Awesome. Amazing. The best thing I’ve ever seen.
These comments came from people both online and in-person after witnessing the Great American Eclipse that swept over Henderson Monday afternoon.
None of those descriptions are hyperbolic, but perhaps even understated, about an event that many of us will likely never view again. The eclipse’s grandness is supported by its drawing power, pushing people to travel great lengths to be a part of it.
One such couple, David and Allison Plumlee, left their home in Dunnellon, Fla., Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. and drove through the night, before arriving at the Henderson riverfront at 6:45 a.m.
Allison Plumlee said one of the first things the couple did together was witness an eclipse, and viewing them has become something they do together. She said she made the trip because we humans take the sun for granted, but then there’s an eclipse and “to see it, to see the power, the magnificence of it” is not something we get to experience much in our lives.
David Plumlee said it’s a reminder of how small humans are in the grand scheme and the perfection of both mathematical laws and God’s laws.
“It reminds us of God’s care for us,” he said.
Although another eclipse won’t pass over the continental U.S. until 2044 and then again in 2045, the Plumlees said they may make the trek to Alaska in 2033 to view a total solar eclipse that will pass over the Last Frontier.
The Plumlees’ return trip is also noteworthy—David Plumlee was scheduled to work Tuesday morning, and the couple was preparing for another all-night road trip back to central Florida so he could make it to work on time.
Charlie Lopez drove with his family a shorter, but no more important distance. The elementary school student from Franklin, Ky., set up his telescope on the hillside of Sunset Park and was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Devil Comet and perhaps even Mars during the eclipse, said his father, David.
Charlie said he grew interested in the eclipse last year after a science teacher told him about it and now he wants to become an astronomer when he grows up.
Javier Rodríguez, originally from Chile, came with his wife and two children, along with a group of five families from Louisville, where Rodríguez works as a nurse practitioner.
He said they didn’t want to watch the eclipse in Louisville, where it would be 98% totality. They also didn’t want to go to Indiana, and so they landed in Henderson with 100% totality.
“This is perfect,” Rodríguez said about their spot in Sunset Park, adding there’s a playground for the kids, and the river’s right next to them.
Abby Dixon, the executive director of the Henderson Tourist Commission, told the Hendersonian slightly before noon Monday that that their offices opened at 8:15 a.m. and it had been nonstop till then.
She said visitors from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Michigan and Maryland had stopped in.
“They love Henderson,” she said.
Henderson’s charm, she said, had convinced two sisters from Michigan, who take a yearly trip together, to return next year.
“We know that when people are here, they love it,” she said.
Dixon grew emotional then, realizing all the years and meetings that had gone into the planning of Eclipse Day, while also experiencing its success in the moment.
“It’s just really cool to see it all in real time,” she said.
It seemed a day that went off without a hitch, so well, in fact, that the clouds that socked Henderson in until about 9 a.m. and then drifted through the sky for much of the morning seemed to know when to move on to allow perfect views during the eclipse. Some clouds still drifted and lingered, but didn’t hamper the views for long.
Traffic and emergency preparedness were a headache to plan for and likely caused anxiety among local authorities were, but likewise, they caused few problems Monday.
When asked Tuesday if deputies had encountered any problems, Henderson County Sheriff Chip Stauffer responded, “None.”
Then he paused for a moment and relayed a story of a car breaking down on the northbound lane of the Twin Bridges at about 1 p.m. But even that had some good luck to it, because a wrecker just so happened to be passing at the time and loaded up the car and carried it on, Stauffer said.
Henderson Office of Emergency Management Director Kenny Garrett said the day went about as well as it could for emergency services.
“We were there and ready to go for probably anything that might have presented itself but thankfully it didn’t,” Garrett said.
He said there were a few medical runs during the time of the eclipse, but those were normal, not because of the eclipse crowd.
Garrett said some traffic backup did occur on the 41-Strip a bit before the beginning of the eclipse when he believed some last-minute eclipse chasers were making their way to Indiana. A backup along the strip occurred then but that was remedied when the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials synched up the stoplights so that they remained green at the same time to let traffic move along, he said.
Garrett also said traffic backed up on the southbound bridge and well into Evansville—reports say all the way back to the Lloyd Expressway—after the eclipse. He said Henderson Police Department officers worked stoplights along the 41-Strip, waving through southbound motorists and keeping vehicles on side streets from coming onto the strip.
Temperature drops were evident during the eclipse. According to data collected on the Hendersonian’s outdoor thermometer (unofficial and unscientific), the temperature was 76 degrees at 12:30 p.m. At 1:04, it was still 76 degrees. At 1:30, it was 74 degrees; at 1:45, 72 degrees; 2:00, 70 degrees.
At 2:05, directly after totality ended, the temperature was 68 degrees, according to the Hendersonian’s outdoor thermometer.
Then the temperature moved back up, reaching 73 degrees by the time of fourth contact at 3:20 p.m.
The National Weather Service in Paducah recorded similar readings. Before the eclipse’s start, the temperature was at 77 degrees and it fell to 70 degrees at about the end of totality before reaching back up to the upper 70s in the afternoon, said the NWS.
