[Riley.]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

We're driving up to the St. Johnsbury area-ish from Boston. Honestly, at this point we'll just be happy to find a grocery store parking lot to watch from, but wondering if anyone has any ideas of places in the Northeast Kingdom to pull off to watch?

Really kicking myself for not planning to get a hotel earlier!

Every place is booked solid. But I'd bet you'll find some enterprising Vermonter who's gonna have parking in their fields for a fee Could be mush, though. We had a very heavy wet snow for the last two days that is starting to melt.
Good luck.

[VTsnowbird]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

We're driving up to the St. Johnsbury area-ish from Boston. Honestly, at this point we'll just be happy to find a grocery store parking lot to watch from, but wondering if anyone has any ideas of places in the Northeast Kingdom to pull off to watch?

Really kicking myself for not planning to get a hotel earlier!

You got $1000 to spend on a hotel room? lol. Parking lot sounds like a good idea. What are you going to do if you get stuck in traffic on 91 along with everyone else who had the same idea, and can't make it to St. J? Or are you leaving Boston wicked early?



I had planned NOT to do my volunteer driving that day as I want to see the eclipse (I am about 50 miles from totality, that's fine by me). But of course they need a driver to take someone home from a medically necessary visit, fortunately I can pick them up after totality is over.

[harry chickpea]

Given conditions, places I might consider in Vermont:

The bike path on the lake along the old Rutland line through the islands.
Ithial Falls.
Places with a view of Camels Hump or the top of Mansfield. Those might show the difference of night and day.
North facing side of Mt Philo with a view.
Hillside overlooking any town or city.
King Arthur's court.

There is an effect that occurs before and after totality. The trees are not leafed out enough to make it naturally, but any place where there are multiple small apertures can have multiple crescent shaped images.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Given conditions, places I might consider in Vermont:

The bike path on the lake along the old Rutland line through the islands.
Ithial Falls.
Places with a view of Camels Hump or the top of Mansfield. Those might show the difference of night and day.
North facing side of Mt Philo with a view.
Hillside overlooking any town or city.
King Arthur's court.

There is an effect that occurs before and after totality. The trees are not leafed out enough to make it naturally, but any place where there are multiple small apertures can have multiple crescent shaped images.

Unless they are camped out in these spots, I'd assert they are already taken.
Many public spaces that have parking lots are closed tomorrow and are locking the gates around the properties.
My opthamologist is having security at his parking lot (a good spot to view, probably). I have an appointment at 9:45 tomorrow morning. ugh

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by VTsnowbird

You got $1000 to spend on a hotel room? lol. Parking lot sounds like a good idea. What are you going to do if you get stuck in traffic on 91 along with everyone else who had the same idea, and can't make it to St. J? Or are you leaving Boston wicked early?

Unfortunately, my parents had planned on making it a family trip and rented an AirBNB for us for the weekend, but then at the last minute changed their mind because they got miffed at my brother and cancelled rather than asked me if I'd be willing to pay for it all. By the time I reached out to the owner the next day, they had already rented it out for triple what my parents paid 6 months ago. This all happened in the last 2 weeks or so when dog-friendly hotels were up to $1000 a night.

So we're hoping for the best leaving at 5-5:30 a.m. with a cooler full of snacks in tow and wet wipes given the likely bathroom situation.

For what is likely a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us (given that I'm unlikely to actually fly somewhere for another one), it's worth the shot even though it will be chaotic!

[harry chickpea]

The media and commercial hype around this one is about ten times what the previous one got. Also, the proximity to population centers means more mass migrations for an event that takes less than a quarter hour.

I have a hard time thinking that Vermont can be much more inundated than it is with leaf peepers in a good year. There are only so many roads to travel on.

Driving to an area of totality is not worth the hassle for me this year.

Another tip on watching one -

Unless you have a chiropractor on speed dial, you may want to take breaks from looking straight up. A camera obscura is your friend. Find a box, cut a inch square hole in one side, cover that with aluminum foil and tape it in place. On the inside of the box, on the side opposite the hole, tape a sheet of printer paper. Close the box up, sit it on a table with the aluminum foil side up, and find a spot on one of the sides to cut or open a viewing hole where you can see the paper easily. Do that and find some lightproof cloth to drape over your head and it while watching. Put a hole in the foil as an aperture. You can experiment today to find the diameter that works for you, replacing the foil if you mess up. Come the eclipse, you can see it while sipping your libation of choice.

If you want to get fancy, use a lens - magnifying lens, camera lens, lens from a telescope eyepiece, etc.

If you want to skip the box entirely, with some lenses you can focus the image on a sheet of paper. The image will be more washed out, but clearly visible.

[Summerz88]

Folks flocking to Burlington.
I usually mute the music
Will the cloud of Murphys Law appear?
Hope not….exciting day either way..



https://www.youtube.com/live/zl1woMXGGmQ?feature=shared

[harry chickpea]

Go here: https://www.wcax.com/weather/cams/ and click on the waterfront cam. Lots of people.

Looks like the place to be may be Derby or Newport though. Those clouds are coming on in.

[Summerz88]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Go here: https://www.wcax.com/weather/cams/ and click on the waterfront cam. Lots of people.

Looks like the place to be may be Derby or Newport though. Those clouds are coming on in.

Place is packed.

[mascoma]

There were a couple of people from Alabama taking photos in the parking lot. Mostly empty. Almost no one at work. I saw tons out MA plates on the interstate last night and a few from places like VA. I was only able to see Venus because of the thin clouds, but it was cool.