OT: How was your experience with the Total Eclipse?
I drove to Toledo to see it and it took me over 2 hours to drive between Ann Arbor and Toledo. It was hands down the worst traffic I have ever experienced. It was 20 times as bad as a Michigan Football Saturday. There were some clouds but I was still able to view totality. Seeing the total eclipse is a totally different experience than a partial eclipse so I don't regret it at all. That was definitely the coolest and weirdest thing that I've ever seen. What are your stories?
Drove down to Findlay, OH. Parked at a Railway Museum (food, facilities). Eclipse was absolutely spectacular, 99% just doesn’t remotely compare to totality. Traffic back was awful, but expected (it was much much worse driving from Casper WY to Denver 7 years ago). Wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if I had the opportunity.
That was my conclusion too. In many things, you might say, "Oh--95%? That's good enough. How different can it be from 100%?" But after seeing totality, I realized that the difference between 95% or even 99% and a total eclipse is huge. Like, it's not even the same thing. That moment when the moon totally covered the sun--indescribable.
This x1000.
I watched from my backyard with the kids in northern Indy and even the difference between 99.9% and totality was stark. It was entirely binary. The transition from a single second before totality to having it covered really did make it like two separate events. To anyone reading this considering future eclipse adventures, go big or not at all. If you're investing any time or effort, get all the way there. You won't regret it.
"It was entirely binary." That's exactly what I keep thinking. (Although I am now reading that for some people in NH it took twelve hours to get home. I am very, very glad I took a slightly different route to VT.)
My thoughts exactly.
As cool as the 'diamond ring effect" is in the final moment (and the first moment as the sun re-imerges), that period of totality is still an unbeatable experience, whether for a minute or for yesterday's max of nearly 4 1/2 minutes is some locales.
Was it worth my drive of over 11 hours round-trip yesterday for the 3:40 totality experience near Muncie?
Oh hell yeah! I'd do it again tomorrow in a heartbeat.
I also drove down to Findlay. The light cloud cover cleared just in time for the totality, and it was pretty incredible. I am really glad that my daughters got to see it, even if the traffic was unfathomably bad on the way back up. Like nearly 4 hours to do a 90-minute drive.
Spent time on the driveway viewing it. Temperature started to drop as soon as the sun got partially obstructed. When totality hit, the street lights all came on. It was cool to experience, but I was glad I didn’t have to drive anywhere to experience it and I wouldn’t go out of my way to experience another.
I don't understand why everything was focused on an eclipse in Ohio. Ohio has been eclipsed by Michigan since 2021.
Indeed, but the total eclipse was a double wammy for them. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of Michigan fans descended down to the buckeye state for this big event.
Went west of Indianapolis. Great weather and hardly any clouds. I saw it in Nebraska in 2017 but it was ~80% cloud cover. It was a much different experience today! I also saw a bald eagle fly by moments after totality ended-- I wonder what that bird was thinking during the previous half hour or so... (the birds really started chirping around the time the sun was about halfway blocked. They knew something was up)
I stayed overnight in Champaign, managed to make it to Lawrenceville IL. Folks were friendly and weather was just about ideal -- warm with only a few wispy clouds. Got to see totality, which was surreal. Traffic wasn't quite as bad as advertised but going was slow all the way back to Champaign. Definitely worth it though.
Drove to Toledo to catch the event. Was truly wicked and something I'll never forget and likely never see again (that all depends how I'm feeling in 2045). Seeing the light go from mid-afternoon to dusk to just eerie was very cool. Dark enough that the parking lot lights kicked on. As the eclipse drew closer more people showed up and quite a few cheered when it happened and everyone was thrilled. The only way the weather could've been better is if there were no clouds but what was there didn't interfere in any practical way. Mother Nature really did us a solid on that one.
The drive down from metro Detroit wasn't bad - took 75 down, 75 back. Each way took 2.5h. Where the choke point really stuck us was that construction down near Luna Pier that just gummed everything up but I rather expected it. The construction just after the 375 interchange wasn't bad - it had a little impact but at that time it felt more like standard Monday morning traffic.
The drive back... omg. That 2.5h felt like 5.5. I hung around Toledo until after the partial ended, shopped a little, got some gas, then headed north. The construction and everyone merging in from Luna mangled traffic badly. Once you got past that it was like the Red Sea parting. Was able to pace out pretty well after that.
Looking back, it was totally worth it and I'd do that whole thing over again just the way it was done this time if it meant experiencing it like that again. The only thing rattling around now is maybe I should've went further east for another 2m of totality but what I got was truly awesome. One of the best descriptions I'd heard today was from a little boy who said it looked like a big black hole in the sky. Very cool.
For the younger among us, the next time a total eclipse will cross Michigan will be in 2099.
In 2099 on my birthday. I'll be 137.
Be careful. At that age, Ryan Day might want to fight you.
Very similar to my experience. Paid $5 to get a seat at the Mud Hens ballpark, where there were some nice people who helped me repair my cereal-box pinhole camera. Aside from my son complaining about the horrible traffic from Metro Detroit, it was wonderful. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie -- a big freaking hole in the sky!
In the end, we spent about 5.5 hours in the car, roundtrip. Even dis-affected son agreed that the eclipse was cool, and probably would have been worth 4 hours in the car.
I watched it on TV. It seemed to be something like watching a fireworks show -- awesome to witness. There seems to be a longing for community activities such as this, where no one cares what your identity is or who you favor politically. People want to be in groups with other people, focusing on something bigger than ourselves.
Posted my experiences on the earlier thread, but since that one is virtually dormant, I'l do it again here.
My wife and I flew to Mazatlan because we thought we'd have a better chance of clear skies. Turns out that that wasn't necessary, and we had a scare that our strategy would backfire when we woke up to a forecast of overcast skies all day. But all we got were some wispy cirrus clouds that didn't block anything.
And the eclipse was amazing and awesome in the literal sense of the words. We watched it on a terrace overlooking the beach. To answer someone's question on the other thread, we didn't notice any difference on the horizon except maybe it was.a little brighter, but the ocean looked more intense and even kind of shiny.
The sky was darker than I recall from 2017, perhaps because of the partial cloud cover. and the corona didn't extend as far. But there was an incredible white ring around the moon.
Just as in 2017, the instant totality began was as dramatic a moment as I've ever experienced, not counting 2017.
One of the fun parts of being there was meeting many people from other parts of the US and from Canada and other countries. We met a man from Denver who said this was his 11th eclipse and a retired French radiologist with his French and Uraguayan family of 8 who was on his 8th. We may see them again in Spain in 2026 and Luxor in 2027. For sure they'll be there.
From what I saw, there were clear skies everywhere, so I'm glad everyone who wanted to see it had an incredible experience.
Oh, one other thing, traffic near St. Louis, from which people had to drive two hours (in normal traffic), seems to have been as bad as MGoBloggers are reporting here. My brother planned to go to Cape Girardeau in Southern Missouri, but traffic was so bad that he had to stop along the way and only got two minutes of totality instead of four.
I would love to pick your brain about Spain and Luxor. Any tips besides booking as much as in advance?
April 10th, 2024 at 12:34 AM ^
Here's what I know, The eclipse in Northern Spain will occur on August 12, 2026, and will be at about sunset, which means you have to have a good view of the western horizon. Also, i don't think it will be in any big cities. That argues in favor of taking an organized tour, and several are being advertised now, but they are expensive.
The one in Luxor will occur on August 2, 2027. It will travel through other N. African countries. It will last for about 6-1/2 minutes, almost a record for recent eclipses.
I'd completely forgotten about it, until I went outside, thought the daylight looked weird, saw neighbors looking up and remembered "Oh, right - the eclipse." A neighbor gave me a pair of glasses, and I saw it at the near totality of 98+ %. The air was definitely cooler. The muted sunlight reminded me of when I shared a bedroom with my brother. When I had to work an early shift, I drape a towel over my bedside lamp so that the glare wouldn't wake him up. The room would have a slightly orange glow.
Funny, the things you remember.
I left Ann Arbor around 9:45 AM, selected the "avoid freeways" option on Google Maps, and experienced no traffic whatsoever. It took me about an hour to get down to Toledo.
The return trip at 8 PM didn't go as smoothly. I avoided freeways, but experienced a traffic jam west of Milan. It took me about 1:15 to get home.
It was amazing how rapidly the sky darkened. And one thing I hadn't anticipated: things got significantly colder as well. Just as totality ended, the sun looked like a star (which it is, of course).
Another item off my bucket list.
We live in Ohio and directly along the 100% path. We drove out to out church where there was an open field not blocked by trees. The kids thought that the partial eclipse was need, but were completely captivated by the totality. It looked like sunset with an orange sky. It was even better because the weather was supposed to be mostly coudy and at the time there were very few clouds during the couple hours we were there.
sorta meh here in Virginia with a hazy sky. Still, it was what it was
I was struck by how much humanity has changed.
For about 199,800 years of human existence, a solar eclipse was an event with the most extreme mythology, a direct warning from god, a terrifying sign or significant somethingoranother
For the last 200 years or so, or 0.001% of human existence, it doesn't carry that same meaning (generally, but even today you have some wackos...)
Experiencing the eclipse was profound for me just in understanding our period within the history of humanity
We also drove A2 to Toledo. It took us 2 hours down and 2.5 hours back. I think it was worth it as I have never seen a total eclipse before. I took my son and his girlfriend and I think they enjoyed it - especially getting most of the day off school. We had a picnic in a park near the Toldeo Zoo (which was at maximum capacity). We were also surprised about how cool it got through the whole event.
We drove past Toledo to Fremont to get closer to the center line of the path. We had 3:38 of totality. The traffic was awful going through Monroe County and the northern part of Toledo. Once we got on the 280 there was no traffic to Fremont. Coming home was worse - bad traffic from the Maumee River to 275. We used Waze and were put on some strange routes but we could see why they were recommended. You did not want to be at a stop sign where the cross traffic did not need to stop. I thought the coolest part was when everything went dark wearing the eclipse glasses and we took them off to see the total eclipse with the corona around it. We also saw Venus and Jupiter in the sky.
Couldn’t have cared any less. At its peak, as I drove down the freeway, I noticed that it wasn’t quite as bright as it usually is and realized that I’d seen this before…every evening as the sun starts to go down. If it had gone completely dark, it would’ve been something I see every night.
I live in a part of New Hampshire that was going to be at about 95%, so drove north about 2 hours to Vermont to see totality. Drive up was slow--took almost 3 hours. But then we found a convenient place to park off the highway and we were lucky with the weather--barely a cloud in the sky.
Seeing totality--wow. I understand people who are underwhelmed by 90% or 95% percent or whatever. I mean, it's interesting, but you are looking through super dark sunglasses at an orange circle that is slowly covered by a dark crescent. And it gets a little bit darker, but you pretty much have to be aware of it to even know it is happening. Totality is entirely different. The moment it moves from 99% to 100% is breathtaking. There is no, "Hmm, it seems a little darker right now." It goes from daylight to nighttime in a matter of seconds. And then looking up without the glasses and seeing that eerie covered light in the sky. Yes, the travel is a pain, but it is a really, really cool experience.
We were very lucky on the ride back--got back on the highway pretty quickly and had almost no traffic (I think a lot of people decided to wait a few hours to return, hoping that the traffic would dissipate, but the result was that traffic was bad in the evening).
I drove from Ann Arbor over to Canada, about a hour drive, and watched the total eclipse in Colchester south of Windsor. Was on a beach at a winery on Lake Erie with a bottle of wine, no traffic whatsoever, and maybe 10 other people there. Was an amazing experience and definitely one I won't forget! I had a feeling going south in the States would be chaotic and I'm glad my gamble of driving south into Canada worked out instead!
Excellent plan, that was one of a few back-up plans suggested to me by my younger brother (he's a driver for a tire broker, he drives a route thru southern Ontario (border crossings from Windsor to Buffalo a few times a month).
Glad that worked out so well for you!
Now this so far has been the best way to see it I have read on here. A beach, bottle of wine, an eclipse. Nice.
Go Blue!!!!
I'm 80 and I missed this one in the U.P..what are my chances of ever seeing one again. slimmm
Didn’t leave W MI so just got the mostality. Much like the last one it was kinda neat for a minute and then back to work.
We only got about 80% of it here in Atlanta and honestly, if I didn't know we were having an eclipse I wouldn't have noticed. Just felt like a cloudy afternoon.
The kids thought it was great though, couldn't stop talking about it all night. Then they kept asking me if I'd still be alive to see the next one in 20 years. I sure as hell hope so, I'm only 45!
EDIT: after reading through a lot of these comments it's crazy to see how many of you drove hours to see the eclipse. I guess it's a big deal to a lot of people (I really couldn't care less) cool that ya'll would do that.
Driving 6-7 hours to get into a totality area wasn't feasible, so I watched from the parking lot at work - across the street from Dulles Airport in DC. We had mostly clear skies for the ~90% coverage. Didn't get as dark as I'd thought it get, but it still looked pretty cool, and it did cool off temperature wise a bit. Was fun to see, and I hope to see a total eclipse someday, but it'll have to be overseas. When the next one comes through the States, I'll be 78 and probably won't want a drive. I mean, I didn't want a drive yesterday!
Sister and BIL took the train into Buffalo from Chicago overnight because there were no flights. It was super cloudy and we thought we were going to miss it but you could intermittently see through. Clouds were actually sort of fun because every few minutes someone would say "You can see it" and everyone would throw on their glasses.
Total eclipse was surreal. It got middle of the night dark and the street lights came on. You could hear people cheering throughout our neighborhood. The "You can see it" moments continued and we probably got about a minute of being able to see it.
My sister said it was definitely worth the trip. They flew back to Chicago via Tampa. (7 hours)
Was at Augusta National with my dad for a practice round. Got to watch it sitting on the 12th tee. Pretty f-ing cool setting for an eclipse
I watched the same thing from my couch, but I ran out of chips. Kidding.
Had to meet with someone who was incarcerated and couldn't check it out. Boo.
For those talking about the partial eclipses…
September 14th, 2099 Ann Arbor and Detroit will be in the path of totality, so those in the area can get the real McCoy then. Mark your calendars.
The day after my 116th birthday. Everybody can come over to my house to party.
Fortunately for all who will still have their football season tickets in 2099, Sept 14th is a Monday. Your trip to-and-from The Big House and $1500 to tailgate on the AAGO on Saturday 9/12 can proceed as normal.
We had something like 86% in Virginia. Just saw the partial out the back window of our clinic. Was neat.
Live outside of Cleveland and decided to take the day off since my teacher wife and the kids already had off school. I was pretty skeptical about all the build-up and especially we woke up to cloud cover. The clouds disappeared by 11am and we had clear blue skies the rest of day and HOLY SHIT WAS THAT COOL. Feel like I'm going to become a full-on eclipse chaser over here. That was straight up magical.
As always, xkcd doesn't miss: 
It is very true. Totality is way different than even a 99% partial. I am glad you were able to enjoy a total solar eclipse.
It became very dark in downtown Detroit.
Here in the downriver suburbs of Detroit, we only had something like 99.4% coverage, but it was enough to make it - at least momentarily - about 8 PM dark, if you will. In addition, for about two minutes, the streetlights popped on. We did notice a slight drop of in temperature as well - officially, it dropped about four degrees Fahrenheit here, they said. The peak of our experience lasted roughly two minutes. We did get a couple grainy photos too, but mostly ambience shots at peak. It was briefly sort of creepy in a way.
I live just outside of Indianapolis. It was awesome. Sat in my hot tub and watched it.
Just incredible. Most everything in our universe is math and physics related and mankind is pretty miniscule in the bigger scheme of things. Great to see people come together to have this awesome experience of totality. Now back to not being nice to each other.
Was near Niagara Falls in a somewhat suburban backyard. There was a significant amount of cloud cover, but it started to clear a bit toward totality. There was a noticeable temperature drop. The light colour turned golden. The birds, construction and traffic all went quiet except for one chattering robin.
Then it went dark and the robin finally shut-up but we couldn't see the sun for cloud cover. We had a sinking feeling we were going to miss it. Then we heard a loud but distant cheer that seemed to be getting closer to us- A break in the cloud and the corona appeared. Pending disappointment was replaced by surprising exhilaration.
Then the birds, traffic and construction slowly returned to pre eclipse levels.
I'm not really a touchy-feely guy who's prone to express his emotions, but that was pretty damn moving.
Definitely the 2nd best day of the year so far.