Rare solar eclipse captivates thousands in Michigan, Ohio: A 'once-in-a-lifetime' event

Time seemed to stand still Monday afternoon along a swath of the country, including southeast Michigan, as the moon crossed in front of the sun for a rare total solar eclipse, a sight that won't be seen again for 20 years.

From Monroe to Toledo and beyond, thousands gathered at parks, piers and stadiums to watch until the moon and sun aligned. Some looked through telescopes. Others wore simple eclipse glasses, marveling at the historic sight.

In Toledo and Luna Pier in Monroe, both communities in the eclipse's path of totality, crowds cheered and clapped as it reached totality, with several eclipse-watchers saying it was more than they could've imagined. It looked like dusk and the temperature was noticeably cooler.

"It was so spectacular and mind-blowing," said Kristina Brady, 40, of Whitmore Lake, who was in Luna Pier to watch. "It was everything I wanted it to be. I just wished it lasted longer."

Many traveled with loved ones or kids to see the rare event, including Michelle Baker of Troy. She brought her daughter to Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills to watch.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and sometimes you just have to make your way to it,” Baker said.

As just a sliver of the sun was viewable behind the moon around 3:13 p.m., “it’s like the tip of a baby’s fingernail," she said.

In Detroit, hundreds gathered along the Detroit Riverfront to watch the eclipse, which had 99% totality by 3:14 p.m. Families came along with professionals, stepping away for a lunch break. Some cheered as it ended.

Syreeta Farria, 42, watched from the riverfront with her children. It was Farria's first time experiencing one in person, and she thought it was cool and surprising.

"I homeschool my kids, and we've been studying and watching videos about it, but I still wasn't prepared," Farria said. "I was struck by how dark and cold it got and also how quick the whole thing was. I know it takes almost a month for the moon to do its whole cycle, so I thought it would be a little slower."

Visitors from as far as California, Colorado

Some eclipse watchers came from as far as California and Colorado to be in the eclipse's path in Michigan and Ohio — two of the 16 states on the eclipse's path of totality, which stretched from Texas to Maine.

Ajanta Bhattacharjee of Denver had never seen a full eclipse before and didn't want to wait until the next one in the United States, so she found the cheapest flight she could to Chicago, then drove to Toledo.

"Pretty incredible … pretty dramatic," said Bhattacharjee, 41, as the light began to dim in Toledo and the air started to cool. "It's supposed to get really dark."

Andrea Grace of Detroit hoped the eclipse inspired more people to get into science. She set up her chair right along the Detroit River early Monday to ensure an unobstructed view.

"I remember the last one in 2017, and that was cool. I watched it from my roof," said Grace, 63. "I figured this time I needed to do a little more — I'm not so sure I'll be around for the next one, or at least I'll be 83, so I figured it was time to do it right."

In Luna Pier, as the eclipse reached totality around 3:12 p.m., some were surprised. Some took off their glasses, others cheered. There was an orange glow on the horizon as if it was sunset.

Kristin Kimmich, 72, drove to Luna Pier with her husband, Jim Howe, 77, from Grand Blanc.

“We just wanted to do something fun and make history, because we’ll never see it in our lifetime again," Kimmich said.

'The eclipse has begun'

As the eclipse viewing began shortly before 2 p.m., an announcer made an announcement at the Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo, where more than 2,000 people gathered.

“The eclipse has begun,” the announcer said on a public announcement system to the crowds gathered in the stands to watch.

At Cranbrook, Tulika Gherpure, a first-grader at Eastover Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills, watched with excitement. She wore a purple T-shirt with sparkly stars and planets on it for the occasion.

“It’s my first time. I’m excited,” said the 7-year-old, adding that she watched some videos ahead of Monday’s event to educate herself. “The eclipse is really cool.”

But as the moon slowly passed in front of the sun Monday afternoon, some people were not impressed.

"Usually, I am not allowed to look at the sun, but today I am allowed to look at it a little bit," said Bryce Jacobs, 6. "I am looking at it right now, and I thought it would be cooler."

Crowds early to Ohio, Monroe County

As early as 10:30 a.m., eclipse watchers started to gather in Monroe County and Lucas County, Ohio, setting up chairs and blankets.

Two small parking lots by Luna Pier’s beach and pier were filled by 11 a.m. or so, and some people set up lawn chairs and tripods on a grassy hill behind the pier.

Some came with family members who traveled from as far as Florida and California to see the eclipse. Others stuck closer to home, attending viewing parties that spanned from Bloomfield Hills to Detroit.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do this with my grandson,” said Derek Moss of Canton Township, who was at the Cranbrook institute early Monday afternoon with his 6-year-old grandson for a sold-out eclipse-viewing party.

Kathy Neefe, a retired nurse from Warren, traveled to Luna Pier with her son, Robert Neefe, and grand-niece, Aliesa McKnight, to watch the eclipse. They traveled to Kentucky for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Neefe said they watched that one from a horse farm.

“When the eclipse was total, the biggest bugs I’ve ever seen in my life came out in Kentucky,” she said, “because they thought it was night.”

This time, they spent Sunday night at a hotel in Monroe and then reached Luna Pier soon before 10 a.m. Monday. They were sitting in lawn chairs in a grassy area behind the Luna Pier beach late Monday morning where hundreds of eclipse-viewers had gathered.

“I’m excited,” Neefe said. “I’m feeling very good.”

McKnight, 21, of Gladwin County said she was a little younger during the last total solar eclipse, so her memory “was not as permanent as what it’s going to be now.”

“So I wanted to try to get a chance to, you know, this time, get it into memory,” she said.

Astronomy students offer expertise

At the University of Toledo, hundreds gathered at the Centennial Mall ahead of the eclipse. They spread out on the grass on blankets. Food trucks and bounce houses were nearby.

Other eclipse events in the Toledo area ranged from a city government-organized watch party at downtown's Promenade Park along the Maumee River to an eclipse party at Hensville, the downtown area near where the minor league Mud Hens baseball team plays.

At Centennial Mall, student astronomers who wore yellow shirts that read, "Astronomer: Ask me about the eclipse," were in the middle of it all.

University of Toledo astronomy major Mary Braun and computer engineering student Elijah Ingram, both 22, were among the group, answering questions about the eclipse and showing attendees how to use telescopes set up on the university's central mall. Both work at UT's on-campus planetarium.

"We've been thinking about it for like two, three years," Braun said of this eclipse.

Neither had seen a full eclipse before.

"Day one, they were like, 'By the way, the eclipse is happening on this day — make sure you're available," Ingram said of his colleagues at the planetarium.

The students, armed with free eclipse glasses, noted how the behavior of animals changes during an eclipse.

"You'll hear crickets chirping during totality," Braun said. "You'll hear birds go back to their nest and stop tweeting. Sometimes if you're in the areas where (the eclipse) has the most time, sometimes nocturnal animals will come out for a little bit and the wind will die down. The temperature — it'll get all windy beforehand, when the moon is covering the sun, and then the temperature will be fluctuating. But then once the moon covers the sun at all, it will go calm, basically."

Tourism officials in Toledo said the population of Lucas County, where the city is situated, could temporarily double its usual 425,000 people as the eclipse passes Monday afternoon.

Cranbrook viewing party

At Cranbrook, roughly 600 people turned out for a viewing party organized by the Institute of Science. One group was on the front lawn; another gathered in the Erb Family science garden.

Telescope owners jockeyed for space in the Erb Family Science Garden as visitors took advantage of special programming that included tabletop activities and a “Totality” program about eclipses in the Planetarium. 

“We’re delighted. This was perfect. The crowd size was nice and robust but not too huge to be able to manage,” said Michael Stafford, the science institute's director, adding that the 2017 eclipse didn’t have the same organizational smoothness.

Bill Else of Waterford Township was one of the volunteers at Cranbrook, putting the rare event into context for visitors, educating them about eclipses, comets and all sorts of celestial happenings.

"People ask: How can the moon cover the sun? The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon," Else said from his information table filled with pictures and information, adding that the moon is 400 times closer to Earth than the sun.

Ken Heilig of the Warren Astrological Society had set up a large, lithium battery-powered telescope in Cranbrook’s science garden around 11 a.m. and was letting interested observers view the sun ahead of the eclipse. With a protective solar screen on the lens, the sun looked like a big bright ball and one dark sunspot was visible.

“At quarter after three, it’s going to be as good as it’s going to get, and that’s about 98%,” Heilig said. “The sun is all the moon has to reflect, it doesn’t give off any of its own light, so it has to be in a new moon phase when it comes in front of the sun.”

Derek Moss of Canton Township brought his grandson, Thorin Blomberg, to see the eclipse at Cranbrook. Blomberg knew all about different types of eclipses. He called it a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to share with his grandson.

“The next time this happens, I’ll be 81,” said Blomberg as he took a break from viewing an evolution exhibit to answer a reporter’s questions. 

Moss said he used to take his kids to the science institute when they were younger and just renewed his membership for the next generation.

“We’re going to check out the dinosaurs and just the entire campus," he said. "This is his first visit.”

Cloud cover, Toledo parks

At Wildwood Preserve Metropark, on the western side of Toledo and just inside the path of totality, eclipse watchers started gathering by mid-morning, setting up tents, folding chairs and coolers in a large field with unobstructed views. Experts from a local planetarium at Lourdes University were expected to arrive later in the day to provide eclipse insights.

"When I saw the path of totality, I was like, that's not much of a drive — we'll go down there," said Dana Woods, a Howell retiree, who had arrived in the park earlier in the morning with her son, Mark Siminski, who works at a Howell screen printing business.

"We figured, since this is going to be a really good one, we'll take advantage of it," Woods said, adding it was their first full eclipse, after seeing several partial versions over the years.

Nearby, Janet Hildebrandt of the Toledo suburb of Sylvania had staked out a spot with her brother, Jim Bell, of Evanston, Ill., and their father, 96-year-old George Bell, who had come up from Naples, Fla., for the event. More family members, from California and Detroit, were set to arrive prior to the eclipse.

"It's a little reunion — and a solar eclipse," Hildebrandt said.

The trio has never seen a full solar eclipse.

"We thought it might be a good opportunity for him since this probably will be the last one he sees," Jim Bell said of his father.

More:Eclipse Day: What to know

Girls' trip to Luna Pier

Terri Witt of Grand Rapids came to Luna Pier to celebrate her 65th birthday. She came with her friends Nikki Aument and Shantell Witker, both from Allendale. They like to go on “girls’ trips” together, Aument said.

Witt said she felt good on her birthday.

“I feel thankful to have friends,” she said, adding that she moved to Michigan almost two years ago from Arkansas.

Witt said she was interested in seeing the total eclipse because it was on her birthday and because she had never seen one before.

Witker, her friend, said she’s super happy that “it wasn’t a washout and cloudy and cold.” She had worried that the weather would be bad. Luna Pier was bright and sunny Monday morning.

“With it being as beautiful as it is, I’m far more excited about it than I was a week ago,” Witker said.

Augment said it would be a long time until the next total solar eclipse.

“Will we be here? We don’t know," Augment said. "So it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Staff Writer Francis X. Donnelly contributed.