and facecial expression she had more to say. She asked how I was planning to spend our time there today. I said, “Sitting with my children while they draw.” She said, “OK.” There was a pause. I let her know I was feeling under the weather today (it’s a rainy afternoon) and not in the mood for much conversation so whatever it was she wanted me to know, she would need to come straight to her point. Here’s her remarks, verbatim:nn“Oh, I will get to the point. This is not a library. This is not a classroom. This is not a babysitting service. You will have to leave here after thirty minutes.”nnI replied that it’s odd she felt she was providing “babysitting” since I am here WITH my children. She then created a story about them having been left alone before. I am totally horrified by that accusation as I do not know ANY employee of the Welcome Center personally and therefore would never leave my children under their care. I let her know hers was an untrue claim. She then shifted to a new (equally untrue) story that my “husband must have been the one who left your older child once.” I asked my 15 year old if it’s true, he had no memory of such a thing. It seemed very unlikely but I called my husband right away to be sure. As I suspected, he has never left our teenager at the Welcome Center, either.nnI don’t know the motivation of this Kathy, what’s in her heart, if she’s confused, if she’s just cranky, is a bigot of some kind, whatever. Based only on the facts I’ve laid out, I would strongly discourage local folks from relying on the Caroline County Welcome Center as a place to stop by with your children unless you are prepared to be treated like a problem, no matter how respectful your children are.nnIn closing, this staying only “thirty minutes” rule is not posted physically in the Center, nor is it posted virtually on the website anywhere I could find with a quick search, and seems invented in the moment by Kathy, hours before closing, specifically to make us feel rushed and unwelcome. Mission accomplished.nnUPDATE: Turns out this Kafkaesque ordeal was a result of Kathy mistaking us for another family. She tried to frighten my children by telling them, “I sit in my office and watch you on my cameras; I have videos of you and your mommy” but then she made reference to a car we’ve never owned and an incident we were never involved with, demonstrating the mixup. Sad.

Very clean! Awesome ud83dude0e

Very clean restrooms. Very friendly.