Everybody doesn’t get to do everything. Last year, Mr. Rilch and I and some friends got to see Aerosmith on what was almost certainly their last tour. There are people further west than us who still have tickets that may never be used or refunded. Where we are will be somewhere between 97% and 99%. And it might rain. Also, short trips can be more exasperating in their own way than long journeys. So we’re not going anywhere, SNS.
I wonder if it might be helpful to choose the things that exasperate you a bit better. You don’t know everything going on that can make things difficult for families.
The thrill of totality can not be described until you’ve seen one. I, myself, am driving from Albany to Rochester, NY or Vermont depending on weather that morning. Each is about 3-4 hour away and I plan to start right after breakfast.
If you plan to hop in your car and get to Toledo 15 minutes before totality, you will have trouble. If you start out 3-4 hours before the eclipse and head into the eclipse, (e.g. Fremont, OH). Don’t take I-90, take US 20 instead. Have a quiet lunch and then find a football field with a good view of the sky. You won’t be alone.
Five minutes after totality, the thrill is over… Beat the traffic and start home. By the time you pass through Toledo, the crowds should be gone.
I liken it to me, if someone offered me free tickets to see Taylor Swift and I said thanks, but No Thanks. Whatever floats your boat.
The fewer disinterested fools who are out and about hogging space in the good locations before, setting off fireworks or camera flashes during, and clogging the roads after the better.
IMO YMMV etc.
Don’t judge me. I don’t use Facebook or watch news on TV, so I don’t get worked up nearly enough to meet FDA nutritional requirements. This sort of exasperation may be thin gruel, but it’s all I have.
Having experienced totality in 2017, I would say the Eclipse has 3 main aspects. 1: everything up to the high 90’s is interesting as you look up. 2: from the high 90’s up to but not including 100% things seem different, shadows get strange and it gets some of a daytime darkness effect. 100% is magical with a hole in the sky.
I can’t get the eclipse simulator site to connect. I’m in Philadelphia. I would love to drive to the opposite corner of the state to see totality. I don’t have a car. I cannot get the time off work. What will I see over the city of brotherly love please?
Philadelphia will get around 90%.
Thanks! and ooooh!
Won’t the walmart parking lot be too well lit up?
Streetlights on tall poles,neon signs, headlights from cars,etc. Plus all the usual light pollution of a city.
You’re overestimating how dark it gets. I watched the 2017 eclipse from a highway rest stop, complete with lights on top of the buildings (bathrooms and whatnot), lights illuminating the paths, etc. The exterior building lights came on but that was it. Didn’t affect my enjoyment of the eclipse at all.
The darkness is comparable to twilight, not dead of night.
I agree with this, heard recently:
“Settling for 99% totality is like driving 99% of the way to the Grand Canyon.”
I was in the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse, but it was overcast and rainy most of the day so I didn’t get a really good look at the eclipse. The thing I found fascinating was the horizon - it had that just-after-sundown glow, but in all directions! So be sure to not just look up, but look around.
My wife missed the last one due to work, so we’re planning on catching this one and hopefully the weather is better this time.
For those of you who aren’t following the “main” eclipse thread: I’ve posted a map where people can drop pins to show where they will be viewing from.
It’ll look odd because the direction of the light will be different (at least if the sky is clear, as people noted in the annular eclipse in the 90s).
But everybody says totality is much more dramatic, and even though I’ve never see full totality*, I believe them competely.
* To be exact, I was in the path of totality in the Gaspé Peninsula in 1973. Unfortunately, there was a thin layer of clouds, so I could see the sun blink out, but not the corona.