BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Our region is just days away from the total solar eclipse and people are starting to arrive in the Green Mountains ahead of the big day.
Gabe and Jill Vonahlefeld from Oregon have been planning their trip to Vermont for over a year. “The eclipse! We saw it in 2017 and wanted to see it again,” Gabe said.
We said to each other, well, there’s another one close by. We are going to come back again. It’s like nothing you have ever seen before. It was great,” said Keith Townsend from North Carolina.
It’s that excitement that’s causing out-of-state license plates to flood the Queen City. And businesses are hoping to cash in.
“Hopefully this will jump-start our year,” said Bentley Droy with Ken’s Pizza and Pub on Church Street. He says with the expectation of nice weather, they are opening earlier then normal and opening their outdoor seating if the sun is shining. “Our expectations are hopefully people will be nice and be patient with us.”
And some places are busy even before the eclipse. Workers at City Market were stocking the shelves Friday morning for a big weekend. Despite the thousands of people expected, the store says that both their downtown and South End locations will be closed on Monday. They point to how hard it will be to travel with road closures and traffic. “For our staff to get in it would be really difficult. We realize that it would be a busy day but it just… we wouldn’t be able to get our staff here,” said the store’s Cheray MacFarland.
But locals like Kent Cassella say they are excited to get people to the state and spending money. “It will be great. Great for the city. Get people back,” he said.
And for the people visiting, a reminder of how special the Green Mountains are. “Vermont is beautiful,” Gabe said.
“This is a beautiful place. I love Vermont,” said Townsend.
Click here for all our eclipse coverage to help you get ready for the big day.