For generations, visitors to Maine have flocked east to the rocky coastline, with its lobster boats and crashing waves, or west to ski resorts, peaceful lakes and mountains. Few ever set foot in Aroostook County, a remote northern expanse where residents are prone to suspect — not without reason — that no one south of Bangor even knows that they exist.
So the news that “the County,” as it is known in Maine, would be smack in the path of totality for next month’s solar eclipse — making it a destination for potentially thousands of visitors — has generated mixed emotions in this proudly unpretentious place. Accustomed to ceding the spotlight to showy spots like Bar Harbor, some in the county are not sure how they feel about its fleeting status as the place to be.
“It’s a little new for us here, so it is stressful,” said Lindsay Anderson, manager of Brookside Bakery in Houlton, a town of 6,000 that borders Canada, where the plan for eclipse weekend includes baking 500 whoopie pies, Maine’s official “state treat.”
Next door at Market Square Antiques and Pawn, a compact shop watched over by several mounted deer heads, Tom Willard, a co-owner, had worries of his own.
“Where are 20,000 people going to pee?” he asked.
No one knows how many people will travel to Aroostook County for the eclipse on April 8, making planning a bit of a roulette spin. Estimates range from 10,000 to 40,000, though the turnout may be curtailed by sheer distance. Extending north beyond the end of Interstate 95 to the Canadian border — where the little-known, combat-free Aroostook War raged from 1838 to 1839 — the county is about as large as Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. Caribou, near its northern apex, lies 400 miles north of Boston, a drive of more than six hours.
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Did you see the total solar eclipse? Despite clouds in some regions, some sky-watchers in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada were able to get clear views of a totally eclipsed sun for as long as 4 minutes 28 seconds in what was the longest totality viewed from land since 2010—and the longest in the U.S. since 1806.
Millions of people are expected to travel to see the total solar eclipse on April 8. As a result, large swaths of the country could be faced with traffic jams and flight delays in the coming days, government agencies warn.
When is the eclipse going to happen? North America is about to see a big solar eclipse, but where you are will determine the time, the duration, and precisely what you'll see.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible within parts of North America. If weather is permitting and there aren’t cloudy skies, total visibility will start along Mexico’s Pacific Coast. In the United States, the path of totality, which is the narrow ribbon of places where the full eclipse can be viewed, goes from Texas to Maine. NASA is offering a map that shows the path of totality as well as a timetable of when the eclipse should appear in some of the major locations where it can be viewed.
New England has eclipse fever. Of course there are themed cocktails and viewing parties, but small towns in the path of totality are girding themselves for some apocalypse-level craziness. A Facebook post from the Plainfield, Vt., (pop. 1,236) Department of Emergency Management and Hazard Mitigation warns residents not to attempt to drive on highways or rely on cell phones, because visitors will be “totally unaware that our cell networks can't handle the traffic.” The post also suggested locals prepare for strangers knocking on their doors, looking for help or bathrooms.
If you want to participate in a pretty epic event, know that it's not too late to make a plan to see the rare, total solar eclipse that will cut a path across a good chunk of the U.S. on Monday.
A deluge of counterfeit and fake solar eclipse glasses have flooded the market, putting some unsuspecting space enthusiasts in danger just days ahead of the total solar eclipse.
When the United States launched the Global Entry program in the summer of 2008, the application fee was $100—and so it has remained for 16 years. But that’s going to change. On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that the cost to apply for Global Entry will jump to $120 on October 1, 2024.
Texas is the best place for the total solar eclipse, right? It has a higher chance of clear skies. Whether that holds true or the presumed-to-be-cloudy northeast U.S. and Canada are now back in play is up in the air.
It’s the month we’ve all been waiting for. In just a few days, the total solar eclipse will delight skywatchers along a 100-mile-wide strip of North America, known as the path of totality. This April 8 marvel is expected to draw tens of millions of viewers — especially since the contiguous U.S. won’t see another total solar eclipse until 2044.