While they weren’t the massive crowds some were anticipating, those that were there were enthusiastic and came from all over the U.S. About 150 visitors and residents gathered on the banks and across the pedestrian walkway on the Eggners Ferry Bridge Monday hoping to catch a once-in-a-lifetime look at a total solar eclipse as it crossed the region.
Far more gathered at Fenton, just inside Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and more still took to Kentucky Lake. It was a slow build. While the bustle of the day was there before 8 a.m., crowds didn’t really begin to gather heavily near Aurora until about 11:15 a.m., just before the first contact of the moon initiated eclipse at 11:58 a.m.
Sean Goodwin, a resident of Trenton, Tenn., woke early Monday morning and piled into the car with his wife and a friend to make it to the path of totality. Goodwin said the group had initially planned to visit Clarksville, Tenn., however the threat of traffic delays on the interstate and swarming crowds drew their attention elsewhere.
“I was shocked, we barely passed 10 cars,” Goodwin said. “… We avoided the interstate; we went down the highways and state routes. … After we heard the traffic was so going to be so bad on the interstate we decided there’s other places we could go.”
Goodwin was excited about the eclipse and had researched associated phenomenon. The trio walked the Eggners Ferry Bridge Monday, wearing their Eclipse 2017 T-shirts and chatting comfortably as they scouted potential vantage points. The whole experience was one to which he looked forward.
“The entire thing,” Goodwin said. “From the very beginning through totality. I’ve always been interested in space and stars and all that.”
The astronomical marvel was only part of the appeal for Jim and Cathy Justice of Nashville, Tenn. The Justices have family from Mount Vernon, Ill., who keep a “fishing shack” near Aurora, and the couples often meet in the area, a rendevous point near center for both. It was only natural, then, to make the trip to Aurora to watch total solar eclipse over Kentucky Lake. Jim Justice said he was particularly excited about watching the changes associated with the eclipse.
“The A, B, C, D points of the eclipse I’ve read about and how long it takes, and I’ve got an app that’s going to kind of show me how all that works and be ready for it,” Jim Justice said. “So, I’m kind of going a little scientific on it. … We’re not devotees by any means, but we’ve known about it for quite some time – before it ever started being advertised.
“It’s a good time, and something we’ll not ever see again and be able to be together,” Jim Justice added. “It’s something historic.”
The couples were among early arrivers to the area, walking the multi-use path on the bridge about 8 a.m. They set up chairs on the bank at the base of the bridge, waiting in anticipation for totality and what it might bring.
“Just seeing the totality, seeing the darkness,” Cathy Justice said. “… Seeing what happens, if any animals come out and are taken by the change.”
Still, others came just to scope it out. Aurora resident Bruce Helm took time to visit the bridge early Monday morning, walking the path with a visiting friend, Judy Hartman, from Louisville. Helm, who said he’d not been displaced from his normal routine throughout the weekend, was curious about the turnout on the day itself.
“Today there might be a little more (traffic),” Helm said. “But we went out to eat there in Aurora yesterday, and there wasn’t a lot of people for a Sunday at 12 o’clock when two churches let out. … We thought we’d come here early just to see what you’re looking for: a crowd. But I do know there’s more of a presence of boats on the water. … The most I’ve seen is boat traffic.”
Helm said he had expected more visitors to the area and had planned to watch the eclipse from the comfort of his yard. Helm said he and his company intended to host a cookout and just watch. It was exciting for Hartman, who said she’d never seen a solar eclipse – total or partial.
“To see the darkness of it,” Hartman said when asked what she most anticipated from the event.
It was an entirely worthwhile experience, said Jim Fischer, who drove through the night from Milwaukee, Wis., to meet extended family members from Indiana to witness the event over the lake. Fischer said the idea to travel for the event began as a birthday request from another family member who wanted to see the eclipse. The family researched to find the greatest point of eclipse and came equipped with maps outlining the path of totality before making their way to the bridge. It was the perfect backdrop.
“I think the best part for me (was) when I had my glasses on and I was watching it, and then that moment when all the sudden, it was gone. It was dark,” Jim Fischer said. “That was a pretty wild moment. Then I could take these (glasses) off and just look at it. And then looking at the sunset – that 360-degree sunset – that was amazing. I only read about that like a day ago, I didn’t even know that was going to happen.”
It wasn’t the first experience for Jim’s brother John, but still he said it was no less spectacular to see.
“My wife and I saw one 26 years ago in Baja,” said John Fischer. “And … we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
Others gathered along the shorelines and in different locations throughout the county. Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park saw a large influx of air traffic, with about 91 planes coming into the park’s airport for the event. About 75 people made camp at the beach to watch, with countless more roaming the grounds of the park and launching from KDV to the lake.
Residents and visitors participated in Benton’s solar celebration, the Aurora Community Park and Mike Miller Park in addition to holding their own private celebrations.
Mike Worthy and Shirley Murphy drove nearly three hours north from Savannah, Tenn., to Mike Miller Park to camp on Sunday, along with friends Richard and Rita Underhill, from Conway, Ark., a five-hour trip. They have two things in common, they are beekeepers and amateur astrologists.
Worthy belongs to the Von Braun Astronomical Society located in Huntsville, Ala., and Shoals Astronomy Club in Florence, Ala.
“I knew I wanted to be in the path of totality and began looking at the map and locating places north”, Worthy said. “I actually saw the story on Marshall County Daily, offering camp sites here at the park.”
Worthy had an impressive collection of telescopes and cameras prepared for the eclipse Monday morning and uses an app called Solar Eclipse Timer created by a friend of his in Huntsville, Dr. Gordon Telepun. The most interesting piece of equipment Worthy brought along with him is called a Keplerian Telescope, named after German astronomer Johannes Kepler — a refractive telescope for viewing distant objects.
The Murphy family – Bill, Jolene, Mary and Joe – traveled 420 miles from Bella Vista, Ark., to experience the total eclipse. Bill Murphy, like Worthy is an amateur astronomer and brought along with him some massive telescopes that were set up on the parking lot at the beach by Kentucky Dam Village. Murphy was welcoming any who wanted to take a peak through the telescopes to stop by to enjoy the moment.
Editor Mary Garrison Minyard and Sports Editor Ann Beckett contributed to this report. Click on the photos below to scroll through the gallery and learn more about each photo.
