My usual travel group is a collection of work (current and former) colleagues from around the USA. A couple of times a year, we plot a quick weekend trip. The group size differs each time based on availability, sometimes large sometimes small.
We have a wish list of cities and some favorite places, but mostly we choose places based on the cost of airfare, hotels, and special events. One such special event, the total Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017 caused all of us to be pretty creative. First we did research and found the places with the best view on the following site:
National Geographic Eclipse 2017
And here is a great Science-focused website that communicates great sky-watching events for all: Space.com
- First we plotted the airports within close proximity of the full Solar Eclipse.
- Portland, OR
- Boise, ID
- Omaha, NE
- Kansas City, MO
- St. Louis, MO
- Nashville, TN
- Asheville, NC
- Charleston, SC
- Used the Hipmunk App to build “Fare Watches” from each of our home airports to these cities around the August 21st date. Hipmunk will notify you when fares change. It quickly became clear that Savannah, GA would be the city, an hour south of Charleston (too expensive to fly to directly). Choosing a thrifty city to fly in and out for all of us meant, we had to widen our focus a bit. By doing this, we knew the most expensive cities vs. the cheaper options.
- We checked out hotel prices in Savannah for a few days and booked early (summer brings lower prices due to heat and humidity). We also pool hotel points to keep our cost low.
- Made reservation within 10 minutes of a prime location for August 20th just east and north of Charleston. Traffic might be really challenging on the day and we did not want to risk missing the start around 11am, the 2:00ish full viewing, and the partial eclipse ending around 4pm. The full eclipse will only be a little over 2 minutes in length.
- Rental car free weekend points will keep the rental car price low. This is ALWAYS the most expensive part of our Thrifty Weekend, so we try to avoid a rental car when possible. This time we MUST have one.
Safety is key for the viewing of a full Solar Eclipse. We ordered the special glasses several months in advance to make sure we have the right glasses to view. Even my telescope with phone camera mount and computer hook-up has a solar eclipse filter. OK, some of us qualify as Science Geeks. 😃
On the day of, we will head to an early breakfast and plan a day to be in the prime spot early. A trip to a local grocery store and a cooler packed with food and beverages will make this our “Eclipse Picnic/Tailgate.” It will be hot, so we may have to get a few items like a beach umbrella, etc…
Have you planned your Solar Eclipse 2017 viewing or trip? For my friends, a few with Science Teacher backgrounds, this is an event not to be missed!