I stayed at Winslow Memorial Park and Campground two times this summer. The park is well maintained and it is in an ideal location. The first time staying there my friends and I purchased three sites so we would be able to enjoy nature and the company of good friends. Our first experience was wonderful and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery during the day and at night we sat around our campfire and quietly conversed. We did not have any issues or complaints the first time, which is why we chose to wait over a month for a vacancy for this specific park.
With that being said, our second time was tragic. It has almost been a full week since our second visit and I am still devastated by the events that occurred. The second time we took the same approach by purchasing several campsites, all next to each other so again, we could enjoy the company of one another and still be outdoors. We also were sure to choose campsites in a location that was not near any other campers, because we are respectful of other people.
Our friends and I enjoyed our second stay up until we were introduced to Lee, a person who works for the campground and never relayed to us his title or how he is associated with Winslow Memorial Park. We quickly learned that quiet hours at the park were from 8am-10pm each day. Lee arrived on our campsite at precisely 10:03 pm. The first time he showed up he asked my friends to quiet down, which admittedly we hadn’t realized how loud we were being. So, we immediately lowered our voices and turned off the soft music we were playing. After the first time, Lee returned to our campsite two more times stating that he could still hear us from a quarter mile away. Mind you, after the first time Lee arrived on our campsite several people from our group chose to go to bed which left us with approximately 5 people still awake and quietly communicating. In the midst of the three visits to our campsite, Lee cornered two of my friends who walked to the bathroom and told them “if you don’t quiet down I will get the police involved.” How is it ever appropriate to follow people, invade their personal space, and harass them?
The second two times Lee came to our campsite, he spoke down to us and was disrespectful with his request. At one point during our conversation he told us “you need to go to bed.” I cannot express enough how uncomfortable I felt being told to“go to bed” from a man who, 1. never told us his association with the park and what authority he has and 2. has absolutely no right to tell a group of ADULTS to go to bed. The third time that he came he told us the same thing, that he could still hear us and that“he couldn’t go to bed until we were sleeping.” This and being told to go to bed is incredibly inappropriate for ANY establishment. I did not pay Winslow Memorial Park to be harassed or to be baby sat.
Finally, Lee was especially rude to me, a 26 year old female, who chose to take the lead on the conversation after he chose to continue to harass us. I asked him if there were any patron complaints and if it was him who had an issue with us, he openly admitted that there were no patron complaints and that it was all him. I remained calm and respectful the entire time, although I had every right to become defensive. After being told to go to bed I told him that I had an issue with that and it made me uncomfortable and he said“don’t be mouthy with me.” Clearly, Lee is a misogynist who does not have the ability to respect his patrons in general, but specifically females. Also, after being threatened with the police to escort us out of the park just because we were still awake and he did not like it… I explained to him that we had been drinking enough to which we did not feel comfortable to drive. He replied with“that’s not my problem.”
Lee treated us as if we were teenagers who were“up to no good and looking for trouble,” the absurdity in this is astounding. My friends and I are in our late twenties with the oldest being in his 50’s, we are all adults, most of which are college educated and have full-time jobs. The next morning, Lee arrived on our campsite again at 8am with another man who did not even say hello, and said“I strongly suggest you pack it up and leave.” I again asked him if it was him who had a problem with us or if there were other patron complaints and he again admitted that not one single person could hear us and no one complained. He also told us how“I’ve had kids stay here and get too drunk and drive around the park.” I am unsure how telling this to us was relevant considering the night before we told him how uncomfortable we were with the idea of drunk driving AND we are not kids. The fact that he openly admitted to this is proof enough that he profiled us when we entered the park and we never stood a chance.
Lee left us alone for the rest of the day, but completely discouraged, 7 of our friends chose to leave because Lee had completely RUINED this experience for us which means there were significantly less people to make noise. At 5 pm, the police arrived to“escort us out of the park.” We stayed on our campsite because it was down pouring all day and we were still being quiet. The police officers are not associated with the park in any manner and were simply doing their job. They were respectful towards us and both were wearing masks. They allowed us about an hour to clean up our things and leave.
This was a vacation that we were all greatly looking forward to because our first experience, without Lee, was incredible. We loved the park and the good company and we could not wait to do it again. Lee ruined our vacation, essentially stole our money, because we lost a night of camping, and made us all feel unnecessarily worthless. Lee also never socially distanced himself from us and not once was he wearing a mask while interacting with us. I will NEVER return to Winslow Memorial Park and I will absolutely NEVER recommend it to anyone, in fact I will be sure to tell my peers and family not to camp there.
