Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 5 april 2017
Solar eclipse mania spurs festivals, tours, sold-out hotels

BETH J. HARPAZ viewing glasses, commem-
AP Travel Editor orative T-shirt, Uber gift
Get ready for solar eclipse card and bar credit. Hotel
mania. Destinations in the Jackson in Jackson Hole,
path of the Aug. 21 eclipse, Wyoming, has an “eclipse
which will be visible in the concierge” to help guests
U.S. along a narrow path plan their $699-a-night
from Oregon to South Car- stay.
olina, are going wild with Consumers in Oregon
plans for festivals, concerts have complained about
and viewing parties . hotels canceling reser-
Hotels in Casper, Wyoming, vations they made long
are charging five times ago, claiming rebranding
their usual rates. Rooms at or new ownership, then
Idaho’s Sun Valley Resort charging much higher
have been booked for rates for rebooking.
years. LOCATION AND WEATHER
An eclipse tour in Ten- As the moon moves in front
nessee’s Great Smoky of the sun, daylight will yield
Mountains National Park to darkness from Oregon
sold out in 10 minutes. The to South Carolina along a
Smokies are among 20 In this May 20, 2012, file photo, the annular solar eclipse is seen as the sun sets behind the Rocky path 60 to 70 miles wide.
National Park sites that will Mountains from downtown Denver. Associated Press The path of totality will also
experience the total solar cut across broad swaths
eclipse, from sections of and tailgate parties. eclipse “a once in a life- Nashville hotels were only of Idaho, Montana, Wyo-
the Blue Ridge Parkway South Carolina’s Clem- time opportunity.” He can’t 54 percent booked. ming, Nebraska, Missouri,
in North Carolina to Wyo- son University also expects travel alone because he Don’t assume lodging is Kentucky and Tennessee,
50,000 people at a cam- has cerebral palsy and epi- sold out because a travel along with corners of Kan-
pus event that will feature lepsy, so his brother Nick is booking site says so. Call sas, Georgia and North
astronomers and other accompanying him on a hotels directly to ask. Carolina, and a tiny chip
experts. Twenty thousand three-day tour to Nashville Many hotels are offering of Iowa. Totality will first hit
people will gather in the Oregon around 10:15 a.m.
Ochocho National Forest Pacific time. South Caroli-
for Oregon Eclipse 2017, na will experience the final
with music, yoga, theater, moments of total darkness
art installations and more. at 2:49 p.m. Eastern time.
Wind River Reservation Some spectators are
in Wyoming hosts “bring heading to mountains and
back the sun” ceremonies. forests to experience the
A Pink Floyd Tribute band eclipse in a natural setting.
plans a “Dark Side of the “Think of an eclipse as an
Moon” concert in Jeffer- incredible short night,” with
son City, Missouri. The South “a rapid sunset and then
Carolina Philharmonic in sunrise,” said Sara Morris,
Columbia offers “Star Wars an ornithologist and biol-
Musiclipse.” Sylva, North ogy professor at Canisius
Carolina, has a “Moonlight College in Buffalo, New
Madness” run. In this March 7, 1970, file photo, Ginnie Bailey reaches for her York. “Birds go back to
In this May 20, 2012, file photo, ECLIPSE CHASERS eclipse viewer from her father Robert Bailey of Valdosta as the roost. Animals that are ac-
the new moon crosses in front Sharon Hahs and her hus- eclipsed sun begins to burn through a cloud cover that has all tive during the day will stop
of the sun creating an annu- but obscured a view of the total solar eclipse in Valdosta, Ga. foraging and put them-
lar eclipse over West Mitten, band, Billy, have chased Associated Press
left, and East Mitten buttes in 14 eclipses around the selves in a place of safety.”
Monument Valley, Ariz. world from Mongolia to Destinations that offer easy
Associated Press South Africa. They’ll see this with eclipse-viewing at the eclipse packages. Nash- highway access have an
one from a family farm in Kentucky border. ville’s Loews Vanderbilt advantage in bad weath-
ming’s Grand Tetons. “We Missouri, not far from their Jack Bohannon of Anchor- package includes eclipse er: q
are expecting record visi- St. Louis home. age, Alaska, plans to see
tation,” said NPS spokes- “There is nothing else in the eclipse in Nebraska
man Jeffrey Olson. our universe that looks like as the “culmination of a
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a total solar eclipse,” said summer-long RV trip” with
population 32,000, and Hahs. “The air gets cool. family. “We were originally
Carbondale, Illinois, popu- You have 360-degree going to book an RV park
lation 23,000, expect 50,000 dusk. Nature sounds really in the eclipse path in Wyo-
visitors each. The desti- happen: the cock crows, ming, but everywhere was
nations, 140 miles apart, birds get quiet. We even full,” he said.
will experience about 2 had a horse cross our view- HOTELS
minutes and 40 seconds ing area to return to the In small or remote destina-
of total darkness, among stable.” tions, hotels and camp-
eclipse sites with the lon- Michael Allen of South- sites in the path of totality
gest duration. Events in the ampton, England, is a are completely sold out. In this May 20, 2012, file photo, people view an annular solar
eclipse as they look towards the setting sun on the horizon in
region include an “Eclipse “keen amateur astrono- But bigger cities still have Phoenix.
Con” festival, concerts mer” who considers the openings. As of March 25, Associated Press