Anne-Marie Armstrong of Scituate, Mass., speaks with a reporter after reserving an early-morning spot at the Lancaster Fairgrounds for eclipse viewing on Monday.
Ken and Danielle Haley, of Groton, Connecticut, and daughter, Salem, 8, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their pickup truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds.
Pat and Mike Diodati, who traveled to see the eclipse from Lawrence, Mass., relax in front of The Lancaster Motel on Main Street in Lancaster on Monday.
Tom and Lisa Joyce of Hill and their son, William, 14, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their pick-up truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
Ella Lee of Los Angeles and her mother, Shirley Lee of Boston, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their Subaru at Lancaster Fairgrounds on April 8, 2024.
John Robinson or Rochester uses a welding mask to look at the solar eclipse from the back of his pick-up truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
Jacob Todd of Berwick, Maine, looks up at the sun in full eclipse at the Lancaster Fairgrounds on Monday afternoon.
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Anne-Marie Armstrong of Scituate, Mass., speaks with a reporter after reserving an early-morning spot at the Lancaster Fairgrounds for eclipse viewing on Monday.
Ken and Danielle Haley, of Groton, Connecticut, and daughter, Salem, 8, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their pickup truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds.
Pat and Mike Diodati, who traveled to see the eclipse from Lawrence, Mass., relax in front of The Lancaster Motel on Main Street in Lancaster on Monday.
A family takes pictures in front of the Great North Woods sign on eclipse day in dowtown Lancaster on Monday.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Tom and Lisa Joyce of Hill and their son, William, 14, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their pick-up truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Ed Horne of Framingham, Mass., sets up his telescope after arriving in downtown Lancaster with his family on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
Larry Spencer of Fitchburg, Mass., look up at the eclipse as the sky gets brighter at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
John Robinson or Rochester uses a welding mask to look at the solar eclipse from the back of his pick-up truck at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
LANCASTER — First came the cooler temperatures, then the dimmed day and finally cheers and applause from eclipse gazers at the Lancaster Fairgrounds when the moon totally blocked out the sun for less than a minute on Monday.
“Scary and sad and magnificent all at the same time,” Boston’s Shirley Lee said after her daughter, Ella, convinced her to drive five hours to experience the total solar eclipse.
Ella Lee of Los Angeles and her mother, Shirley Lee of Boston, watch the solar eclipse from the back of their Subaru at Lancaster Fairgrounds on April 8, 2024.
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Lee, whose daughter was visiting from Los Angeles, said the eclipse made it feel “like we’re in a dust cloud.”
Thousands packed the fairgrounds parking lot looking to enjoy the eclipse while others threw down blankets and coats on the snowless grass downtown to gaze at the sun.
“Just incredible, worth the trip,” said Greg Pollock, of Deerfield. “Maybe we’ll fly around the world for the next one.”
Visitors wait in to use the portable bathrooms at Lancaster Fairgrounds on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
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People came from the next town over and from the next time zone over.
Tennessee’s Kevin Barry chased the best weather, at the last minute scuttling upstate New York as his destination and settling at the Lancaster Fairgrounds to witness his third total solar eclipse.
Kevin Barry of Nashville, Tenn., gets his camera ready hours before the eclipse at the Lancaster Fair Grounds on April 8, 2024.
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Barry, 72, called the previous ones “just mind-boggling.”
Anne-Marie Armstrong was chasing her first total eclipse, leaving her Massachusetts house in Scituate at 4:30 a.m. By mid-morning, she lounged in a chair by her car bundled up under a cloudless sky in the fairgrounds parking lot.
Anne-Marie Armstrong of Scituate, Mass., kicks back after reserving an early-morning spot at the Lancaster Fairgrounds for eclipse viewing on Monday.
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The eclipse swelled the population way beyond the town’s normal 3,200 residents.
“For me, it’s definitely on my bucket list,” Armstrong said. “I just wanted to experience the totality part.”
She said Northern New Hampshire was “my best chance” to see a total solar eclipse. She’s already planning to go on a cruise to Spain in 2026 for another one.
Big business
Tim Charbonneau, a fair director and former police chief, said the town falling under totality for the eclipse meant a lot of customers for town businesses.
“Lancaster since Friday has been so extremely busy,” he said.
Lauren Davenport of Millis, Mass., shows her husband, Allan, an eclipse T-shirt she just bought in downtown Lancaster on Monday.
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The Yellow Deli on Main Street chose Sunday and eclipse Monday for its soft opening, which drew lines of hungry visitors.
“It’s only under great duress that you can see where the problems are,” said employee Jeremy Waters.
Heidi Glavac of Bethlehem attracted attention, while donning sun-shaped sunglasses downtown.
“We lucked out big-time with the weather,” said Glavac, who would have been skiing if not for the eclipse.
Heidi Glavac of Bethlehem and her daughter, Nina, relax at the green in downtown Lancaster on eclipse day.
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Joy Souza of Groveton was having a snack at the Polish Princess Bakery with her daughter, Charlotte Jeannotte, and son-in-law, Brian, who drove five hours from Bar Harbor, Maine.
“Good to see all the traffic,” Souza said. “We’re so lucky to have this (fine) weather today.”
“Once in a lifetime, I figure. Why not,” Brian Jeannotte said. “It’s more of a curiosity thing.”
Good for business
Dozens of people along Main Street walked around in T-shirts advertising the eclipse.
Visitors mill through downtown Lancaster on eclipse day on April 8, 2024.
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In Lincoln, motorists who looked for gas off Interstate 93 in Lincoln found dry pumps at the 7-Eleven on Monday morning.
“We got hit hard by the end of the world hitting us yesterday (Sunday),” said clerk Erika Lighthall.
Down the street, another gas station got more customers because the 7-Eleven bathrooms were closed.
If she charged a dollar per bathroom visitor, clerk Sheila Simino Kleinpeter said, it would have been a lucrative eclipse side business.
“I could have made $55 from the bathroom” by 7 a.m., she said.
Many people stopping in were heading for Colebrook, north of Lancaster.
