|
|
||
Caroline County Visitors Center celebrates one-year anniversary Date published: 11/21/2009
BY PORTSIA SMITH Caroline County is marking the one-year anniversary of its visitors center this weekend with a holiday display and extended hours. The 7,000-square-foot facility on State Route 207 will be open until 7:30 p.m. and will display holiday decorations and handmade crafts donated by the Caroline County Garden Club. Tourism manager Kathy Beard said the facility in the Carmel Church area expects to draw more than 10,000 visitors by the end of the year. She said two main factors may have kept that number from being higher. "We went from December to August without any signage along I-95 to let people know we were here, and we still are in a construction zone," she said. "I do believe those items have affected our attendance." But she said the center has seen an increased number of visitors since the July closing of the Interstate 95 rest areas at Ladysmith. Visitors have come from as far away as Canada, Finland and Japan, Beard said. A large Civil War tourist group is expected to come through in April, she said. One draw at the center is a reproduction of a fossil from an extinct species of whale found only in Caroline. It hangs in a glass tower that can be seen from the road. The center also features the Caroline Crafters retail store, which sells arts, crafts and other items made by county residents. Beard said the visitors center is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
