I traveled to the great American Midwest in April of 2024 to view my second total eclipse. I had the privileged of observing the great coast to coast eclipse of 2017 in the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho. The experience was profound and I decided that if I ever had the opportunity, that I would endeavor to repeat it. Well just seven years later, I had the chance and I took it. The path of totality (99% totality is pretty much the same as 1%) ran from northwestern Mexico, thru Texas and Arkansas to the lower Midwest and on to New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Based on guestimates on overcrowding, scenic value of the area and just because I have family in the Chicago area, I decided to view the event in southern Indiana.
A few days before the event my party landed at O’Hare Airport outside of Chicago and we had a chance to visit the city.
The city was a pleasant surprise. Despite the incessant stories about the rampant crime, political disfunction and urban decay, we found the downtown to be relatively clean and safe. It was far cleaner and less threatening than Seattle or even the small city near me of Spokane. There were absolutely no homeless encampments in the downtown area including the parks and the few unfortunate drug addicts and beggars we encountered did not threaten us. They pretty much kept to themselves while trying to sell trinkets. In the museum area we observed numerous families with infants and children enjoying the sights and in the financial district workers freely traveled back and forth to lunch and meetings without concern. Pretty much everyone we encountered was polite and helpful. Also the architecture was world class.
The Chicago Board of Trade on LaSalle Street. Next to Wall Street in New York, this is the financial heart of America.
The Willis (Sears) Tower. The tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1973 and is still the tallest building in North America by occupied floor height. Lots of buildings add decorative spires to try and claim the record.
The day before the eclipse, we drove five and a half hours to southern Indiana until we arrived at our base camp at the Patoka 4 Seasons Resort on the lake of the same name. I do not solicit or generally give reviews for private businesses and receive no monetary compensation for such, but that being said this gem of a vacation resort got two thumbs up from me. The people were awesome and the facilities first rate. They even provided gift baskets with eclipse glasses and other goodies.
The first day there we were greeted by this most beautiful rainbow over our cabin. Definitely a good omen for the trip.
The lake is a relatively large manmade reservoir but apparently is a local draw for fishermen and outdoor recreationalist throughout the year.
Just outside the resort is a most awesome state park with a visitor center, marina, campgrounds, historic buildings and miles of trails. Patoka State Park.
Open hardwood forest are the dominant habitat and rock outcroppings atypical of the lower Midwest are found throughout the park. The scenery was more what one would expect of the non-mountainous areas of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Some of these rock formations are very interesting to explore. The loop trail we took was about three and a half miles long.
A welcome surprise after driving though miles of flat farmland.
The biggest was called Totem Rock and had a couple of small caverns carved into it. The trail seemed to take every opportunity to descend and climb in and out of ravines. We probably got better than six hundred feet of total; elevation gain over the entire hike.
So the day of the eclipse we set up next to our cabin in an open field and watched as the moon started to block the sun. The day turned clear with a few scattered clouds after a Midwest thunderstorm the night before.
With just an Android phone camera and a paper pair of eclipse glasses taped over the lenses, I took a few photos that certainly don’t do justice to the once a decade or so event.
When the totality reached us, the day turned into night in an instant. The birds stopped singing and the crickets started chirping. We could hear people miles away screaming with excitement. The stars came out and the plasma of the corona was a beautiful sight around the dark shadow of the moon. Unfortunately the corona was not photogenic with my basic camera.
As soon as the first tiny dot of the sun reappeared, it was like someone lit a blow torch. It became daylight again. During the eclipse the temperature dropped noticeably and two minutes later the rays of the sun warmed everything back up.
An unnatural 360 degree sunset bracketed the horizon during the event. In 2017 in the Sawtooth’s. This effect was even stronger and the mountains around us were back lit by it. A surreal effect indeed.
At the end of the day after the eclipse was over, the real sunset made it’s appearance among the redbud trees in full bloom.
The next morning on our way back to Chicago, we detoured through French Lick Indiana, the home of Larry Bird and came across this amazing gem.
The Baden Springs Hotel and Resort was built in 1902 and restored in the 1990’s. If I ever have a reason to visit southern Indiana again, I’d love to stay here. It was fascinating and open to visitors.
On the way back everyone we met was incredibly nice and helpful. The manager of the fast food place came out to make sure our experience was good. The folks at the convenience stores were awesome and gave us great tips on what to see. Even the flat farmland north of Terre Haute was kind of pretty and extremely clean. Overall I definitely would judge Indiana as part of Free State America and worthy of a return visit. Too bad there won’t be another eclipse there in my life time.
