A POINT column, left to its own devices, results in a messy attempt at a string when sent through ->toArray()

College.php

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class College extends Model
{
    protected $connection = 'v1';
    protected $table = 'colleges_colleges';

    // protected $hidden = ['location']; <-- This ultimately solved it
}

/** Here is the array before hiding the location column:
[ 'id' => 2197, 
  'name' => 'Agnes Scott College', 
   'short_name' => 'Agnes Scott', 
   'abbreviation' => 'Agnes Scott', 
   'unitid' => '138600', 
   'city' => 'Decatur', 'state' => 'GA', 
   'location' => "\0\0\0\0".'

'."\0\0\0".'p��R�U��)s��@@', 
   'governing_body' => 'NCAA', 'division' => '3', 
   'conference' => 'Great South', 
   'mascot' => null,  
   'created_at' => '2018-01-22T21:21:10.000000Z', 
   'updated_at' => '2019-03-27T19:01:11.000000Z', 
   'image' => 'https://d3on3ztz3vi4v9.cloudfront.net/images/colleges/138600/300/1551473956/138600.png', 
   'us_rank' => 73, 
   'us_rank_type' => 'National Liberal Arts', ]
*/