By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
While "Beany" got a chance to stretch his legs, Marc and Madeline Schiller picnicked Saturday in Caroline at the newly reopened Ladysmith Rest Area on southbound Interstate 95. "I would be upset if they closed it down," said Madeline, a weaver who wondered if there were any sheep in Caroline. She and her husband make a point of stopping here on their way home to Fort Worth, Florida after visiting their children in New Jersey.
"It's a good place to cool your heels before you pass through Richmond," said Marc. Also cooling his heels, "Beany," their Maltese-Shih Tzu they rescued from a shelter, also enjoyed taking a break from the road and having the rest area's thick grass under his paws. The friendly Florida couple, who spread a picnic cloth on one of the indestructible concrete tables in the Pet Area and were savoring the sunny April day, hadn't known the Ladysmith Rest Areas had been closed since July 21 to save money. Across Virginia, 15 other rest areas had also been ordered closed and boarded up when Tim Kaine (D) was governor, to save a total of $9 million annually as the state faced a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall.
Vowing to reopen them, Virginia's newly inaugurated governor, Bob McDonnell (R), devised a way of keeping maintenance costs down using private contributions and the labor of nonviolent prison inmates. Each rest stop costs about $500,000 a year to keep open. Reopened April 8, just two days before the Schillers' visit, both Ladysmith Rest Areas were busy on Saturday. "This is a nice one," said Marc. "It's comfortable."