click to enlarge
I first heard about the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse way back in 2021 — when my cousin from North Carolina called dibs on my couch — but it wasn't until January that I realized what a big deal it would be here. A pregnant friend who's due on April 6 told me she was starting to get freaked out that she might go into labor during the eclipse.
She wasn't superstitious, or worried about missing the big event. She was anxious that she might not be able to get to the University of Vermont Medical Center because of all the eclipse-related traffic, even though she lives five minutes away, in Winooski.
At first I thought she was overreacting. But then she explained that she'd recently heard a presentation from a tourism official in Wyoming, where there was a full solar eclipse in 2017. Her message to Vermonters: Prepare to be seriously disrupted.
Because Vermont is in the "path of totality," the roughly 100-mile-wide zone that will experience a full eclipse, we should expect to see tens of thousands of tourists that day, maybe more if the weather forecast is favorable. They'll be headed to places with the best view of the action — basically the part of the state including and north of Middlebury, Montpelier and St. Johnsbury. Burlington is smack-dab in the middle of it.
Hotel and Airbnb bookings in the area are already much higher than usual during the spring season. In January, the New York Times ranked "the path of totality" as the No. 1 travel destination in 2024.
This is great news for the local economy, and it's the perfect opportunity to teach kids — and adults — about astronomy. Read more about family-friendly eclipse-related activities in "Everything Eclispe."
But it also means that there could be many more people clogging the roads on April 8 — and they'll likely all leave around the same time once the eclipse is over at 3:30 p.m. If you normally pick up your kids from childcare at 4, for example, you might want to make other plans. Many schools are closing early or canceling classes that day, too.
However you decide to experience this remarkable event, be sure to give yourself time to get where you need to go — and try to enjoy it! If my pregnant friend hasn't delivered yet, she might watch it from the UVM campus.