Historic solar eclipse brings epic party to Nashville
They came from across the nation and the world.
Ohio. Florida. Wisconsin. Germany. Australia. Ireland.
They flocked to Tennessee’s big cities, small towns and everywhere in between, filling state parks to capacity, swarming the grassy lawn surrounding the Parthenon in Nashville and hiking to Clingmans Dome, the state’s highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.
Together, they looked up.
Then, for an electrifying moment, the sky went dark in the middle of the day. A roar rose over the state as people of different heritages, religions and political stripes cheered an event they would never forget.
Someone in White House shot off celebratory fireworks as the solar eclipse reached totality. Cicadas in Centennial Park emerged to sing their nighttime lullabies. At First Tennessee Park, a crowd of thousands groaned and shifted in their seats as a cloud sat in front of the sun until the final seconds of the big moment.
Read more on the historic event:
► Complete coverage of the 2017 solar eclipse
►Solar Eclipse 2017: Experience the eclipse with this stunning time lapse
►Total eclipse literally cooler than partial eclipse
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry compared the eclipse to the excitement of the CMA Music Festival compressed into “96 seconds.” But in many ways, it was a phenomenon like no other in the region’s history.
Nashvillian Becky Baird became emotional as she watched joy wash over the crowd at First Tennessee Park. At a time when the nation’s divisions are painfully clear, this single, ethereal event brought everyone together, if only for a day.
It was "the rarity of it, and that we get to see it in our lifetime," she said. "And all of these people celebrating this as such a positive event."
Eclipse road trips were years in the making for many
Barry said more than 1 million people had likely come to the area to watch the eclipse. Many people said they had planned their pilgrimage for months — or even years.
Warren Chazan, an author from Sydney, said he booked his trip a year in advance for the eclipse. On Monday, he was set up at the Nashville Zoo’s Festival Field with a digital camera and telescope.
Chazan said he’d seen the 2011 eclipse in Australia.
“It got me hooked,” he said.
► More:NASA's photos of the eclipse show the spectacular event in beautiful detail
► More:Eclipse drives animals wild at Nashville Zoo — or maybe it was all the people screaming
The occasion became an excuse for a cross-country vacation for Mike Dunzcame and his family, who came from Germany. They started with a visit to Disney World in Florida, then drove 800 miles to Gallatin to reach the path of totality.
"I'm an eclipse hunter," he said. "I saw one in Germany in 1999 and there was nothing, no way in this world to describe when the moon blocks out the sun."
Ethan Gower, 23, and a few friends came to Nashville from Athens, Ohio, where he is an undergraduate at Ohio University, majoring in astrophysics.
"I've been planning this since I was 10 or 11," the Pittsburgh native said while standing next to his 4- to 5-foot-tall, 8-inch Dobson reflector he bought for $530 last May.
He's used the reflector to see Jupiter, Saturn and as far as the Andromeda Galaxy. On Monday, he added a total eclipse to the list — thanks to a special filter that allowed him to safely look at the sun.
Despite his long-term planning for Monday's phenomenon, Gower wasn't fully prepared for the Southern temperatures. He mopped sweat from his brow while waiting for the eclipse — which ultimately caused temperatures to drop by 6 degrees.
"As someone who is gearing up to look at the sun, I should've planned for this," he said.
Although it was his first eclipse, Gower is already looking forward to the next in North America, which is set for 2024.
"It's a good time to be alive," said Gower's friend, Benjamin Weiser, a high school student from Athens.
Small towns overrun as visitors searched for clear sky
Of course, the excitement surrounding the eclipse stretched well beyond the Nashville area.
McMinnville Mayor Jimmy Haley said he initially expected about 1,000 people to come for "Blackout 2017," an event organized by the city, chamber of commerce and downtown revitalization group Main Street McMinnville. On Monday, about 2,300 people showed up.
To accommodate the crowds, McMinnville public works employees held signs directing drivers to slow down and pointing out where to park.
"I knew the eclipse was coming, but I didn't think we'd be a hot spot like this," said Chris Keele, one of the workers out holding a sign Monday morning. "I guess we are."
Katie Kemezis, executive director of Main Street McMinnville, said a group of people from the Netherlands made a last-minute change of plans after going to Kentucky to watch the eclipse.
"They came specifically to us because we had the best chance of viewing the eclipse," Kemezis said. "We had the least amount of cloud cover."
Parts of Tennessee weren't so lucky.
Miguel Bera, 30, of Nashville, watched the eclipse from First Avenue and Lower Broadway.
"I was very excited," he said as he stood among throngs of people along the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. "But at the last minute when it happened the clouds covered it all so I was very, very disappointed."
At the Adventure Science Center, where almost 8,000 people gathered for the big event, a dark cloud covered the view just as the last sliver of the sun disappeared. The crowd, which included locals and people from all over the country, moaned its disappointment as the sky darkened and then returned to light without a view of the big moment.
Cloudy or not, eclipse meant party time for most
For plenty of folks in the path of totality, the once-in-a-lifetime celestial event was the perfect excuse for a party, with some glimpses of the sun along the way.
Bonnie Mitchell and her business partner, homebuilder Jonathan Helm, planned a “lunar lunch” at a scenic overlook on Knob Hill that they are developing.
"It is the perfect spot because it is up so high and there is only one streetlight," said Mitchell, whose eclipse-inspired fare for the lunch included Milky Ways, Moon Pies, Starbursts and Blue Moon Beer.
And what would a Nashville party be without a specialty cocktail? They served a “lunar slush,” a blend of vodka, ginger beer, mint, crushed ice and lime.
Of course Music City had the perfect playlists cued up throughout the day.
Mitchell's husband had the idea to play the last four songs from Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" during the 17 minutes leading up to totality. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum touted the fact that a real-life "Ring of Fire" was on the way. And Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" echoed from the bar Sweetwater in Nashville as the sun re-emerged from behind the moon's shadow.
By all accounts, the out-of-town eclipse chasers were taking the celebratory mood — and the unforgettable memories — with them as they prepared to leave Tennessee.
"It was absolutely sensational," said Hans Schueller, who came to Gallatin from Austria with his wife, Veronika. "It was something we will take with us for the rest of our lives."
Mary Hance, Natalie Neysa Alund, Natalie Allison, Jordan Buie, Jason Gonzales, Holly Meyer, Nicole Young and Andy Humbles contributed to this report.