August 21 Solar Eclipse

[Ras72]

I'm planning on taking a trip to the Highlands, NC area (pending weather) to view this eclipse.
Anyone else have plans? If so, what part of the country will you be viewing?

[WESTMOTORSPORTS]

We are traveling from Ohio to Helen,Georgia to visit family and to view the "total" eclipse.

[guido]

We will be on vacation in south eastern MA during the eclipse. I read somewhere that we should get ~60% coverage. So we are going to stay right there. That is a 100% cost savings for ~60% of the eclipse. Sounds like a good value to me...

[j44ke]

My wife insisted on getting goggles even though we are going to be in PA that weekend and get a 75% eclipse, so I ordered welding goggles w/ shade 14 green glass plates in the holders so we could wear our eyeglasses to actually see it and look like total idiots simultaneously. She pronounced us "eclipsters" as a result.



I hope there are sandwiches.

edit: Spell check actually changed "goggles" to "googles" - world domination officially completed I guess.

[jumphigher]

People are going crazy for the eclipse around here in the PNW where I live. A neighbor told me this morning she was out on a ride on Saturday and saw some of the last campsites still available that will have a good view - there's very few left - for $1K! Blows my mind anyone would pay that.

Personally I dont find eclipses even marginally interesting, though I know I'm in a tiny minority. But as timing would have it, my wife and I are moving the east coast from the 16th to approx the 21st, so we'll be on the road anyway. :)

[guido]

Welding gogles/hood! Something else to bring on vacation. Thanks Jorn! I think...

[Ras72]

Right on Jorn! I'll be picking up a couple pair at the local Harbor Freight, so I'll right there with you.

Yes, I've found lodging to be priced out of this world - no pun intended.

[davids]

Doesn't the whole thing seem kind of suspicious? How can we know what the sun and the moon are going to do - in the future?

...I'll probably poke a pinhole in a shoebox, and look at the spot change shapes. 60% isn't all that impressive. Which is all we'll get here in NE. If, that is, this actually happens.

[Bob Ross]

Me & the missus are traveling to Bryson City, NC -- directly in the Path Of Totality® -- for that weekend. Bringing bikes, hoping to do some riding in the Great Smokey Mountains before and after the event [sic]

I've been horrifically disappointed by nearly every other eclipse I've witnessed during my lifetime, so my expectations are tempered...but I have an inexplicably all-consuming passion for cosmology and celestial events, so I can't not do something special on the 21st.

Already got our glasses:

[kurto]

We're in the path of totality here in Lincoln, NE, and are going to get 90 seconds of complete eclipse. We've got all kinds of events planned on campus (see 217 Solar Eclipse | Welcome to Nebraska if you care), and I'll just hop out of my office when it's time and be part of the crowd.

[rabo]

Me & the missus are traveling to Bryson City, NC -- directly in the Path Of Totality® -- for that weekend. Bringing bikes, hoping to do some riding in the Great Smokey Mountains before and after the event [sic]

I've been horrifically disappointed by nearly every other eclipse I've witnessed during my lifetime, so my expectations are tempered...but I have an inexplicably all-consuming passion for cosmology and celestial events, so I can't not do something special on the 21st.

Already got our glasses:

Have family from Europe in town , but would love to shake your hand, since the eclipse is coming right over the house, if I did my math right.

[Ras72]

Attachment 103399

[dogrange]

We got a cabin down by Carbondale, IL, site of the longest duration of the Totality. Even many months ago when I booked it, it was pretty big $ (compared to usual rates) and hard to find. There are only like 2 roads and 3 restaurants down in that area, so I am hoping the biggest predictions of crowd sizes are maybe off base . . . .

[guido]

If you guys think this thing is dark, I have it on good authority that in 4 months to the day it will be much darker...

[Bewheels]

Something eerie about the similarities here....

[j44ke]

I think the one I saw was in 1972? I haven't checked dates so I could be totally off on that. I was in second grade? Anyway, this was in Norfolk VA, and Old Dominion University where my dad taught opened up their sports stadium to the public. Everybody brought their telescopes, mirrors, shadow boxes, etc. and set them up in the football field. Total nerd fest. For a kid who thought science was the best thing ever, this was heaven. So many telescopes, and everyone not only let me look through them, they wanted to show me all kinds of calculations, lenses, film attachments and filters, all these contraptions that really, except for the use of film, were about 5 feet from Copernicus and like the Inquisition was yesterday. I had just seen "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and had read all about reactions to eclipses over history, so I had at least a classic comic sense of history & eclipses. Anyway, when it started getting darker, everyone on the field got quiet. Stuff got set up and double checked. Cameras started clicking. Then it went dark. I had some glass filters my dad gave me from his laser at work, and I watched the whole thing. Afterwards there was applause. Handshakes all around among the scientists. Later my dad brought home a handful of photos from NASA where he did some consulting work. Real photos! Same as we used to get during the Apollo missions. They were pretty amazing. Not sure where they went. Anyway, cool experience. I hope lots of kids get to see it this time around also.

[Rich Beaudoin]

I should be working in Bend/Redmond OR (only 20-30 min drive from totality during normal days)!
However, since many of my customers will be closed, crowds expected to severely delay traffic, and my usual Hampton Inn work-residence is about 4x usual rates - I will have to suffer seeing 90+% from around home.
My wife got glasses too!

[Dmoeny]

Sigh... I have to be in Montreal for a work related conference at that time.

[dasein]

I'll be walking up the street to view with my neighbors here in Brevard, NC. Enjoy highlands! It's a great little town that I drive through every Thursday.

I'm planning on taking a trip to the Highlands, NC area (pending weather) to view this eclipse.
Anyone else have plans? If so, what part of the country will you be viewing?

[boydcycling]

It's coming right through Greenville. I'll be getting my daughter out of school so we can go watch it together. Been looking forward to this for a while.

As a joke I have seriously considered making up a Facebook page of a fake law firm who specializes in suing mother nature to help reimburse travel costs if it's cloudy that day. I feel like watching people take that seriously would be funny to see.