Anderson Hotels, Campgrounds Full for Eclipse, Including Many International Guests
Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 7:27PM
Editor

Anderson hotels and campgrounds are already full as people from all over the world prepare to visit the area to view the historic total total solar eclipse Aug. 21.

Visitors from as far away as Sweden and the United Kingdom will be in town for the events, which include Black Out at Green Pond, which will open at 8 a.m., and Black Out at the Anderson County Civic Center. Both locations will have 1,000 pair of special glasses available to view the eclipse. There will also be other viewing events across the county, including the City of Belton, the Jockey Lot, and Carolina Wren Park downtown. All of these events will be free to the public.

“We expect both to be full to overflowing,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns, who added that just today the county was told the student body of Agnes Scott College is coming here for the eclipse.

According to maps, Anderson is in the path of totality and will be one of the best places in the nation to view the eclipse, with an expected time of total darkness of two minutes and 37 seconds. 

 Statewide, more than two millions visitors are expected to make their way to South Carolina for this once-in-a-lifetime event.  The next total solar eclipse in our area will be May 11, 2078.

“This event is going to blow up Anderson,” said Whiney Ellis, sales manager for the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I don’t think most people understand how big this is going to be.”

“A lot of people coming here from other countries don’t now what our August weather is like,” said Glenn Brill, director of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Division for Anderson County. Brill said the county is prepared to to help these people with water and other facilities for the events. 

Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun's tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun's disk. 

Historic weather forecasts show a 23 percent chance of clouds and/or rain on Aug. 21. The historic forecast for Charleston to have clouds/rain is nearly 80 percent. The current long-range forecast for the date in Anderson calls for sunny weather. 

Article originally appeared on The Anderson Observer (http://andersonobserver.squarespace.com/).
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