Eclipse chasing runs in our family, and we took our first attempt at it ourselves for the total eclipse on April 8, 2024. We weren’t planning on making the jaunt into the path of totality, but as the big day drew closer we started thinking that it wasn’t that far to get to the total eclipse that perhaps we should figure out a way to do it.
And then there was the weather realization. The forecast for most of the path across the United States was cloudy. And so we didn’t make any hotel reservations as the date crept closer and the prices jumped. We looked at going to northern New York, Erie Pennsylvania and even into Ohio and Michigan as the hotels and Airbnb options filled up.
At the end of the week preceding the eclipse, the forecast firmed up and it was clear that northeast New England was the place to be. Rain in Texas. Total cloud cover for much of the country. But the sweet spot was only a 6.5 hour drive from us in Philadelphia – if we could find some place to stay.
It wasn’t easy but we eventually landed on a series of reservations that allowed us a reasonable likelihood of both getting into the path of totality by the afternoon of the eighth as well as not have to fight too much traffic on the way out.
Our destination for the day was Stowe, Vermont, not far from the famed ski resort at Stowe Mountain and not far from the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury. Our reservation the night before was at the Riverside Hotel in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, which is just across the river from Brattleboro Vermont. It is a two hour drive from Brattleboro to Waterbury (the town at the highway exit for Stowe).
We couldn’t get a hotel for the night before the eclipse in Waterbury because they were all sold out, but were able to get one for two nights starting on the evening of the eclipse at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. It was pretty expensive for a single night stay there, but by spreading the cost over two nights we basically turned it into a buy one night get one night free and that brought the price down from the astronomical to the mildly pricey for a big city range.
We were (unnecessarily) worried that there would be a lot of traffic on the way up so we left on Saturday afternoon with the eclipse on Monday to give us plenty of time to get past New York City. We ended up making it to Springfield Mass on Saturday night because there wasn’t extraordinary traffic, and that left us with a full day to enjoy and only two hours to travel to get to the next night’s accommodations.
We decided to use the time at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site and the Eric Carle Museum.
The Springfield Armory was the site of the nation’s first armory and holds the largest collection of U.S. military small arms. It was the primary manufacturer of weapons for the US military from 1777 until 1968. We weren’t really there to learn about the military weapons, but the place surprised us and we enjoyed our time there. We were actually there for the Solar Eclipse Junior Ranger badge, which we picked up for both of our kids.
Our second stop of the day before we pulled in early to the hotel was the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. As any fan of children’s books knows, Eric Carle is the author of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. The museum contains three rotating galleries devoted to picture book art, and our kids loved it. We will definitely go back the next time we are in the area.
After driving into Vermont, checking into the hotel, and finding some dinner, we hit the beds early so we could get out of there early. It was a pretty sleepless night as I constantly checked the google maps path to see if traffic was building, and around 5 AM when we were all awake we decided there was no need to wait any longer and we got on the road. We weren’t the first people out of there that morning to head to the eclipse, but the front desk clerk told us we were second so I think that still deserves an award for packing two sleepy children into the minivan.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly given the early hour, the roads were clear all the way to Waterbury, and we pulled into Stowe early to grab a parking spot at one of the local parks in the downtown area, not far from the Starbucks, and settled in to enjoy the day and wait for the eclipse.
We walked the park’s trail, fought the crowds at the Starbucks (and Starbucks bathroom), and watched the weather as the hour approached. It felt like a long wait since normally my day’s fly by while working.
As we waited and tried to keep the kids entertained, we couldn’t help but discuss with my mom some of the past eclipse chasing experiences in our family. My Great Aunt was a photographer who took part in the Peace Corp, travelled the world and was a really amazing person. She was able to witness a few different total eclipses in her life,
On the last total eclipse in the United States in 2017, we stayed in Philadelphia for the partial eclipse. I was working in a physical office at the time but we followed the adventures of our family in Ohio who made their way down into the path of totality for the event and then fought the traffic back that time. Despite predictions, we were able to see it then pretty well from downtown Philadelphia amidst the partial clouds.
We had about two and a half minutes of total eclipse, which I remember as a brutally fast period of trying to commemorate the moment with my cameras and family.
It turns out that taking a good photo of a total eclipse is pretty tough unless you know what you are doing, and despite my efforts to learn what I needed to do I wasn’t very successful at it. Our coolest photos actually ended up being on the GoPro which I set up on top of the car and captured the shadow falling across the ground and the street lights coming on perfectly, as well as our activity during the period, perfectly.
One thing to mention here if anyone finds this post before they go see the next eclipse, is that we were all wearing special glasses to be able to see the partial eclipse, and which most of us remembered to take off once we were in the period of totality since you don’t need them then. My mother had fortunately bought an eight pack of them so we were all good there, and we even had a few extras to share if anyone needed them.
I don’t think this adequately captures the anticipation and spectacular moment of a total eclipse, but I also don’t think there is any point in me trying to do so. The only thing that I can say is you should try to experience it at least once in your life if you have the opportunity.
After the eclipse we were definitely on cloud nine. Since there is only one main road between Stowe and Waterbury back to our hotel, we decided to find a place for dinner and hope the traffic thinned out a bit. We ended up eating at Shakedown Street, which is connected to Stowe Cider, as the crowds from the eclipse watch party had already left there and we could get a table with a short wait while we consumed some of the local cider outside.
Nevertheless, despite our efforts to miss the traffic, the roads were still packed on the way back to the hotel, and what should have been a short 15-20 minute drive ended up turning into about a 90 minute endeavor as the roads were stop and go the entire way.
So it was pretty late by the time we got back to check in to the Waterbury hotel for the night and if I recall correctly I passed out shortly after due to the 5 AM wakeup that morning and excitement of the day.
Since we had a two night stay, we checked out some of the local establishments on Tuesday, including the Ben & Jerry’s Factory, Lake Champlain Chocolates, the Trapp Family Lodge and American Flatbread. We also drove up to the Stowe Mountain Resort and vowed to come back for some winter adventures and fun one day.
The crowds had thinned out in the area by Wednesday morning, and we were able to drive home in little traffic while we contemplated the stories of multi-hour delays in the news of others on Monday after the eclipse. We were happy that our reservations worked out and that we were able to make it into the path of totality with no trouble – with no weather issues during our viewing!
The next total solar eclipse is on August 12, 2026 with the path of totality including Greenland, Iceland, Spain and part of Portugal. We definitely discussed making that happen. Will we see you there?
