“We got to see prominences and solar flares with the telescope and some a little bit with the naked eye as well. So just things that not every eclipse that you get see. We’ve got people who got pictures of the diamond ring, which is when the eclipse is moving from beginning to end, but you see like a bright spot on it. We got Bailey’s Beads, which shows you the relief of the moon in front of the sun, the valley, craters and mountains,” Murphy said.
The eclipse also brought many people to Muncie.
“It was what I was expecting—I think more,” said Trenton Bush, director of marketing for Visit Muncie. “The eclipse was just phenomenal to see and to witness and be a part of.”
He continued: “We had great turnout. We had great crowds. We were very well pleased with what happened here Monday.
“It was breathtaking. It was great to see everyone’s reaction to it, as far as everybody around us were having the same experience and they were all so excited. A lot of oohs and aahs.”
Bush said several large events around Muncie were well attended.
“We had a great beer fest. We had a great music fest. Our bigger market was well attended. I think that at our location, they were busy. A lot of people bought merchandise and shirts. It was a very big stimulation for our economy,“ Bush said.
Mike McAfee, executive director of Visit Bloomington, said the eclipse was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience and brought around 100,000 people to Bloomington.
“It was just a remarkable event. Plenty of family and friends visiting their family and friends here forward, and it was really a super cool event for our community to luckily be in the direct line of totality,” McAfee said. “And the weather was fantastic, and we were lucky with sunshine.”
McAfee said he’s not sure of the exact number of people, but he said many hotels and Airbnbs were close to capacity, some full.
He said that tons of people were visiting family and friends, including people from 11 different states coming to Bloomington to witness the eclipse. He said some international visitors came as well.
The media in Bloomington was also busy covering the eclipse. He said there were 1,200 broadcast media members in Bloomington.
“It was great, it was everything and more than what I expected,” McAfee said.
McAfee said the goal of his organization is attracting visitors to come see large events like the eclipse. He said having hotels being full is a good thing for the city’s economy.
McAfee said several places in Bloomington had a few thousand visitors, including Dunn Meadow, Indiana University Memorial Stadium, Switchyard Park, Butler Winery & Vineyard, and the Monroe County Airport. Butler Winery & Vineyard was sold out, while the Monroe County Airport had one of its busiest days in history.
Morgan Snyder, senior director of public relations at Visit Indy, said she believes Indianapolis saw over 125,000 visitors to the city for the eclipse at one point. She said this number likely increased, as numbers are still coming in.
Snyder believes good weather and last-minute travel plans may have increased the number of visitors beyond the initial estimate of 125,000.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the city’s largest venue for the eclipse with over 50,000 visitors from many different locations.
“These came from all 50 states and 35 countries across five continents,” Snyder said.
Amanda Stanley, director of communications at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said the track served as one of NASA’s broadcast locations. Members of Indiana’s congressional delegation showed up, plus Gov. Eric Holcomb, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melory, IndyCar drivers and more.
“It was a fun place to watch a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the racing capital of the world,” Stanley said.
“Hotel rooms on Saturday night had limited availability through Monday night, and Airbnb noted that Indy was the most-booked destination within the path of totality.”
LeRoy Lewis III, director of community and media engagement at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, said the turnout was amazing, with over 3,000 visitors. He met people from the United Kingdom and New York.
“It was a fun event. We had a DJ going and live music happening. It was a very fun atmosphere, not to mention the coverage we had from WTHR. During the actual eclipse, it was a party,” Lewis said.
“When totality hit, people became very quiet and started reflecting on a lot of things. The beauty of the eclipse was a magical opportunity. Everyone I believe saw it and experienced it differently, but in the event itself, it was a very enjoyable and impactful experience.”
Sarah Wolfe, eclipse director of Knox County, said the eclipse turnout in Vincennes was also great. She said it doubled the county’s population of 30,000-35,000 as she expected. She said people came from around the country, including some from Alaska, and from around the world, including Finland, England and South America.
“It was just the right amount without being overwhelmed by the visitors. It was really a wonderful day,” she said.
“I don’t think we saw the double diamond ring. We saw solar prominences. The beads were stunning, and it was a really, really gorgeous corona.”
She added: “We had a site specifically for astrophotography. It was all sold out, and they filled out all their overflow spots. We were one of the best spots in the entire country to see it. It was absolutely stunning.”
