Carbondale Eclipse

 A few notes about the eclipse today

1. Two hour wait for a seat at Thai Taste this evening with a line extending out the door

2. Around 50+ people waiting in line to pay or get served at Big Chill Saturday night

3. Comparatively small crowd to watch the eclipse around the Town Square. My estimate was 300-400

4. Governor J. B. Pritzker and an estimated 30,000 people were on SIUC's campus at one location or another. That is about how many came to town back in 2017

5. Traffic seemed to move pretty smoothly as people started exiting the city, but I saw a picture of cars backed up at least half a mile trying to go north on 127.

6. Read people posting on social media asking visitors to leave Southern Illinois now. Are they crazy? This is the busiest I have seen the Strip since, well, 2017. I would love to see more events like this.

7. Eclipse on the Strip performers were good but needed signs telling listeners they were "official" performers and not just somebody who decided to jam on the Strip

8. Read someone wanting to know where the "real" eclipse events were instead of just the "locals with their craft fair". If you are that interested in the "real" eclipse events, well there were lots of them and you should have looked them up and planned which ones you wanted to attend before the day you arrived in Carbondale, instead of asking on social media the day of.

9. Eclipse viewing glasses sold out throughout town on Sunday. Happily, Carbondale Main Street had plenty to give away at the Washington Street Venue.

10 Eclipse t-shirts sold out as well as Eclipse color changing cups.

11. Driving problems on Carbondale' s one way streets started Friday night with numerous drivers turning the wrong way onto a one way street.

12 Although the town square lots filled up, there was plenty of parking just a block or so off the Strip. Visitors to town just did not know where to look 

any other thoughts?