Americans are over the moon

FIRST TIME IN 99 YEARS – AND IT IS PARTY TIME About 12 million people living there in the path of totality.

When a total solar eclipse swept across the US for the first time in 99 years yesterday, people gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, were the last on the continent to experience it. But they were ready. Historic Charleston, with its cobblestone streets and elegant antebellum mansions, was a-bustle yesterday in full pre-eclipse mode.

Its restaurants were packed and downtown parking was at a premium as excited locals and tourists strolled cheerfully along the seafront Battery promenade.

“It has been crazy since Friday night,” said bar owner Chaz Wendell. “This was our busiest weekend all year.”

Weather predictions were iffy – with clouds and scattered thunderstorms predicted through the hours when the eclipse was due, from the moment when the moon first obscured a small arca of the sun, to totality.

For locals, and for those who have come from far away, it was a big deal.

“We’re very excited,” said Brandy Mullins, a 38-year-old stayat-home mother who moved to Charleston six weeks ago with her family.

She and her three children all had solar glasses.

Nick Willder, 59, and his wife, Sarah Boylan, 60, of Nottingham, England had planned their twoweek vacation through the southern US to end in Charleston in time for the eclipse.

It was their third try to see a total eclipse: earlier attempts in England and China, Willder said, were both rained out.

The “Great American Eclipse,” as it is being called, moved diagonally across the country, northwest to southeast, providing a spectacular solar show and an excellent excuse for scores of eclipse-viewing parties and music festivals.

“This is the trip of a lifetime,” said Deirdre Duignan, from Dublin, Ireland.

In all, about 12 million people living in 14 states were in the path of totality, with many millions of others able to witness at least a partial eclipse, according to the American Astronomical Society.

Some street vendors sold T-shirts and buttons to mark the eclipse.

Jan Dahouas, a vendor from Atlanta, Georgia, sold eclipsethemed shirts he designed and buttons that read, “Keep Calm and Stare at the Sun.” – AFP