Im Going to South Carolina for the 2017 Total Eclipse

So yup, as the title says I am renting a car to drive the family to South Carolina for the Solar Eclipse on Monday. Im going to leave tomorrow and take I-95 north from Central Florida. I don't really want to veer off the beaten path, and based on the NASA map, I should get a great view from ST. George area of SC. Anybody from the area have any heads up for me before I head out there?? Places to stay away from, avoid, sections of highway to steer clear of or anything??

I don't do GPS I will be using my traditional big fold out road maps. I find them much more reliable. So I will be around the St. George area and if anybody from the area wants to fill me in on the local do and don'ts I am all ears. Its just a weekend trip, the school district is excusing absences for the day so they good there. I just want to make sure I don't do anything silly or insult local traditions.

I hope it is cloudy and rainy all day. Just kidding, I hope it is sunny and warm.

My daughter and her boyfriend are renting a car and going down south somewhere to see the eclipse. They are leaving from Michigan on Friday and coming back on Tuesday. I hope they choose a location where the weather is nice too, that is a long way to drive.

I'm staying here and watching the partial eclipse through my welding helmet. Screw those little paper glasses, my welding helmet has auto adjustment and I can set it where it works the best.

Awesome! We are going to Tennessee, leaving sunday/monday at midnight....... risky but we will see what happens.

-Alee

Something you should know... so will dozens of thousands of others too. The roads are narrow, probably the narrowest in the nation. It's raging hot here. But if your from Florida, no biggy. It lasts less than an hour. then you will Ben Hurr chariot race that same dozens of thousands on your way out, on the same narrow one lane each way roads. Good Luck.

By the way, Columbia is where you want to go.

a reply to: worldstarcountry
good luck total eclipses are sublime do enjoy and please keep us posted👍

I dont have to go anywhere except the short trip to my back deck.

Come on up! We will be in Aiken, just on the line of full eclipse at the Aiken campus of USC. We will be running amateur radios from 10am to 6pm and our special event call is W4N. We are hoping to see how propagation changes as the eclipse goes into totality, before and afterwards.

Right now, the weather is supposed to be 50% thunderstorms and at the very least partly cloudy. I'm hoping that changes for the better between now and then...

It's a once in a life time event for some. In Knoxville and the surrounding area the schools are closing for the eclipse.
I have 55 employees and I decided to let them vote on what to do Monday. We are closing at noon so that the parents can watch the eclipse with their kids.
My advertising team and I are traveling to Sweetwater Tn. (town of six thousand) to do a live radio remote and a party. They are expecting between 50 and a 200 thousand visitors. I am sure it will be a zoo.

www.facebook.com...

a reply to: worldstarcountry

St. George right off I95 has shops, fast food places, etc. Not sure about how many hotels around though. The exit will put you on Hwy 78. No need to go all the way to Columbia.

My house here in Aiken county is just outside the path, but will still get 99.95% totality.

But, since it's just a couple of miles away and in the path, me and the family will be going to Aiken State Park and watching it from there since it's in the totality path.

Going to set up my camera and see if I can get some good shots during the totality.

a reply to: eriktheawful

We're a bit out of the total eclipse path, but we're headed north east to an island off the cost of Maine.

One ferry plus a kayak trip to get there, staying Sunday and Monday night, watching the show, then heading home.

This is where a life in IT really shows it's grit- here's hoping nothing goes wrong, my career could hang in the balance of luck.

I got lucky and happen to live in the path of totality. Our weather is unpredictable here in Nebraska though, but I really wouldn't have drive too far to find clear skies for an hour.

Won't hotels be all booked by now?

Our granddaughter & her boyfriend rented a log cabin in Tennessee for a week. Just found out they got engaged!

The eclipse will have to be pretty awesome to top that!

WOQ

a reply to: rickymouse
Haha, I expected somebody would do the same! I also decided to use a welding helmet and am bringing it along! It was easier to find than eclipse glasses believe it or not. Plus, I like bright flames
a reply to: NerdGoddess
Hope you get to enjoy this, I really wan us too!
a reply to: Plotus
So like traveling during a normal holiday weekend, no biggie. We really enjoy the heat. We prefer to hang outside even when it hits the 90's with insane humidity. I wish I could bring some bikes!
a reply to: misterassist69
Thank you I will.
a reply to: Gothmog
Lucky bastard!
a reply to: NightFlight
Hopefully the weather does not take this away from us!
a reply to: Nickn3
thats cool of you. I know they are grateful for it
a reply to: eriktheawful
Seems to be plentiful pickings on hotels in the area thankfully. Aiken is just under two hours from St. George but on a straight shot on 78 it seems. I see a state park south on 15 only 15 minutes away. Probably spend Sunday hanging out there enjoying the woods doing some barbecue. Charcoal all the way!
a reply to: lordcomac
I want to get the most fullest experience of this which I have never really seen in totality, and it will be a great thing for the kiddos to see earlier on in life. I picked St George just because it seems the shortest distance with adequate facilities going up 95.
a reply to: wasobservingquietly
Nope, I am looking at hotels right now. Regular decent $50-$80 average nightly rates, with vacancies.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I hope that you have a fantastic time and safe travels!
I have no advice on S.C. but, in my location...disorganization seems to be the theme.

Hotels, campgrounds, cabins, condos, everything has been rented long ago. We are right on Interstate 40 so the traffic (even if no visitors to this town) should be unbelievable. Schools finally decided to close after first deciding it would be in session then Tuesday deciding it would be an excused absence if kiddos didn't come or parents wanted to retrieve them early and finally the decision to close came on Wednesday. I agree with this decision due to the timing of the event and the travel difficulties that could and will likely occur. Some kiddos are already on buses for over an hour (country roads BIG county).

Our local library gave out glasses to everyone with a card. Then...the amazon letter came and they and the mayor have now told everyone to not use the ones that were given. I ordered mine because I knew the difficulty folks would have at the end and they have. My company ordered 200 (from who knows where?) and wound up being delivered 20. If all goes well, I should have 2 extra pair and will donate those to two folks at work who don't have any nor the means to get any.

There seems to be a lot of confusion, even for us locals, about which roads are closing and which will be open. Some local farmers have opened their farms up for parking and primitive camping (big $).

I do understand some of the 'chaos' already happening as this is the first eclipse for some and some small towns along the path are not prepared for the numbers of folks that may come or did not, perhaps, prepare soon enough.
All in all I think it should be a blast and I can't wait for all of the tourists and the questions that will inevitably come and the directions given etc.

I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys being in the path of totality. I'm sure that we will!

a reply to: NerdGoddess

Totally NOT being a creeper here but, if you get in a jam...PM me. I'm not sure how/if I could help but, I would try. I'm thinking shortcuts, where NOT to go, and etc. Anyway be safe and enjoy!


I was also just thinking having lived from New York to Florida that the heat/temps can effect people very differently. It is predicted to be sunny and warm/humid with heat indexes in the mid 90s here in middle TN. Some folks from more northern states may not be used to that so be sure to drink plenty of water and find the shade. Lots of trees here so, that shouldn't be a struggle to find shade to cool off.
Stay cool!

originally posted by: NightFlight
Come on up! We will be in Aiken, just on the line of full eclipse at the Aiken campus of USC. We will be running amateur radios from 10am to 6pm and our special event call is W4N. We are hoping to see how propagation changes as the eclipse goes into totality, before and afterwards.

Right now, the weather is supposed to be 50% thunderstorms and at the very least partly cloudy. I'm hoping that changes for the better between now and then...

*!Change of Venue!* No sooner than I posted this we found out that August 21, 2017, was "moving" day for the students at USC Aiken campus. The venue was changed to 26 War Eagle Place off Beaverdam Road near the airport on US1 in Aiken County which actually is more in the totality. We will set up there and run HF voice, PSK, FT8, other digital modes and CW. We will have a two meter "talk in" on the N2ZZ repeater at 145.3500 MHz, PL tone of 156.7 Hz, negative offset. The special event call is still W4N.

The weather now is forecast to be 30% storms and partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. Fingers crossed!

a reply to: NightFlight
You got me wondering if I won't waste my money renting a car and lodging for the weekend. I would hate to get blocked out by storms, like really really frustrated.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

It's Pot Luck here in SC when it comes to afternoon T-storms.

30% is not that great, and most likely there will be some patchy clouds here and there.

Traditionally here in the SE part of the US, the summer days are: Hot with afternoon T-storms....sometimes it's just a brief cloud burst that moves on......sometimes there's nothing.......sometimes it's at 1pm....3pm....5pm....9pm.....

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. right now it's 46%....but that's at 3pm, 20 minutes after the totality. During the time of the totality it's only 15% chance.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Im Going to South Carolina for the 2017 Total Eclipse

Me too. I only live a couple hours from the path of totality in South Carolina, so I'm planning to travel there, as well, weather permitting. I had planned to go the 85 route to SC, but might just go to Columbia instead. Not sure yet.

Hopefully I can get some good pics.

a reply to: eriktheawful

Going to set up my camera and see if I can get some good shots during the totality.

What're you shooting with, and what filter(s) are you using, a solar white-light, ND, or what?

I didn't prepare in time to get one for my DSLR, so I'm just going to use the lens of eclipse glasses with my iPhone, I think.