It won’t happen in the U.S. again until 2044.
But on Monday, a rare, total solar eclipse cut a swath through parts of North America. That’s why TPG sent a team of reporters across the country to cover this incredible and rare celestial event.
The moon passed directly in front of the sun, creating darkness in the mid-afternoon sky for more than four minutes in some places.
Here’s what our intrepid reporters saw, felt and heard from where they were:
Summer Hull in San Antonio
Central Texas had one of the best statistical shots at favorable weather along the path of totality in the year of planning. However, the forecast for the week leading up to the eclipse put a bit of a cloudy damper on expectations of clear weather for much of the Central Texas area.
However, that didn’t stop us from making the five-hour drive from our house to the Hyatt Hill Country Resort on the western side of San Antonio. We joined its eclipse watch party to see the afternoon skies darken and the path of totality pass right over the resort’s golf course.
Hyatt Hill Country made for an easy place to watch the eclipse. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Mostly cloudy skies did prevent consistent viewing as the sun shifted behind the moon in the hour leading up to the moment of totality. Still, we did catch a few peeks during the partial phase of the eclipse. Meanwhile, the resort played music and had things like eclipse t-shirts and even signature eclipse cocktails on offer.
Eclipse party at Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Then, at 1:33 p.m. local time, the winds picked up, the temperature dropped, the birds quieted, and what looked like dusk quickly enveloped the golf course. Fellow resort guests cheered and we broke out our glow sticks and glow-in-the-dark glasses for the less than two minutes in the darkness we got to enjoy on this eastern edge of the path of totality.
We watched the eclipse next to a couple who had made the trip from Denver. We all marveled together about how this must have felt to witness before the days of modern technology if you didn’t know it was coming. We knew it was coming, and it still took our breath away to plunge into almost total darkness within seconds in the middle of the day.
Since we were on the edge of the path, it was over very shortly after it began, and we started our drive back home. It took longer this time because of all the other traffic heading east toward Houston and points beyond the path that cut through Central Texas. The moment of totality in Texas was over, but for other parts of the country, it was just beginning.
Tarah Chieffi in Indianapolis
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway — home of the annual Indy 500 race — is typically loud on and off the track. The cars are roaring by at speeds upward of 220 miles per hour, and more than 300,000 fans are cheering on their favorite racers.
TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
As the solar eclipse neared totality just before 3:06 p.m. local time, however, the crowd was noticeably silent. We had beautiful, sunny weather in Indianapolis. However, with each degree the temperature dropped and each shade darker the sky got, the 50,000 attendees at the track’s sold-out total solar eclipse event stared in awe at the sky (safely through the lenses of their eclipse glasses, of course).
TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
Indianapolis was already expecting nearly 100,000 visitors for the eclipse, but when weather forecasts took at turn for the worse in other major cities along the path of totality, that number got quite a boost. About 10% to 15% more people headed to Indianapolis, resulting in a total economic impact of $28 to $48 million.
I live only two hours from Indianapolis, so it was a no-brainer to make the drive and witness this once-in-a-lifetime event. There were 70 events held all over the city. There was the free “Lunacy” event at White River State Park with food trucks, music and more as well as the “Total Eclipse of the Art” event at Newfields, home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
There was no bad spot to watch the eclipse in Indianapolis. Still, standing near the finish line of such an iconic track while experiencing the three minutes and 46 seconds of darkness as the moon totally blotted out the sun made the event even more memorable.
Melissa Klurman in Rochester, New York
It was 3:06 p.m. local time, and we had 14 minutes before totality in my location just outside of Rochester.
MELISSA KLURMAN FOR THE POINTS GUY
I’d driven five hours up from New Jersey to Genesee Country Village & Museum for its Solar Spectacle Festival to watch the eclipse in a peaceful 19th-century village. Unfortunately, the sky morphed from what I was calling “partly cloudy” to “mostly cloudy,” and then straight up drizzling.
As I scanned the skies, looking for any glimmer of sun, museum docent Rick Huff said, “You know what they say about the weather in Rochester? If you don’t like it, wait five minutes and it will change.” I hoped he was right, but as the time for totality approached, we still had nothing but gray skies.
There were hundreds of fellow sky watchers around the field, but it was nearly silent as everyone collectively started to realize we were not going to witness much of anything instead of the history we’d all hoped for.
Then, something almost, well, magical happened. The sky around us went dark, darker, and then…pitch black. Although we couldn’t see the sun or the shadows of the moon crossing it, we still experienced the effects of a total solar eclipse.
MELISSA KLURMAN FOR THE POINTS GUY
People begin to cheer and clap. A young boy near me yelled, “Totality!” The air became icy cold, and it felt like the early hours of the morning. Then, a halo of blue-tinged light formed around the village, and it felt as though someone was turning a dimmer switch back to high; the light around us gradually got brighter.
We basically experienced sunset, midnight and sunrise, all in the course of four minutes. The crowd at the living history museum cheered again as the sky returned to its pre-eclipse fuzzy gray, and the drizzle continued to fall.
I never did see the sun during the eclipse of 2024, but as the festival promised, it was still a solar spectacle.
Zach Griff in the skies over Arkansas
Lots of fanfare and limited views. That was the vibe on Delta Air Lines’ special solar eclipse flight from Austin to Detroit on Monday.
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
In anticipation of the eclipse, Delta scheduled two one-of-a-kind solar eclipse flights that operated in the path of totality. The first, from Austin to Detroit, sold in less than a day. So, the airline added a second one from Dallas-Fort Worth, which was also fully booked within hours.
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
With one-way fares starting at $699 in economy and climbing to over $1,299 for first class, I would’ve expected an amazing view of totality from 30,000 feet. After all, how much better could it be seeing the eclipse from above the clouds that covered Austin on Monday morning?
What I got instead was a momentary glimpse of the action (along with a strained neck from contorting myself into an ideal configuration, looking upward to catch a peek from the Airbus A220’s oversized windows.)
To be fair, I saw the total eclipse for just a few seconds, and it was memorable. But my pictures and videos certainly don’t do it justice. After all, with the eclipse traveling at 1,600 miles an hour and the one-year-old jet being propelled by a 120-mile-per-hour tailwind, the physics just weren’t in our favor.
Plus, with the increased air traffic in the path of totality on Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t let the pilots make a complete “S-turn” with enough banking to give both sides of the plane a front-row view of totality.
FLIGHTRADAR24
Though my view of totality wasn’t as impressive as I would’ve hoped, it was mesmerizing to see how the cabin and earth below us started getting dark in the moments leading up to totality. Despite being just 1:45 p.m. local time, it felt like the sun was about the set for the day. (I even noticed some passengers letting out a yawn.)
As an aviation enthusiast, there was no better place for me to watch the eclipse than onboard a flight — even if it made for a much more challenging viewing perspective than I would’ve anticipated.
That’s especially true because Delta (literally and figuratively) rolled out the red carpet on Monday. It started from the moment I stepped inside the Austin Sky Club. A cheery receptionist welcomed me inside and showed me the special solar eclipse glasses Delta was handing out in partnership with Warby Parker.
My next stop was meeting the bartender, who had just whipped up two specialty solar eclipse-themed cocktails — a tequila sunrise and a dark side of the moon espresso martini — which were selling quite well, the bartender said.
At the Sky Club, I also caught my first glimpse of my fellow passengers, many of whom were wearing commemorative T-shirts and eclipse-themed gear. (My favorite was a gentleman’s shirt depicting an astronaut with solar eclipse glasses velcroed to its face.)
From the Sky Club, I made my way to Gate 10 for the official start of the party. The gate area was adorned with a massive celebratory balloon arch. There were at least 20 Delta employees wearing eclipse gear and carrying signs with the airline’s eclipse motto, “climbing the cosmos.”
The excitement was palpable from everyone, including the passengers who went to great lengths to book this flight. One traveled from Amsterdam for the occasion. Another waited until this flight to propose to his longtime girlfriend. (She said yes.)
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
One Diamond Medallion removed herself from the 52-person upgrade list for fear of being upgraded to an aisle seat.
Nearly everyone knew what they were getting themselves into, except for the six passengers who said they had no idea they had booked a special eclipse flight. That led to a celebratory atmosphere, with lots of music, cheering and picture-taking.
Even the hand-picked crew with an average of 30 years of seniority was getting in on the fun. The two captains, Phil Marshall and Phil Daniels, are in charge of training and oversight of the A220 fleet; they even spent time in the flight simulator last week practicing the maneuvers needed to safely give everyone a view of totality.
The party continued once on board. Passengers exchanged eclipse stories, the pilots handed out commemorative trading cards, and people “ooh”-ed and “aah”-ed as they got to their seats to find fully stocked swag bags with treats, gear and eclipse glasses.
“Who is excited?” the lead flight attendant asked over the PA system during boarding. After a raucous round of applause, she exclaimed, “You know what, I’m not going to lie, your crew is very excited, too.”