There are some days you just know you’ll never forget, and for me, the solar eclipse of 2017, was one of them. For weeks, the excitement had been building, and we had a plan. A couple of days before the eclipse, August 18, 2017, we drove north from Huntsville, camped at Raccoon Mountain just outside Chattanooga, and then made the final drive north into the path of totality on the 21st. On the 19th, we took the cog railway up lookout mountain. On August 20th, the day before the eclipse, we spent the day in Chattanooga, where we went to the aquarium and walked around the area shopping.

The Road to Totality

The drive up from Huntsville was very nice as the weather was perfect. The weather forecast was for almost clear skies with only a few clouds. The interstate was busy, as usual. We set up camp at the Raccoon Mountain campground, a place we knew would get a great partial view (around 98%), but we were determined to see the real show.

Two days later, on the 21st, we drove about an hour north of Chattanooga and found a perfect, small-town park. The Dayton Farmers Pavilion is a seasonal farmers’ market located in Dayton, Tennessee. It is open from June through September at 118 Washington St. The market is a venue for local farmers and artisans to sell produce, meats, dairy, and other goods.

The atmosphere was excited and happy. We were surrounded by people from all over the country, and the air was buzzing with shared anticipation. We arrived at around 9 am in the morning and set up our canopy, ice chests, and chairs. The park hosts a small farmer’s market with several stalls filled with produce.

The partial eclipse began subtly after lunch, a small, dark notch appearing on the edge of the sun, visible only through our protective solar glasses. At first, it was easy to forget what was happening, but as the moon continued its slow, steady march, the world around us began to change. The light took on an eerie, silvery quality, as if we were in a black-and-white movie. We noticed that the shadows cast by the trees were no longer normal. Instead, they were filled with countless tiny crescents, each one a miniature reflection of the partially eclipsed sun.

The Magic of Totality

And then, the moment arrived. As the last sliver of sunlight faded, the world was plunged into a twilight unlike any other. The crowd clapped as the moon completely covered the sun. In that instant, it was safe to remove our glasses.

What we saw was not darkness, but something far more profound. In the place where the sun once burned, there was a perfect, inky-black circle, surrounded by a delicate, pearly-white halo. This was the corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, now visible in all its majestic glory. A 360-degree “sunset” stretched around the entire horizon, painting the sky in soft shades of orange and pink. The temperature dropped noticeably, and a strange silence fell over the field as birds and insects, confused by the sudden darkness, went quiet.

For two and a half minutes, we were all connected, sharing a moment of pure awe. We watched as Baily’s Beads shone like bits of fire around the sun. Baily’s Beads are the last bits of sunlight peeking through the Moon’s valleys. We also saw twisting, wavy lines called shadow bands flowing across the ground. The final, brilliant flash known as the “diamond ring” signaled that the show was over. We put our glasses back on, and the light of day slowly returned.

A Great Memory

The memory of those two and a half minutes is a powerful one. It was a reminder of the scale and beauty of our universe and of the simple, shared joy of looking up at the sky. It was a day when the mundane became extraordinary and a moment I will never forget.

Unfortunately, I was unable to view the total eclipse of April 2024, as I was extremely ill at the time. I was unable to go on a road trip. But, I was able to spend the day on the deck seeing a very nice partial solar eclipse instead.