The crowds were swelling and the traffic had reached a crawl in some parts of central, western and northern Maine on Monday morning, as visitors flocked to those areas best situated to experience the rare cosmic experience of a total solar eclipse.
The turnout was shaping up to be even greater on Monday because of clear, calm and sunny weather that took many by surprise, after the windy nor’easter that wreaked havoc on the state less than a week earlier.
That picture-perfect forecast appeared to change the travel plans for many eclipse viewers who’d originally planned to take it in from more traditionally sunny states such as Texas.
By noon, an estimated crowd of 4,000 had showed up in downtown Houlton, filling up most of the available parking. A number of amateur eclipse chasers had set up in Market Square, eager to capture the spectacle with telescopes or special-filtered cameras.
Many had traveled to Houlton at the last minute after discovering less-than-ideal forecasts in other states along the path of totality.
Josh Balsam of Maryland and his family nabbed a hotel room on Mount Desert Island on Sunday and arrived in town at 6 a.m. Monday after forecasts in Texas and New York had turned cloudy.
Venu Venugopal of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, traveled to Houlton after ditching plans to travel to Dallas, Texas. Venugopal brought his “smart telescope,” which tracks the sun’s movement, and positioned his specialized camera on a custom-built tripod.
“I could have gone to the hills [to photograph], but then I wouldn’t be around people,” Venugopal said. “You have to experience something like this with people.”
As the morning went on, other tourists were walking through Market Square to check out businesses and food vendors. Many posed for selfies in front of Houlton’s giant pair of eclipse viewing glasses, including James Cannan and Perry Bird of Florida.
“We decided to come here at the last minute. The forecast was clearer here in Maine than other places,” Cannan said. “Never been to Maine before. It’s a nice town.”
Elsewhere in Houlton, the Walmart parking lot was buzzing with serious eclipse folks, many of whom had arrived late in the night after rerouting their travel plans to Maine.
The visitors, who hailed from Maine and other states, had camped in the parking lot and were busy tailgating and setting up their telescopes throughout Monday morning. Most had staked out a small space with lawn chairs and food tables for the big event in the afternoon.
Those who still hadn’t made it up to their Maine eclipse destinations by late Monday morning were probably in for a long trip.
State officials warned that Interstate 95 and some other main roads could be jammed, and that looked to be the case by noon: authorities had reported backups in the Carrabassett Valley and along the Height of Land overlooking the Rangeley region.
By 11 a.m., downtown Greenville was already hopping, with a steady stream of cars, many with out-of-state plates, sitting in a line of traffic on Route 6. A group of enterprising locals were selling spaces in a parking lot for $50 per car.
People navigating the town’s sidewalk, many of which are snow covered, all seemed to be wishing each other “Happy Eclipse Day.”
“It’s busy. Not Sea Plane Fly In busy just yet, but that’s probably coming this afternoon,” said local Susie Schnetzer, referring to the annual Moosehead Lake aviation event.
At the town’s municipal parking lot, an ad hoc community of eclipse watchers was forming, lending each other batteries, swapping photographic tips and shoveling out places to stand on the snowbound boardwalk.
Jim Guyer left his home outside Worcester, Massachusetts at 5 a.m., to beat the traffic.
“But there wasn’t any,” Guyer said.
Professional hotel photographer Ron Retemales was testing the safety filter on his camera and said he’d been working in Portland and decided to come to Greenville when he saw the favorable weather forecast.
“I have to be in Pennsylvania tomorrow morning for work — but this is going to be worth it,” Retamales said.
A couple setting up video and photo gear next to Retamales said they flew to Texas from Munich, Germany to see the eclipse. But when they saw the weather forecast, they flew to Boston, rented a car and drove to Greenville.
Millinocket was also getting busy by noon, with parking spots filling up and most people heading to a party at the Veterans Memorial Park, where music was bumping.
Nearly all the tables inside the Appalachian Trail Cafe, where Baby Ruthie’s Takeout & Snackbar was doing a “takeover,” were full. The cafe began offering coffee and doughnuts outside the business at 6 a.m. and was sold out of doughnuts by about 11 a.m.
Joe Parent, cousin-in-law of the cafe owners, estimated that he sold 300 doughnuts, though coffee and other goods were still available. “We’re loving it so far,” he said. “It’s the busiest we’ve seen Millinocket in a while.”
In Presque Isle, by 10 a.m., more than 200 people had packed the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s lawn for a “solarbration” and unveiling of the newest addition to the Northern Maine Solar System Model: a 23-foot tall, bright yellow representation of the sun.
Since the solar system’s inception 20 years ago, the painting of the sun was located inside Folsom Hall on campus. Campus President Ray Rice said one of the most common questions visitors have is “Where is the sun?”
To mark the 20th anniversary of the popular model, Kevin McCartney, a retired professor who devised the whole idea for the project, undertook fundraising and logistics to create a model of the sun that would be visible to everyone on the campus grounds.
On Monday, during remarks to the crowd, McCartney credited the entire Aroostook County community for getting behind the new project.
“It takes a community who can embrace wild ideas, from maybe a kind of wild person, to make something like this happen,” he said.
Campus officials then pulled the ropes to drop the veil covering the openwork metal sun, located on the front lawn in front of Preble Hall.
Among those enjoying the festivities were Becca Roe and her husband, Peter Michael, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The couple had originally planned to view the eclipse in Texas, but the forecast wasn’t good.
“When we heard it was going to be cloudy in Texas, we thought why not go to Maine,” Roe said. “We decided on Friday.”
Roe and Michael were chatting with Kat Allen and her husband, Aaron Putnam of Orono, who also came north for eclipse day to join father-in-law, David Putnam, an associate professor of science at UMPI.
“We came up here because Dave is here — and it’s on the path of totality,” Allen said.
Elsewhere in the County, about 100 people gathered at the Loring Air Force Base Arch Hangar by 11:30 a.m., where a star park event was hosted by the Limestone Chamber of Commerce, Loring Development Authority and Green4Maine.
A steady stream of new visitors continued to arrive, and organizers guided traffic to park along the runway to make room for the crowd.
A plethora of food trucks and picnic tables were arranged outside the hangar, while DJ Jake Ball played music for guests and spectators. The area outside also featured a beer garden, and seven porta potties.
BDN writers Troy Bennett, Paula Brewer, Melissa Lizotte, Kathleen Phelan-Tomaselli, Valerie Royzman and Chris Bouchard contributed reporting.
